Dongfeng Race Team win a spectacular Cape Town In-Port Race
by Volvo Ocean Race 8 Dec 2017 06:51 PST
8 December 2017
Volvo Ocean Race Cape Town In-Port Race © Pedro Martinez / Volvo Ocean Race
Vestas 11th Hour Racing and Dongfeng Race Team traded blows throughout the first half of the Cape Town In-Port Race course on Friday afternoon, before the Chinese-French team grabbed the lead midway through the race and stretched away for their first win in the series.
The victory vaults skipper Charles Caudrelier's team to second place on the leaderboard for the In-Port Race Series, just behind MAPFRE who retained the overall lead with a fightback second place finish on Friday.
"The team did a fantastic job, very nice boat handling and good speed, so well done to the full team," Caudrelier said after the race.
"Our start was not fantastic, but after that we made a good call to tack a bit earlier and put pressure on Vestas and then we found some good speed. That was a key factor."
Conditions were spectacular on the waters off Cape Town, with wind near 20 knots, under bright, sunny skies. Boat handling was at a premium in the fresh conditions and on the first two laps of the course, there were several very close crosses as the boats approached the turning gates.
Near the end of the second run, Vestas 11th Hour Racing were sailing on an awkward wind angle to the mark and had difficulty furling their big A3 downwind sail in preparation for the rounding.
It didn't hurt them immediately but when they next tried to deploy the sail at the final top mark, it wouldn't fully unfurl, and the team was very slow for most of the final run.
"We started well," said navigator Simon Fisher. "At the second top mark Dongfeng did a great job, pushing us to the less favoured side, which pushed us back into the fleet, which put pressure on the downwind drop, which meant we didn't have a great furl, and that hurt us on the last run. It's just a great example of how things can snowball."
The mistake cost the team two places, as both MAPFRE and team AkzoNobel raced past on the run to the finish.
The second place finish represented a tremendous comeback for MAPFRE who were forced into a penalty turn just before the start, leaving them them the last to get across the line.
But the Spanish team kept pushing its way up the fleet, finally forcing team AkzoNobel away with an aggressive luff near the final top mark, setting the table for the pass of Vestas 11th Hour Racing on the final run.
Further back, Brunel and Scallywag engaged in a luffing match early on the first run. The Umpires penalised Scallywag for an infraction and following the penalty turn, David Witt's team were trailing the fleet.
At the finish, a hard-charging Brunel nearly stole a place from Turn the Tide on Plastic. But Dee Caffari's team, who had a very strong start to the race, held on for fifth place.
Cape Town In-Port Race Results:
1. Dongfeng Race Team
2. MAPFRE
3. team AkzoNobel
4. Vestas 11th Hour Racing
5. Turn the Tide on Plastic
6. Team Brunel
7. Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag
Volvo Ocean Race In-Port Race Series Leaderboard:
1. MAPFRE -- 19 points
2. Dongfeng Race Team -- 18 points
3. Team Brunel -- 13 points
4. Vestas 11th Hour Racing -- 12 points
5. team AkzoNobel -- 11 points
6. Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag -- 6 points
7. Turn the Tide on Plastic -- 5 points
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Dongfeng Race Team scores first win with impressive victory in Cape Town In-Port Race (from Dongfeng Race Team)
Dongfeng Race Team skippered by Charles Caudrelier of France scored its first win in the 2017-18 Volvo Ocean Race today when it sailed to a comprehensive victory in a thrilling Cape Town In-Port Race.
Sailing with the same crew line-up that will take on Leg 3 of the race from Cape Town to Melbourne starting on Sunday, Caudrelier and his team made the best of a difficult start and then showed excellent upwind boatspeed as they settled into second place in the early stages.
Approaching the windward mark for the second time, the red and white Volvo Ocean 65 sponsored by Dongfeng Motor Corporation of China overtook the early leader, Vestas 11th Hour Racing, and then raced away to take the win by more than two minutes from second placed MAPFRE, with Team AkzoNobel third.
