Five of the seven boats entered in this 2018 edition of the Volvo Ocean Race have broken the 24-hour distance record for a Volvo Ocean Race. So Team Brunel will not have remained at the top of the leaderboard for long, quickly dethroned by Team AkzoNobel, who at 11:30 this morning set a new record of 600.1 miles! Quickly forgotten the Dutch team's 560.1 miles!
The latest record to date - the one achieved by Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing in 2015 on a Volvo 65 - was 550.82 miles. The Emirati team achieved it shortly before rounding Cape Horn in the South Pacific.
"The last 24 hours have been pretty intense.. "said skipper Simeon Tienpont on Thursday evening when his team covered 575 nautical miles. Since then, they have added more than 14! " We don't know what others are doing, and that's what keeps us going as fast as we can ."
On the way to Cardiff, it is not easy for crews sailing in rough seas, 4 degrees. But they continue to give their all in an attempt to make a difference. The gaps between the first two are tiny: 11.3 miles separate Team Brunel from the fleet leader, Team AkzoNobel. Behind them, the gaps are widening with third place taken by Vestas 11 h Hour Racing (59.7 miles), Dongfeng Race Team (63.7 miles), MAPFRE (101.2 miles), Turn The Tide on Plastic (104.5) and Team Sun Hung Kai /Scallywag, which closes the gap (134.1 miles). Thus, those who have favoured a southern route have clearly had an advantage over the trio from the northern group.
"It's to live these moments that we run this race.. "said team skipper AkzoNobel. " On deck, it's indescribable how wet you get. And at the same time, living on board, eating, going to the toilet... it's almost impossible. There is no other sport like that in the world! "
The best distances covered in 24 hours
- Team Brunel -- 582.78 nm
- Dongfeng Race Team -- 559.40 nm
- Vestas 11th Hour Racing -- 557.95 nm
- Turn the Tide on Plastic -- 557.77 nm
- MAPFRE -- 549.58 nm
- SHK/Scallywag -- 544.03 nm
