Volvo Ocean Race: "The short legs are much tougher than the longer ones"

The start of the tenth leg of the Volvo Ocean Race was agonisingly slow in the British waters off Cardiff on Sunday afternoon after a long delay to the start - especially for David Witt's team Sun Hung Kai Scallywag and Dee Caffari's team Turn the Tide on Plastic, who slowed themselves down at the start line and only managed to cross the line minutes after the starting signal. However, the other boats hadn't got very far at that point either. In the near lull, things initially only progressed at a snail's pace. After the first half hour, Mapfre had taken the lead just ahead of Bouwe Bekking's Team Brunel and Vestas 11th Hour Racing AkzoNobel, while the overall leader Dongfeng Race Team had quickly fallen half a nautical mile behind and the crew around skipper Charles Caudrelier had to worry about the tide poker right at the start.

The skippers had already announced it before the start of this penultimate leg of the 13th edition of the race around the world: a complicated section lies ahead of them that will demand extreme endurance from the crews. Xabí Fernandez said: "The short stages are much tougher than the longer ones." Hardly any sleep, complex tactical and strategic decisions and the constant wearing of boat clothing make the 1300 nautical mile course from Cardiff to Gothenburg an endurance test.

... gives an idea of the enormous effort that lies ahead of them. Added to this is the pressure of the imminent decision on overall victory. Dongfeng, Mapfre and Brunel are battling it out

For the three leading boats in the overall standings - Dongfeng (60 points), Mapfre (59 points) and Team Brunel (57 points) - nothing less than overall victory is at stake. Each of the teams, which are only three points apart, could gain an advantage for the final sprint from Gothenburg to The Hague with a stage win. But the chasing teams also have ambitious goals. Simeon Tienpont's team AkzoNobel is aiming for a podium place on the way to the home port of The Hague, wants to challenge compatriot Bouwe Bekking and make life difficult for the two red boats in the lead. Tired of the many questions about the mathematical possibilities for his team, Dongfeng skipper Charles Caudrelier set the motto for this leg before the start: "Stop thinking about maths. Just win!"