Teams preparing for final start in Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18

Volvo Ocean Race, The Hague stopover. Practice race on board Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag © Konrad Frost / Volvo Ocean Race

After nine months, 45,000 miles of offshore racing and 10 In-Port Races, the Volvo Ocean Race fleet is preparing to take the final start of the event at the Brunel In-Port Race on Saturday afternoon in The Hague.

It will be a bittersweet moment for the sailors, many of whom may be racing together for the last time after spending many miles at sea as close teammates.

Although MAPFRE won the overall In-Port Race Series with their performance in Gothenburg, there is still much at stake on Saturday, including a tie-break scenario on the overall leaderboard.

SHK/Scallywag and Turn the Tide on Plastic are on equal points for sixth place on the overall Volvo Ocean Race leaderboard. David Witt's Scallywags currently win the tie-break based on their lead in the In-Port Series. But Dee Caffari's Turn the Tide on Plastic is just three points back. A good performance on Saturday, with some boats in-between, could lift Turn the Tide on Plastic into sixth place for both the In-Port Series and the overall Volvo Ocean Race.

There is also a battle between Dutch skippers Simeon Tienpont and team AkzoNobel and Bouwe Bekking's Team Brunel for the final podium spot in the Series as just two points separate the teams.

And AkzoNobel has an outside chance at catching Dongfeng Race Team for second place, although the gap is five points.

Racing starts earlier than usual, at 1330 local time (1130 UTC), and will be broadcast live on all of the usual Volvo Ocean Race outlets.

Current Volvo Ocean Race In-Port Race Series Points Table

1. MAPFRE – 61 points
2. Dongfeng Race Team – 50 points
3. team AkzoNobel – 45 points
4. Team Brunel – 43 points
5. Vestas 11th Hour Racing – 33 points
6. Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag – 24 points
7. Turn the Tide on Plastic – 21 points