Volvo Ocean Race: Vestas in command: opening victory for the Enright crew

The first eight points, including bonus points, went to the Danish-American team Vestas 11th Hour Racing in the 13th edition of the Volvo Ocean Race. Charlie Enright's nine-man crew continued the race as they had finished the last round: with a stage win. "We're obviously very happy about that," reported skipper Enright after crossing the finish line. The approach to the finish line still had a few hurdles in store for the blue boat: Caught in a wind hole and sailing against the current, his team had already prepared to drop anchor. In the end, however, patience and some skilful manoeuvres were enough to free them from this last doldrums trap.

Experts and skipper Charlie Enright agreed: "This point goes to our navigator Simon 'Sifi' Fisher. He didn't put a foot wrong." The team had already bravely pulled away from the fleet at Cabo de Gata and continued to pull away after rounding Porto Santos, never relinquishing the lead. Over the 1600 nautical miles that Vestas 11th Hour Racing completed in around six days, the team with sailors Stacey Jackson and Hannah Diamond proved to be focussed and confident right to the end.

Top favourite Mapfre's race to catch up was unable to change this. Xabi Fernandez' crew reached Lisbon early Saturday evening as the second team ahead of Charles Caudrelier's Dongfeng Race Team. For the last-minute AkzoNobel crew of comeback skipper Simeon Tienpont, which had long been in the bottom three, it was enough for fourth place in the end. In view of the dramatic events following his cancellation and return shortly before the start of the race, the Dutchman should not be too sad about this. Tienpont's crisis-ridden team has shown that it can fight and keep up under the most difficult conditions.

Record participant Bouwe Bekking, on the other hand, will not be satisfied with the start of his eighth lap around the world. The fact that he was still battling with Dee Caffari's team Turn the Tide on Plastic for second last place on Saturday evening is not what the Dutchman, who has lived in Hamburg for many years, had hoped for. His "golden boy", helmsman and trimmer Peter Burling, did not get off to an ideal start in the Volvo Ocean Race either. In the direct duel between the New Zealand America's Cup winner and Olympic champion and his friend, Cup colleague and Olympic foresailor Blair Tuke on "Mapfre", the score is initially 0:1. Blair Tuke has taken the lead in this long-distance duel for the triple. Both Kiwis - Burling and Tuke - could become the first sailors in history to win Olympic gold, the America's Cup and the race around the world with a victory in the Volvo Ocean Race.