Three quarters of the 13th edition of the Volvo Ocean Race have been completed. The last quarter begins on April 22nd with the start of the eighth stage from Itajaí via around 5700 Seemeieln to Newport. Until then, after the dramatic seventh stage, the stragglers will also have time to bring their boats to the Brazilian port of Itajaí. After the mast break near the Falkland Islands, the yacht of the Danish-American team Vestas 11th Hour Racing is on its way to Itajaí with a transfer crew. The team expects their blue boat to arrive only a few days before the start of the stage. At the same time, the VO65 yacht of the "Scallywags" is on its way to Itajaí with a transfer team, where the team around skipper David Witt will meet, refocus and re-enter the race after the tragic death of John Fisher.
The friends of the "Scallywags": A transfer crew, some of whose members had willingly boarded the plane to Chile just a few hours after skipper David Witt called. This crew takes the boat to Itajaí, where the team wants to get back into the race after the tragic death of John Fisher
Vestas 11th Hour Racing sails to Itajaí under jury rigging. The temporary replacement rig is intended to stabilize the boat. Every hour counts for the team, because the boat will only arrive in the Brazilian port a few days before the restart
After the eventful queen stage from Auckland to Itajaí, the field has pushed together in terms of sport. Charles Caudrelier's Dongfeng Race Team took the lead with a total of 46 points and pushed the previous leader Mapfre (45 points) into second place after seven of eleven stages; but the two "reds" are still ahead. The team of the hour, however, is Bouwe Bekking's Dutch team Brunel (36 points), which catapulted itself from fifth to third with bonus points for first place in the Cape Horn Passage and the stage win as well as double the number of points in this difficult section. Simeon Tienpont's team AkzoNobel (33 points) follows in 4th place ahead of David Witt's team Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag (26 points). Charlie Enright's Team Vestas 11th Hour Racing is still just ahead of Dee Caffari's young team Turn the Tide on Plastic (20 points) despite four (!) Not started or not finished stages with 23 points. And that despite the fact that Caffari and her 50:50 mixed team achieved the best result so far in fourth place on the hardest stage and earned a lot of praise for it.
The clip shows how the Spaniards fight their way over the line in the doldrums, but also reports on the repair stop in front of Cape Horn and other adversities of the dramatic seventh stage
Dongfeng skipper Charles Caudrelier and his team have taken the lead in the 13th Volvo Ocean Race after seven of eleven stages. With only one point ahead of the former sparring partners and rivals from Team Mapfre, it remains the red-red duel for the time being
Mapfre skipper Xabi Fernandez. His team had to give up on the queen stage due to material breakage, but is still in a promising position in second place, just one point behind the leading Dongfeng Race Team
The most experienced skipper in the fleet was able to win the most difficult stage with his team and collect valuable bonus points. What is still going on for Brunel skipper Bouwe Bekking?
Team AkzoNobel got better and better after a bumpy start in the course of the race and is now in 4th place. Skipper Simeon Tienpont leads the team
The athletic excitement in the race did Brunel's stage win and the ideal result of 16 points well. With a view to four remaining stages - after about 34,350 completed around 11,000 nautical miles - in addition to the two top favorites Dongfeng and Mapfre, other teams have worked out the opportunity to intervene in the battle for the overall victory. Which is due to the recent strong results from Brunel and AkzoNobel, but also Mapfres mast problems and the 13-hour repair off Cape Horn. The crew around skipper Xabí Fernandez then lagged behind the field and had no chance of improving fifth place due to very light winds along the east coast of South America. In the end, Team Mapfre even had to ration food. The seven men and two women arrived in Itajaí hungry in every way on Sunday.
Here you can find the intermediate results in the Volvo Ocean Race 2017/2018