Now the order is starting to look set for the finish of Leg 4 from Melbourne, barring a park-up in the final six miles to the line in the river in Hong Kong.
But the separations between the leading boats look big enough to offset anything other than a big slow-down in the final stages and with 175 miles to go – and leading the fleet at a fearsome pace – Team Sun Hung Kai Scallywag skippered by Dave Witt has a 52-mile buffer over second-placed Vestas 11th Hour Racing.
Dongfeng Race Team is sailing in third place another 22 miles back and with a big advantage over Team AkzoNobel in fourth, which is 56 miles behind the red and white Volvo Ocean 65 skippered by Charles Caudrelier. In fifth place for the leg, race leader MAPFRE is 77 miles behind Akzo and just over 200 miles behind Scallywag.
Dongfeng is some way behind Vestas in terms of distance to the finish but she is also 35 miles north of her, a separation that could yet influence the final ranking. However even if Dongfeng does finish third into Hong Kong – it will be Dongfeng Race Team’s fourth consecutive podium finish, placing it in third place overall, one point behind Vestas and having cut the deficit on MAPFRE from six points in Melbourne to four points.
Although Caudrelier’s team has yet to win a leg – despite leading for long periods during each of the last three legs – it is well-placed in a three-way scrap for victory in this race and is showing the consistency to win it. Remember, (not counting the stage to Guangzhou) there are still six proper racing legs to come and two legs with double-points, so there is all to play for in this Volvo Ocean Race.
On board Dongfeng, the crew is looking forward to getting in after a long stage from Melbourne which has seen the hottest conditions of the race so far and long periods of very light wind which has tested the patience of everyone on board.
Most will have family and friends waiting for them in Hong Kong, especially Chen Jinhao (Horace) whose proud family will be eagerly waiting to greet him, mid-way through his second Volvo Ocean Race as he returns to the city where his sailing career began.
Latest position report at 0830UTC:
1. Sun Hung Kai Scallywag. DTF: 162nm
2. Vestas 11th Hour Racing. DTL: 51.17nm
3. Dongfeng Race Team. DTL: 73.11nm
4. Team Akzo Nobel. DTL: 130.60nm
5. MAPFRE. DTL: 206.02nm
6. Team Brunel. DTL: 248.10nm
7. Turn the Tide on plastic: DTL: 252.75nm
