Volvo Ocean Race: Dongfeng Race Team wins Rolex Fastnet Race

In the end it was Dongfeng Race Team who won the Rolex Fastnet Race in the Volvo Ocean 65 category. The seven boats entered in the 2017-2018 edition of the crewed round-the-world race with stopovers took part in the mythical race around the Irish lighthouse as a preparatory "Leg Zero" race. The crews still have to compete in two more races to determine the winner of this leg 0.

Chloé Torterat Published on August 9, 2017

MAPFRE (the Spanish team and winner of the first Leg 0 stage) and Donfeng Race Team had got off to the best start of the Rolex Fastnet Race last Sunday in Cowes. In fact they sailed alongside each other throughout the race, exchanging the role of fleet leader. But the Franco-Chinese crew, led by Charles Caudrelier, crossed the finish line in Plymouth at 4 h 18 min 10 s (local time) this Wednesday 9th August 2017, with MAPFRE closely following at 4 h 19 min 6 s, a lead of 56 seconds!

In the end, the entire fleet found itself separated by only 40 minutes after more than 600 miles of racing. Bouwe Bekking and Team Brunel came in third place, followed in fourth place by Team AkzoNobel. Vestas 11th Hour Racing, Team Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag and Turn the Tide on Plastic completed the list of finishes. With only 39 minutes between the first and last boats, the heats of the Volvo Ocean Race - which will start from Alicante on October 22nd - are expected to be tight.

Dongfeng gained experience, especially in the way he managed and manoeuvred the boat and their faster speed and good tactical decisions generated their victory. Despite leading the fleet many times, skipper Charles Caudrelier revealed that in the end, their victory was far from certain. " We were leading the Fastnet, then downwind and then suddenly, in big clouds, we lost everything, we were the last! Then another cloud helped us to come back, but then MAPFRE was still there, they came back, overtook us, but we came back in front again. It was a nice fight with MAPFRE"

There are two races left in the Leg Zero qualifying stage. On Thursday, the fleet will set off again from Plymouth towards Saint-Malo. After a Pro-Am regatta - not counted in the rankings - on Saturday morning, the seven teams will finish with a long race between Saint-Malo and Lisbon, which will start on Sunday.

While there will be a Leg Zero winner, based on the overall ranking and the points accumulated (each leg has the same value), no points will be entered in the Volvo Ocean Race.

Leg Zero ranking after 2 out of 4 rounds:

MAPFRE - 15 points

Dongfeng Race Team - 13 points

Team Brunel - 13 points

team AkzoNobel - 11 points

11th Hour Racing Jacket - 7 points

Turn the Tide on Plastic - 6 points

Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag - 5 points