{"id":66853,"date":"2018-06-25T19:42:38","date_gmt":"2018-06-25T23:42:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/?p=66853"},"modified":"2023-05-06T21:50:56","modified_gmt":"2023-05-07T01:50:56","slug":"bold-split-earns-dongfeng-its-volvo-ocean-race-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/racing\/bold-split-earns-dongfeng-its-volvo-ocean-race-win\/","title":{"rendered":"Bold Split Earns Dongfeng Its Volvo Ocean Race Win"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Dongfeng <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n Dongfeng Racing Team skipper Charlies Caudrelier won the Volvo Ocean Race as a crew with Frank Cammas\u2019 Groupama in 2012, before launching the ambitious French and Chinese effort with Dongfeng. The team was a leading contender in the previous race before a Southern Ocean dismasting, which served to embolden Caudrelier for this edition of the race. Consistency was key in the end for Dongfeng and winning the final leg (their only leg win) into The Hague proved to be the ultimate storybook outcome.<\/span>\n Ainhoa Sanchez\/Volvo Ocean Race<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n\n

Skipper Charles Caudrelier led his team to victory on the final leg of the race, a 970-mile sprint from Gothenburg, Sweden to The Hague.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Incredibly, it marked the first leg win for the team \u2013 it couldn’t have come at a better time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Three teams started Leg 11 of the race in a dead heat on the overall leaderboard. The finishing order between MAPFRE, Team Brunel and Dongfeng Race Team at The Hague would determine their place on the overall race podium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Each of those three teams led at various points on the leg and had their opportunities to grab the prize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

But it was Caudrelier and his crew who made a bold call on Saturday evening to take a coastal route to the finish, which squeezed them tight against the shoreline and separated from the other leaders by a series of Exclusion Zones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe were not in such a good position, but we trusted our choice and we pushed,\u201d Caudrelier said. \u201cThe others didn\u2019t follow us, but we believed and we won\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

The decision hurt the team in the short term as they tumbled down the leaderboard. But by Sunday morning, with less than 100 miles left to race, weather routing projections had the top boats finishing within minutes of each other. None had been able to break away overnight, despite the significant splits on the race course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe knew that we would fall behind initially and that if it came good it would only be at the end. The last position report (1300 UTC on Sunday) we were 27-miles from the finish and they were 20-miles and we thought it was over. But then I did a small weather routing and it showed we could end up one-mile ahead so I woke everyone up and said, \u2018let\u2019s push!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

As the teams finally converged again on Sunday afternoon, just a few miles from the finish, it was Dongfeng Race Team, flying down the coast from the north sliding in front of the offshore group, to earn their first leg win, propelling Caudrelier\u2019s team to overall victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe always trusted each other. Nobody thought we were going to win this last leg, but I had a good feeling,\u201d an emotional Caudrelier said, after thanking his supporters and team. \u201cI said \u2018we can\u2019t lose, we can\u2019t lose, we can\u2019t lose\u2019\u2026 and we won!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

The overall results make this the closest finish in the 45-year history of the race and marks the first win for a Chinese-flagged team. It also means Carolijn Brouwer and Marie Riou were on board as the first women sailors to win the Volvo Ocean Race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Xabi Fern\u00e1ndez\u2019s MAPFRE was third on the leg, which put the team into second overall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt has been tough,\u201d Fern\u00e1ndez admitted. \u201cWe sailed very well the whole way around the world and on this leg as well, so naturally we\u2019re a bit disappointed. We were very, very close this time, but it was not quite enough. So we have to say congratulations to Dongfeng who sailed a little bit better than us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Team Brunel skipper Bouwe Bekking would have liked nothing more than to win the race for the first time in eight tries with a home finish in The Netherlands. But it wasn\u2019t to be. His fourth-place leg finish left the team in third place overall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

\u201cThird place, still on the podium, I think we can be pretty proud of that as a team,\u201d he said. \u201cWe thought we had made the right choice (to go further offshore) and we expected a windshift. It came 90-minutes too late and that was the race. But that\u2019s yacht racing. And, of course, we have to congratulate Dongfeng and MAPFRE for their results.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Second place on the final leg into The Hague was Dutch skipper Simeon Tienpont and his team AkzoNobel, who had previously secured fourth place on the overall leaderboard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s incredible to finish on the podium in our hometown,\u201d Tienpont said. \u201cWe would have loved to have been fighting into The Hague for the final podium but to have set the 24-hour speed record and to get six podium finishes in the race is a testament to the job everyone on our team \u2013 on the boat and on shore \u2013 have done.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Vestas 11th Hour Racing had already been locked into fifth place on the scoreboard and after a promising start to Leg 11, had a disappointing seventh place finish on the leg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have a great group of folks on this team,\u201d skipper Charlie Enright said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been through a lot and I\u2019m not sure any other group could have dealt with the challenges we have faced the way we did. It\u2019s something special and we\u2019re going to continue to work together moving forward. This was a tough way to go out certainly, but we have one more opportunity with the In-Port Race this weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

