Here we go again... After an in-port victory for the Dongfeng Race Team, the Volvo Ocean Race 2018 fleet set off from Auckland (New Zealand) for 7,500 nautical miles in the direction of Itajai, Brazil. This is the longest leg of the race, but will certainly also be the most difficult. It will mainly count double in the overall rankings and the crew who will round Cape Horn first will earn a bonus point. Enough to motivate the troops!
For the 10 e for the first time in the history of the race (over 13 editions), Auckland has become a must-see venue for race aficionados... On land and at sea, thousands of spectators walked or rode on boats to greet the 64 sailors taking the start of this 7th edition of the race e step.
The winds in the bay were 15 to 18 knots from the east and southeast, while outside, the breeze was 23 knots. It was MAPFRE and Dongfeng Race Team who crossed the line first and second, before opting for the left of the water, towards the windward buoy.
Right from the start, the seven boats took the largest sails out of their gear for a descent towards the Auckland Bay Bridge, before embarking on a final tack, upwind, towards the exit of the Gulf of Hauraki.
"We're going to attack an important stage in the Volvo Ocean Race, a tough stage, a difficult stage. We're going to sail south and round Cape Horn; even if some of us have already been there, it's going to be a key stage. We have a lot of points to take, but also a lot of risks that the race will end. The last time, we mustn't forget that we broke a mast..." explained Charles Caudrelier, skipper of the Dongfeng Race Team and three Volvo Ocean Races to his credit, two of them as skipper.
Today, the Franco-Chinese crew is just five points behind its Spanish rival, while 56 points are still at stake before the race arrives in The Hague next June. This is an opportunity for Charles Caudrelier and his team to get back to MAPFRE, as the skipper explains "The bottom line is that today we're five points behind MAPFRE, now we've proved that we're more at ease than the others in conditions like those of the first stage in the south. On almost all the boats, there are some very good sailors who have won the Volvo Ocean Race? They know how to manoeuvre in these conditions. I think the level is getting closer and closer. Now it's a chance to score points, but it's going to be difficult. We've seen it, almost everyone has won a stage except us Brunel and Turn the Tide on Plastic so it's got to turn!"
From this evening, the conditions are going to be very muscular, as four metre swells are expected, as well as winds reaching 40 knots...
