Volvo Ocean Race: The veterans dominate the race

Sailing is and remains a sport of experience. This is also evident in the first leg of the Volvo Ocean Race. The two co-favourite teams Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing and the Dutch team Brunel are engaged in a thrilling duel for the lead at the front of the field. After almost 13 days at sea, Ian Walker and Bouwe Bekking's crews were separated by just 13 nautical miles on Friday morning. They had been the first to free themselves from the hot grip of the Doldrums and, with the help of the fresher trade winds, were able to sail to a comfortable lead over the chasing pack. At this point, the leading boats had completed 44 per cent of the 6,487 nautical miles of the first leg from Alicante to Cape Town.

Only the Danish last-minute team Vestas Wind with skipper Chris Nicholson was able to make up ground overnight with its more southerly course on the Atlantic and is well in the race, 77 nautical miles behind the leaders. With 332 nautical miles in 24 hours, the Scandinavians had achieved their best etmal to date. The Chinese Dongfeng Race Team was already 161 nautical miles behind. The Spanish team Mapfre, which was also highly rated before the race, was already 193 nautical miles behind the leaders after a late correction from a more southerly to a northerly course in the stern waters. At this point, the American newcomers from Team Alvimedica and the women's crew SCA, sailing under the Swedish flag, were more than 200 nautical miles behind the leaders.

The current order in the chase across the Atlantic is a reflection of the statistics according to the motto: the more experience on board, the better the crews are in the race. The Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing sailors have started this edition of the classic race with a total of 21 Volvo Ocean Race participations to date. Bouwe Bekking's men had 18 entries before the first starting signal, followed by Vestas Wind (14). On board the three top boats, the three oldest skippers are in command: Ian Walker, 44, Bouwe Bekking, 51, and Chris Nicholson, 45, drive their teams with plenty of experience from ocean racing: This will be Walker's third participation, Bekking's seventh (which puts him on a par with record participant Roger Nilson) and Chris Nicholson's fifth.