Volvo Ocean Race: The Final Miles

(May 26, 2015; Day 10) – The Volvo Ocean Race leaders are in the final push to the finish, reveling in the blast reaching conditions as they near the Portuguese coast. The remaining miles click fast when going 20 knots.

But race veterans have not forgotten the finish to this leg in 2012, which included a dying breeze and an outgoing current in the River Tagus. Adam Minoprio, sailing this leg with Brunel, hasn’t forgotten.

“On Camper, we came in at night with no wind and had to anchor with Telefonica next to us. As we were both pulling up our anchors, they got a puff and passed us within a hundred meters of the finish line. So disappointing!”

The leading pack of Team Brunel, MAPFRE and Dongfeng Race Team are heads down going for the win and a podium finish in Lisbon. Conveniently for them, they have done a good job of breaking away and can just concentrate on each other.

Team Alvimedica and Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing have their own fight on their hands, with the Emirati boat desperate to win this battle and limit the damage to their overall points lead.

Standing in their way is the Traffic Separation Scheme, in which the teams must decide on which side to pass.

With the potential randomness ahead for the finish in the River Tagus, the Brunel crew might keep an eye on their navigator Andrew Cape. “If the positions change in the last four miles as we sail up the river,” Cape said, “If that happened, I’d be suicidal.”

Arrival: Live stream coverage of the finish in Portugal will be early Wednesday May 27, estimated to be at 0500 local time (0400 UTC, 24:00 EDT). Watch here.

Protest: The Race Committee has filed protests against SCA, Dongfeng, and MAPRE for infractions that occurred soon after the start on May 17 when the fleet approached the eastern corridor of the Rhode Island Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS), an exclusion zone that the fleet was required to avoid. Details.

Leg 7 (2,800 nm) Position Report (as of 21:40 UTC)
1. Team Brunel, Bouwe Bekking (NED), 92.3 nm Distance to Finish
2. MAPFRE, Iker Martínez (ESP), 6.1 nm DTL
3. Dongfeng Race Team, Charles Caudrelier (FRA), 10.6 nm Distance to Lead
4. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, Ian Walker (GBR), 31.0 nm DTL
5. Team Alvimedica, Charlie Enright (USA), 31.8 nm DTL
6. Team SCA, Sam Davies (GBR), 54.7 nm DTL
7. Team Vestas Wind, Chris Nicholson (AUS), Did not start

Race website – Tracking – Scoreboard – Videos

Background: The 2014-15 Volvo Ocean Race began in Alicante, Spain on Oct. 11 with the final finish on June 27 in Gothenburg, Sweden. Racing the new one design Volvo Ocean 65, seven teams will be scoring points in 9 offshore legs to determine the overall Volvo Ocean Race winner. Additionally, the teams will compete in 10 In-Port races at each stopover for a separate competition, the Volvo Ocean Race In-Port Series. The seventh leg, from Newport, USA to Lisbon, Portugal (2,800 nm), began May 17 with an ETA of May 27.