That In-Port Race, scheduled for Saturday afternoon, will determine the sixth and seventh place positions in this edition of the Volvo Ocean Race. Both SHK\/Scallywag and Turn the Tide on Plastic finished the Volvo Ocean Race on equal points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

The tie-break mechanism is the In-Port Race Series, where David Witt\u2019s Scallywag team currently holds the lead. But Dee Caffari\u2019s Turn the Tide on Plastic is just three points behind and a strong finish on Saturday could lift them off the bottom of the leaderboard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t help but smile today. We\u2019ve done it,\u201d said Caffari. \u201cThis leg was like the longest In-Port Race ever. A lot of corners to go around, and we gave it 100 per cent and left nothing in the tank.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

For David Witt, the finish was bittersweet the loss of John Fisher overboard in the Southern Ocean top of mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have very mixed emotions right now,\u201d Witt said dockside immediately after finishing. \u201cI\u2019m incredibly proud of our team both on and off the water. We\u2019re very tight and we have gone through a lot… But I\u2019m also sad of course. I didn\u2019t finish it with my best mate (John Fisher) who we started with. So very mixed emotions, but I\u2019m glad we finished it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

The teams will celebrate their accomplishments and take well-earned rest on Monday. The rest of the week will see activities in The Hague building towards the final In-Port Race and Awards Night on June 30.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Volvo Ocean Race Leg 11 Final Leaderboard \u2013 Saturday 23 June<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n

  1. Dongfeng Race Team \u2013 3 days, 3 hours, 22 minutes, 32 seconds<\/p><\/li>

  2. team AkzoNobel \u2013 3 days, 3 hours, 38 minutes, 31 seconds<\/p><\/li>

  3. MAPFRE \u2013 3 days, 3 hours, 39 minutes, 25 seconds<\/p><\/li>

  4. Team Brunel \u2013 3 days, 3 hours, 45 minutes, 52 seconds<\/p><\/li>

  5. Turn the Tide on Plastic \u2013 3 days, 3 hours, 56 minutes, 56 seconds<\/p><\/li>

  6. SHK \/ Scallywag \u2013 3 days, 4 hours, 01 minutes, 32 seconds<\/p><\/li>

  7. Vestas 11th Hour Racing \u2013 3 days, 4 hours, 05 minutes, 36 seconds<\/p><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n\n

    Volvo Ocean Race Overall Points Leaderboard after Leg 11<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n

    1. Dongfeng Race Team \u2013 73 points<\/p><\/li>

    2. MAPFRE \u2013 70 points<\/p><\/li>

    3. Team Brunel \u2013 69 points<\/p><\/li>

    4. team AkzoNobel \u2013 59 points<\/p><\/li>

    5. Vestas 11th Hour Racing \u2013 39 points<\/p><\/li>

    6. SHK \/ Scallywag \u2013 32 points *<\/p><\/li>

    7. Turn the Tide on Plastic \u2013 32 points *<\/p><\/li><\/ol>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      In the closing 24 hours of the final leg of the Volvo Ocean Race, Dongfeng Race Team made a calculated tactical call that would ultimately be the most decisive maneuver of the entire nine-month race.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27579,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"BS_author_type":"BS_author_is_guest","BS_guest_author_name":"Volvo Ocean Race Media","BS_guest_author_url":"","hydra_display_date":"20180625","hydra_display_updated":false,"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":"159","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Consistency was key in the end for Dongfeng and winning the final leg (their only leg win) of the Volvo Ocean Race into The Hague proved to be the ultimate storybook outcome.","_yoast_wpseo_title":"Bold Split Earns Dongfeng Its Volvo Ocean Race Win %%sep%% %%sitename%%","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","arc_story_id":"7XN6AKXVM3KALQ27V5YBDG66CM","arc_website_url":"bold-split-earns-dongfeng-its-volvo-ocean-race-win\/","custom_permalink":"","arc_subtype":"right-sidebar","arc_exclude_from_feeds":false,"sponsored":false,"sponsored_label":"Sponsored Content","sponsored_display_label":false,"sponsored_image":0,"post_right_rail":true,"post_right_rail_ad_1":true,"post_right_rail_ad_2":true,"post_right_rail_ad_3":false,"post_right_rail_ad_4":false,"post_right_rail_recirc":true,"fixed_anchor_ad":true,"post_top_ad":true,"post_off_ramp":true,"post_taboola":false,"labels":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[159],"tags":[951,178,304],"class_list":["post-66853","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-racing","tag-dongfeng-race-team","tag-sailboat-racing","tag-volvo-ocean-race"],"acf":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66853","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66853"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66853\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66853"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66853"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66853"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}