Volvo Ocean Race: Dutch teams smash 24 hour VOR record

Leg 9, from Newport to Cardiff, day 5 on board Team AkzoNobel. The boat has been powered up and flying along for the past 24 hours.24 May, © Konrad Frost / Volvo Ocean Race

Leg 9, from Newport to Cardiff, day 5 on board Team AkzoNobel. The salt builds up in the eyes and makes helming really painful in these conditions. 24 May, © Konrad Frost / Volvo Ocean Race

Leg 9, from Newport to Cardiff, day 5 on board Team AkzoNobel. The temperature has been dropping as we head north and the wind and waves are making for fast sailing. 24 May, © Konrad Frost / Volvo Ocean Race

The two Dutch-skippered teams in the Volvo Ocean Race, team AkzoNobel and Team Brunel are leapfrogging over each other in a bid to set and hold a new 24 hour distance record for the VO65 in the Volvo Ocean Race.

Team Brunel, at the head of the Volvo Ocean Race fleet on Leg 9 from Newport, USA to Cardiff, Wales, was the first to set a new 24-hour distance record in the Volvo Ocean 65 class.

Bouwe Bekking's team blew past the previous record of 550.8 nautical miles set in the last race by Abu Dhabi Racing just after 14:00 UTC on Thursday afternoon.

The open Volvo Ocean race record is held by Ericsson 4, skippered by Torben Grael in the 2008 edition of the race setting a mark of 596.8nm in the Volvo 70's'. His daughter Martine Grael is aboard AzkoNobel now just 9nm off breaking the Grael family 24 hour distance mark.

But they didn't hold the record for long. Simeon Tienpont's team AkzoNobel soon bettered their rival and the teams traded blows in ideal speed-making conditions in the North Atlantic.

As at 17:06 UTC, the best run for team AkzoNobel was 566.02 nautical miles, while Team Brunel had posted 563.06 nm.

Update: At 0100 UTC on May 25 Team Brunel had posted 581.2 nautical miles and team AkzoNobel 588.1nm.

Conditions are expected to be conducive for high speeds for several hours yet. Stand by to see who emerges with the new record and where the mark eventually gets set.

Note all distances and records are provisional and subject to confirmation.

The open 24 hour record was set in 2009 by the maxi trimaran, Banque Populaire V at 908.2nm and an average speed of 37.74kts. The monohull mark is held by the supermaxi Comanche set in 2015 at 618nm with an average speed 0f 25.7kts. Currently the VO65's are sailing at 25kts boat speed in a 27kt breeze.