Volvo Ocean Race - Chicked! - Team SCA wins Leg 8 in Lorient

by Richard Gladwell/Sail-World.com NZL on 11 Jun 2015 The womens crew of Team SCA have won Leg 8 of the Volvo Ocean Race, crossing the finish line at 0210UTC off Lorient, France today

They finished ahead of the resurrected Team Vestas Wind lying in second place after a torrid Leg from Lisbon, Portugal.

The team took the lead after making a move on the first night of the Leg, got first sniff of a new breeze and then defended a 12nm mile lead up the Portuguese and Spanish coasts, including the Coast of Death, before entering the notorious Bay of Biscay in 40kts plus headwinds.

Team SCA skipper, Sam Davies who lives at Lorient, said on finishing that the impact of the win would not really sink in for the team until they entered the boat harbour at Lorient and saw that there were no other boats berthed and that they were indeed the first.

Team Vestas Wind finished at 0300UTC in second place with Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing crossing five minutes later to confirm their overall race win with one leg to sail.

Huge jubilation on board the Emirati boat as they crossed the finish line

Mapfre was fourth to finish at 0310UTC. Their place relative to Dongfeng and Team Alvimedica and Team Brunel will be tighe on the points table, and the three points they have lost from leg 7 and Leg 5 could prove very costly in the final analysis.

Team Brunel finished fifth with Team Alvimedica finishing in sixth place at 0323 UTC. Dongfeng will be seventh to finish - the first time seven boats have finished since Leg 1.

The In Port Race will be held on Saturday, with the start of Leg 9 on Sunday to Gothenburg, Sweden by way of The Hague.

The provisional points table after Leg 8 reads:

Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing 19pts
Team Brunel 27pts
Dongfeng Race Team 29pts
Mapfre 31pts
Team Alvimedica 33pts
Team SCA 44pts
Team Vestas Wind 54pts