Leg 4, Day 17: It’s all about the delta to Vestas

Fans of this Volvo Ocean Race all over the world have been enjoying watching Team Sun Hung Kai Scallywag stealing a march on the fleet and trying to pull off what would be a stunning leg victory into her home port of Hong Kong.

But for Dongfeng Race Team and our fans the more important issue in the closing stages of Leg 4 from Melbourne is the gap to Vestas 11th Hour Racing and the battle for second place overall behind race leader MAPFRE.

The fleet is currently passing the top of the Philippines with the boats now east-northeast of Cape Engano – the northeasterly tip of Luzon Island – and all the navigators have been pushing to get south where the better wind strength is.

So the boats have been gybing and are now about to make their way through the islands off the top of the Philippines – where the race track is cluttered up with small fishing boats - before they enter the stronger winds in the South China Sea.

Before she vanished from our screens Scallywag was heading south and her lead over Vestas had been cut to as little as 36 miles. Behind her Dongfeng got to within 12 miles of Vestas at one point but has now slipped to 25 miles behind, with only 650 miles left to sail.

The opportunities to pass the light blue boat skippered on this leg by the American sailor Mark Towill are rapidly running out for Charles Caudrelier and his crew who are, nevertheless, on course for their fourth straight podium finish in Hong Kong.

Dongfeng Race Team navigator Franck Cammas surveyed the options from the nav station on board the Volvo Ocean 65 sponsored by Dongfeng Motor Corporation going into these tense finals stages.

“The plan is a long starboard downwind gybe. We have seen more wind variation in terms of speed and direction, so sometimes you have the opportunity to do some small gybes to use these variations in the wind and to have a good positioning for the next windshift,” he said.


“Also there is a place when we pass Taiwan where there will be a big wind shadow over there. The weather model is not very precise on this so there will be some way to go around this zone, so we have to anticipate that.

“Otherwise maybe there is another option to do something different at the end – it’s only one model that says that – so if we follow that, there is an opportunity to attack the boats in front of us. It is not easy because, from yesterday, the boats in front have more wind and it is easier for them to stay in front and to create a big gap from us,” Cammas added.

Latest position report at 0845UTC:

1. Vestas 11th Hour Racing. DTF: 582nm
2. Dongfeng Race Team. DTL: 22.09nm
3. MAPFRE. DTL: 92.44nm
4. Turn the Tide on Plastic. DTL: 144.54nm
STEALTH MODE FOR: Team Brunel, Sun Hung Kai Scallywag, Team Akzo Nobel.