Volvo Ocean Match Race- Abu Dhabi wins Leg 5 in very close finish

by Richard Gladwell, Sail-World.com NZL on 6 Apr 2015 Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ian Walker) has won Leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race in a close finish at Itajai, Brazil with the first four boats finishing within an hour around dusk in Itajai.

After sailing for 19 days on the 6776nm leg, Abu Dhabi crossed the line at 19.30.10UTC. She was followed 32 minutes later by the Spanish entry, and Leg 4 winner, Mapfre (Iker Martinez).

Team Alvimedica (Charlie Enright) and Team Brunel (Bouwe Bekking) match raced for third place, with Alvimedica taking third place by 1m 16secs and crossing just under an hour after Abu Dhabi.

The blanket finish mirrored the finish of Leg 4 in Auckland where the first three boats finished with 20 minutes.

The leg win assured Abu Dhabi first place on the points table, with her co-leader after leg 4, Dongfeng Race Team broke her topmast just before Cape Horn and elected to retire and sail to Itajai under jury Rig.

The sixth boat, Team SCA sailed by a womens crew still has 600nm to sail to the finish line after suffering sail damage during a Chinese gybe in the first week of the race, in which they shredded their FR0 (fractional Code Zero) a vital sail in the hard running conditions of the Southern Ocean.

Team SCA also reported that they had suffered another knockdown about the time of the finish and had severely damaged their port rudder. They have managed to recover and are continuing to the finish and should take points for fifth place, after the withdrawal of Dongfeng.

Team Vestas Wind is not expected to re-join the race until the start in Lisbon, she is currently being rebuilt in Bergamo, Italy after hitting a shoal on Leg 2.

Team Alvimedica was the first boat to round Cape Horn, with four boats also rounding in close proximity. The Cape Horn rounding took place in daylight and was covered live in a two hour broadcast by Volvo Ocean Race in an historic first in sailing TV coverage.