Volvo Ocean Race – Wacky Racers, America’s Cup, 52’s, WMRT and more...
by Rob Kothe and Jedda Murphy on 26 May 2015
Onboard Team SCA. Day 7. Elodie Mettraux, Sally Barkow and Sam Davies trimming and driving in light air - Leg 7 to Lisbon - Volvo Ocean Race Anna-Lena Elled/Team SCA
After a storming 24 hours by Team SCA, who once again have been Buffalo Girls, coming round the outside, the tail gunner in the six boat fleet at this yestercday’s 7:00 UTC reckoning was the overall Volvo Ocean Race 2014-2015 leader Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, who had lost more miles on the leaders in recent skeds.
All of sudden the other teams have realised that Abu Dhabi Ian Walker still puts his pants on one leg at a time.
Podium finishes in six legs with two wins and there was a general belief that Walker, Si Fi and the Assam team were unbeatable.
But their current sked last place shows that yes Walker is human and yesterday morning we talked to a very subdued Abu Dhabi skipper by Sat Phone, just after the 645am UTC sked. The interview is below.
Team SCA made up more than 80 nautical miles over the last two days but is now suffering in less breeze. This morning Sail-World’s Jedda Murphy who sailed on SCA eons ago in Alicante talked to skipper Sam Davies by Sat. Phone. Interview below.
On the America’s Cup scene Richard Gladwell story on #LetsGetDalton has lit up the sailing twitterverse.
Here is Richard’s opening;
With Italian team Luna Rossa now out of the mix for the 35th America's Cup, the nine-times Challenger/Defender is alone, despite having more Cup campaigns to their credit than the other teams combined.
With almost every decision being determined by a majority vote of the Competitors and with Oracle Team USA having a veto), the current tenor of the America's Cup is akin to the Ugly Sisters trying to keep the Kiwi Cinderella way from the Ball.
Far from being an America's Cup where the Defender stands separate from the Challengers, the current edition is all against Emirates Team New Zealand. Maybe the view is that whoever can beat the Kiwis will win the Cup.
Latest social media mantra is the hashtag #letsgetdalton used by Oracle Team USA skipper Jimmy Spithill in an Instagram with his new best friend, Dean Barker, as the two posed together in Bermuda. More below.
And in inshore-racing news, the competition was red hot at the Ford Vignale Valencia Sailing Week (May 19-23), which is part of the bigger 52 Super Series.
Also inshore related, the World Match Race Tour’s (WMRT) Match Race Germany (May 21-25) event was sailed on Lake Constance.
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