John Kostecki deserved to win this leg perhaps more than any other - it is hard to see where they put a foot wrong. And yet at one point a couple of days ago in the fickle wind conditions off the Brazilian coast, it looked as though victory could be cruelly snatched away from them. They led all the way up the South American coast, always the hunted. Now finally they can breath a sigh as they crossed the finish line at 0258 local time (0558.42 GMT). After 23 days, 5 hours, 58 minutes and 42 seconds.
When stepping ashore Kostecki said : "Being overtaken before finishing would have been devastating for us after sailing the leg so well. It happened to us before finishing in Hobart and it could have easily happened here as well." When asked for the recipe for winning he continued : "It’s because we have the best team !"
During the final approach to the finish line, the current was setting against them in virtually no wind. When the huge Code 0 sail couldn’t fill any more, the crew changed for a smaller headsail that develops less drag in the light air.
In the hot night, spectators are lining up to the sounds of a Samba band playing on the shore.
illbruck will be relieved to have evaded that uncertainty and to have extended their points margin on the rest of the fleet. Even better for them, djuice’s break for the shore away from the other three boats vying for second place appears to be paying off. If Knut Frostad’s decision to split from the pack earns him the runner-up spot here, not only will it help ease some of the pressure from his shoulders, it will put crucial points between illbruck and Amer Sports One.
The next boat is due to finish at 11.39GMT.
Volvo Ocean Race Position Report, Day 24, 0558 GMT
11th Hour Racing Team has won The Ocean Race 2022-23, the world’s longest and toughest team sporting event - the first time a US team has won in the 50-year history of the Race.
The next edition of The Ocean Race, scheduled to start from Alicante, Spain in October 2021, will visit 10 international cities, including the start port and the Grand Finale finish in Genoa, Italy in the summer of 2022.
The latest edition of the Volvo Ocean Race, which started in Alicante, Spain in October 2017 and finished in The Hague in the Netherlands in June 2018, will be remembered as the closest in race history, as well as a record-breaking event on many levels.
Dongfeng Race Team has won the Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18 in the closest finish in race history.
Skipper Charles Caudrelier led his team to victory on the final leg of the race, a 970-mile sprint from Gothenburg, Sweden to The Hague.
Incredibly, it marked the first leg win for the team — it couldn’t have come at a better time.
Charlie Enright’s Vestas 11th Hour Racing showed great patience and sailed a clean race for a victory in the Gothenburg In-Port Race on Sunday.
But it was Xabi Fernández’s MAPFRE team who rode a third place finish on Sunday to win the overall In-Port Race Series, sailing 11 points clear of their closest pursuers, Dongfeng Race Team.
With (…)
The scientific research, using data collected by Race team ‘Turn the Tide on Plastic’, identified over three million micro plastic particles per square kilometre of ocean.
The sub-surface data on micro plastic pollution levels was collected using a state-of-the-art instrument on board their Volvo Ocean 65 racing yacht.
Après Groupama, premier multicoque arrivé hier soir dimanche 18 novembre 2001 à 18h53 heure locale, c’est au tour de célébrer l’arrivée du premier monocoque de cette cinquième édition de la Transat Jacques Vabre, soit Sill Plein Fruit skippé par Roland Jourdain et Gaël Le Cléac’h. Le monocoque rouge a coupé la ligne d’arrivée à 23h13 heure (…)
After the arrival of winner Groupama (Camma/S.Ravussin) at 2053hrs GMT on Sunday 18th November, 3 hours and 32 minutes later battle-weary Kingfisher-Foncia (Gautier/MacArthur), arrived at 1225hrs GMT in the port of Bahia, Brazil. They had raced the 5188.6m course from Le Havre, France in 14 days, 12 hrs, 25 mins & 10 seconds.
451.2 nautical miles in 24 hours is the new benchmark for a Volvo Ocean 60. Between 17.48hrs GMT on Saturday 17th November and the same time on Sunday 18th(yesterday), Team News Corp achieved an average speed of 18.8 knots to propel her into the Volvo Ocean Race record books.
Depuis que Tyco a quitté la flotte jeudi soir pour rentrer en Afrique du Sud réparer son safran endommagé, le rythme de la tête de flotte s’est emballé dans les 50e Hurlants. A l’approche des Kerguélen, sous des latitudes glaciales et tourmentées, les cheveux se sont dressés sur les têtes, le cœur des hommes s’est emballé et les chiffres du (…)
Neither wind nor rain nor sloppy seas could keep Brad Van Liew from finishing his 4,000+ mile transatlantic voyage this weekend aboard his newly acquired Open-50 competition yacht Mission America. Van Liew rolled into Charleston early this morning with the day’s first glimpse of sun at his heels.
Three hours and 32 minutes after Groupama took victory in the Transat Jacques Vabre, Kingfisher-Foncia, skippered by Alain Gautier and Ellen MacArthur, crossed the line at 2225hrs 10s local time (1225hrs 10s GMT) under a "magical starry night", in Gautier’s own words. They have spent 14 days, 12 hours, 35 minutes and 10 seconds racing.
Après l’arrivée de Groupama et de Foncia dimanche soir, Loïck Peyron et Loïc Le Mignon (Fujifilm) sont les prochains navigateurs attendus à Salvador de Bahia, suivis par Jean Le Cam et Jacques Caraës (Bonduelle) puis par Jean-Luc Nélias et Michel Desjoyeaux (Belgacom). L’occasion pour ces trois duos de faire un premier petit bilan de cette (…)
At 1853hrs local time in Brazil, 2053 hrs GMT, Groupama, the Open 60ft trimaran skippered by 28 year old Frenchman Franck Cammas, with Swiss co-skipper Steve Ravussin, crossed the line and thus took the final victory in the double-handed Transat Jacques Vabre 2001, from Le Havre, France, to Salvador de Bahia, Brazil. Groupama covered 5,188.6 (…)
C’est à 18h53 heure locale soit à 21h53 heure française que Groupama skippé par Franck Cammas et Stève Ravussin a coupé la ligne d’arrivée de cette cinquième édition de la Transat Jacques Vabre, Le Havre (France) - Salvador de Bahia (Brésil). Groupama aura parcouru les 5 188,6 milles (soit 9 609,3 kilomètres) de ce parcours en 14 jours, 9 (…)
La dernière nuit en mer a changé la donne en tête de la course puisque Franck Cammas et Stève Ravussin (Groupama) ont pris le commandement de la flotte alors qu’il ne restait plus que 380 milles à parcourir pour atteindre Salvador de Bahia. Une arrivée qui s’annonce pour la nuit, aux dires du Suisse, vers 20h00 (heure française) soit en fin (…)