It was an impressive performance by Caudrelier and his crew on a sparkling day when Table Bay was lit up with white caps and with Table Mountain forming a stunning back-drop.
"It is good to have a strong in-shore race ahead of the re-start on Sunday," said a delighted Caudrelier as Dongfeng came alongside in the Volvo Ocean Race village at the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront. "It is good for the team and the spirit to get this win. We have one day until the re-start and it is good to sail like that ahead of a tough leg.
"The team did a great job," he added. "Our start was not fantastic but we knew what we wanted to do and we decided to keep on the left of the course. It was the right decision and then after that we did a very good manoeuvre. Then after each subsequent manoeuvre we gained on the others, so it was a full team effort. We have worked so hard to be here so we are really happy."
Also on board for the race was Liu Weidong, Standing Committee Member and Deputy General Manager of Dongfeng Automobile Group, who said: "Congratulations to everyone in Dongfeng Race Team. The teamwork on board was impressive to witness at close quarters – the dynamics on the boat among the crew was really good from start to finish."
The next focus for Caudrelier is the forbidding 6,500-nautical mile Leg 3 when the sailors in Dongfeng Race Team take on the rolling swells and gale force winds of the Roaring Forties in the Southern Indian Ocean as they make their way from South Africa to Australia.
"It's going to be one of the toughest legs of the Volvo Ocean Race," said Caudrelier, "but we are ready for it. I think the goal for everybody on Leg 3 is to finish. The next priority after that is not to finish in too bad a placing because it is a double-point scoring leg which means there are only three good places – first, second and third.
"Of course we have come third and second in the first two legs so now we will try to finish first, but I can't forget what happened to Dongfeng Race Team in the last race in the Southern Ocean when we broke our mast, so it's a big pressure."
Dongfeng Race Team lies in third place overall in the main race, two points behind Vestas skippered by Charlie Enright and three points behind MAPFRE skippered by Xabi Fernandez. Caudrelier believes the Spanish team under Fernandez deserves to be at the top of the leaderboard but he is confident that Dongfeng Race Team can make up the deficit.
"You have to concentrate but I think this team is growing and improving and the potential is very big," added Caudrelier. "I am very optimistic about our prospects – for me the key was to choose good people and I am sure I have done that, so I am very confident we can do better and come back."
Navigator Pascal Bidegorry says there will be some difficult early decisions as the fleet heads out of Cape Town. The leg looks likely to start in strong winds but then there will be an area of light winds to cross before the boats hook into the first depression heading east towards Australia.
"We are not going to turn left at the Cape of Good Hope and then point straight at Melbourne - that is not the case," said Bidegorry. "It will not just be about speed-mode in the early stages because I think we will have to take some early options. They may look like small choices from the outside but if you are south or north of the fleet, it will be quite a different angle to the wind and there will be a little difference in the wind strength."
British-Australian bowman Jack Bouttell is looking forward to his first taste of Southern Ocean racing and the chance to sail to the country of his birth. "It is a first for me to go into the Southern Ocean and there are a lot of mixed stories about it being the best place to sail and the worst place to sail," he said.
"It is one of those things that is on every sailors' list, so I am looking forward to that. But obviously I have some worries about what is going to happen because it is unknown. But it is also great that at the end of it we are sailing into Australia - I was born there so it is pretty cool to sail into there."
Helping out with duties at the front end of the boat will be Kevin Escoffier, one of France's most accomplished offshore sailors who sailed on every leg on Dongfeng in the last Volvo Ocean Race and how has now re-joined Dongfeng Race Team.
"I am looking forward to the sailing and to sailing again with friends," commented Escoffier. "This is a leg we did not have in the last Volvo Ocean Race because we went back north to the sun after Cape Town. This time we will be close to the Kerguelen Islands – the windiest place on earth – and to the ice, so I am really looking forward to the challenge."
MAPFRE continues as leaders after the Cape Town in-port race (from MAPFRE)
A great day of racing in Cape Town for the Spanish team, skippered by Xabi Fernández. With their second place in the in-port race today, MAPFRE continues to lead the In-Port Series
Just 48 hours ahead of leg three of the Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18, the fleet are already in competition mode. In today's in-port race in Cape Town, MAPFRE were once again key players in a fabulous come-back, enabling them to clock up another podium position and maintain their leadership of the overall In-Port Series.
