This stage will be short, but tactical and difficult. It will also be the return to Europe and to familiar waters for the French competitors present on the stage. For Dongfeng Race Team, this leg is decisive, as they are currently in 2nd place e place in the overall standings, six points behind Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing. Their poor performance in the Newport In-Port is not in their favor either.
" This is one of the last opportunities to come back. Unfortunately, we have to count on a misery for Abu Dhabi. If he doesn't break anything, it will be difficult to take back many points from him on a regular basis. What is important for us, even if we would obviously like to win, is to keep this place. We will fight to stay ahead and have the feeling of finishing well. We have to stay focused. Losing this second place would be a big blow for the team explained Charles Caudrelier on the eve of the In-Port.
MAPFRE, which won the In-Port the day before, is confident and aims to win this leg. Jean-Luc Nélias, navigator on board the red boat explained " Our objective is the same as for the previous stage, but if we didn't reach it, it is to win the stage. If we want to be on the podium, we really need to do great results. We won in Auckland, we finished 2nd in Brazil. We made a small mistake here in Newport with the 4th place. We need to confirm this on the other legs."
A return to Europe that marks the end of the race
This return to Europe is a symbolic event for the crews after 6 months of racing. This stage towards Lisbon also marks the end of the race since after Portugal, there will be the two smallest stages of the race (Lisbon/Lorient for 647 miles and Lorient/Göteborg for 1,600 miles).
Ranking as of May 18, 2015
| Distance to leader | ||
| 1 | Dongfeng Race Team | 2 |
| Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing | 2 mn | 3 |
| MAPFRE | 2.6 mn | 4 |
| Team SCA | 4.5 minutes | 5 |
| Team Alvimedica | 4.5 minutes | 6 |
| Team Brunel | 5.1 mn | |
