Volvo Ocean Race, Abu Dhabi wins ‘monster’ leg

Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing crossed the finish line in Itajaì, on the southeastern coast of Brazil at 7:30.10 p.m. local time (9:30 p.m. Italian time) on April 5, 2015, amid two wings of spectator boats, greeted by the very warm embrace of Brazilian fans. It took the team led by Ian Walker 18 days, 23 hours 30 minutes and 10 seconds to cover the 7287.1 miles compared to the theoretical 6,776 miles in Leg 5.

In second place just over half an hour later came MAPFRE, with Spanish skipper Iker Martìnez, while in third place the youngsters of Team Alvimedica, with the only Italian sailor in the race, Alberto Bolzan from Friuli, crossed the line with a gap of less than an hour, at 8:24 p.m. local time, managing to get the better of skipper Bouwe Bekking’s Team Brunel by only one minute, an absolutely incredible gap after 19 days of racing.

A “MONSTER” STAGE
“It was a ‘monster’ stage. It was a very, very close fight.” Said an enthusiastic Ian Walker as he crossed the finish line. “We are overjoyed for the victory and also for the 24-hour record, which we set a few days ago. That’s actually what got us back into the regatta.” In fact, the team bearing the emirates’ colors last Monday, March 30, set the 24-hour mileage record with 550.82 miles. When asked how relevant the new one-design class is Walker said, “It’s simple if you sail well, you get good results. There were times, where we did not sail so well and lost but in the south with strong winds we were able to recover. Psychologically for us, Dongfeng’s breakdown was important because it took the pressure off, we were able to take fewer risks. At that point it was about finishing, not so much about winning. I am also happy because our work list is not long at all, we had few technical problems. And not breaking in this stage was one of our main goals.”

ABU DHABI IN BIG LEAD
With the victory Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, which is the only crew up to this point to have won two victories, puts a very important result in the pipeline for the overall standings, which it now leads with 9 points i.e., a 7-point advantage over Dongfeng Race Team. In fact, the French/Chinese team suffered a setback due to a mast breakage last week when the boat was about 240 miles from the mythical Cape Horn. The women’s crew of Team SCA, author of a more than honorable race, albeit plagued by numerous technical problems follows in fifth position. Just yesterday, the sailors led by Sam Davies informed the Race Control Centre in Alicante that they had suffered a new rupture in one of the two rudders, the left rudder, which they have been unable to replace for the time being. Team SCA is expected in the Brazilian location on Tuesday.

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Order of Arrival Leg 5
1 Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing 18d 23h 30min 10s
2 MAPFRE 19d 00h 02min 56s
3 Team Alvimedica 19d 00h 24min 32s
4 Team Brunel 19d 00h 25min 48s

Ranking after 5 stages
1 Abu Dabi Ocean Racing – 9 points
2 Dongfeng Race Team – 16 points
3 Team Brunel – 18 points
4 MAPFRE – 18 points
5 Team Alvimedica – 19 points
6 Team SCA – 24 points (pending arrival)