Volvo Ocean Race - Big speed differences across the fleet
by Sail-World.com on 21 May 2015
Leg 7 to Lisbon onboard Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing. Day 2. Ian Walker glances back at Dongfeng as the team slides into the lead en route to Lisbon. Matt Knighton/Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing
Volvo Ocean Race Leg 7 Newport to Lisbon. Yesterday Brunel had opened up a lead of more than 20 nautical miles on the next boat, but during the night Bouwe Bekking’s lead has come down to 7.3 nautical miles on MAPFRE. That’s a 14nm loss since yesterday at 1900 UTC. Its tight racing with now less than 2000 miles to the Lisbon finish line, with the fleet most like to arrive next Friday.
Positioned 9nm farther south of the fleet, the Dutch have had two to three less knots of breeze.
As a result the other boats made good gains, in particular Dongfeng Race Team gaining 22nm in the last 12 hours. That puts them right in the fight for the fourth place with Team Alvimedica, 1.5nm to windward of the red boat – a good news for the French-Chinese who lost ground yesterday during the transition. They also happen to be sailing in more breeze and slightly faster than the rest of the fleet.
Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing made good progress too, cashing 19nm since 1900 UTC when they took the third spot from Team Alvimedica. The Emiratis are the farthest north 2.5nm to leeward of the Spanish team.
If you want to link to this article then please use this URL: www.sail-world.com/134540