The Race Committee sounded the start gun at 14:00 h, right on schedule, with conditions between 20 and 25 knots. Not the best start for Xabi Fernández's crew, who were penalised just a few minutes prior to the start for manoeuvring too close to Vestas 11th Hour Racing. However, the Spanish boat swiftly made up for lost time and positions, to shorten their distance from the front runners.
From their first leg at the back of the fleet, MAPFRE were able to push the very best out of their boat and performance, benefit from every wind shift and recovered four positions before rounding the second mark. Dongfeng Race Team and Vestas 11th Hour Racing were fighting for first and second place at the front, whilst MAPFRE and Team AkzoNobel were caught in a tough head-to-head, with constant manoeuvres and position changes as they battled for third.
Finally, in the last of the six legs of the windward-leeward race, Xabi Fernández's crew were able to push ahead of Vestas 11th Hour Racing, and following a problem with the spinnaker for Charlie Enright and his team, MAPFRE crossed the finish line in second place.
Victory this time for Charles Caudrelier's Dongfeng Race Team, and third place for Team AkzoNobel.
The result in the Cape Town in-port race maintains MAPFRE's lead at the very top of the general scoreboard for the In-Port Series, with one point advantage over the Chinese team, and six ahead of Bouwe Bekking's Team Brunel.
On Saturday 9th December, the teams will have their last day onshore, before Leg three of the Volvo Ocean Race, which starts on Sunday 10th December at 14:00 local time.
Quotes:
Xabi Fernández, Skipper:
We had a little problem at the start. It was an incident with Vestas, where we pushed a little too tight to get to the layline, tacked too late and Vestas were forced to move away. We were given a penalty turn, and ended up starting in last place.
The first upwind leg went really well, and we were able to stay close to the pack, even though we were last. We then sailed a great downwind leg, and that was where we joined the fight. We had a good battle with AkzoNobel, and finally due to Vestas' problem with the spinnaker, were also able to pass them.
Joan Vila, navigator:
Good boat handling was key, and having sailed a simple race, we kept making up positions, sailing at our own speed. Together we were able to move up from the back of the fleet to finish in second place.
Pablo Arrarte, watch captain:
Starts are always really tight, and today was especially so at the mark end, which was particularly favoured. We thought all the boats would be fighting to start from there, and so perhaps our tack was just a little too tight with Vestas. I think the penalty turn was a fair call. We should have tacked three or four seconds earlier, but as the boat was not moving very fast, it turned much more slowly and provoked the penalty.
We knew it was going to be a long race, with six legs, and with wind conditions like today, a lot of mistakes can be made. We knew that everyone would make some mistakes, so we decided to take it steadily, and just keep improving. Even though we are not used to these kind of races with these boats, they are also important, and it is the boat handling which makes the difference.
In Cape Town, when the wind starts to blow, it is very intense and shifty, making boat handling much more difficult. It also means you have to react very quickly because the wind suddenly changes direction, so any mistakes with boat handling can be really costly. We are handling the boat well, and with Rob and Vila's decisions, which were almost all spot on, it went really well for us.
Team Brunel sixth in In-Port Race (from Team Brunel)
On Friday Team Brunel finished the In-Port Race in sixth place. The Volvo Ocean Race team from skipper Bekking is now preparing for Leg 3. This third leg will start Sunday at 12.00 UTC and will bring the sailors from the seven competing teams from Cape Town to Melbourne.
Made the wrong choices
Skipper Bouwe Bekking was after the In-Port Race in Cape Town very clear in his analysis. Bekking: "We had a real good start. But then we made the wrong choice at the top mark. That decision brought us in a difficult position. It just wasn't possible to make the lost distance right again. Today has shown once again that the competition is very close and the differences are minimal. In this Volvo Ocean Race we truly race as a one design class. If you make one mistake like we did today, you're done."