Dongfeng make race history for China winning Volvo Ocean Race Leg 3
by Volvo Ocean Race media 27 Jan 2015 05:22 GMT
27 January 2015
Dongfeng make race history for China
Dongfeng Race Team claimed a key landmark in the 41-year history of the Volvo Ocean Race on Tuesday when they emphatically won Leg 3 in their home port of Sanya to take the overall lead with six stages to go.
No Chinese team has won a leg in the race before despite two previous entries – Green Dragon in 2008-09 and Team Sanya in 2011-12 – but Charles Caudrelier's (FRA) put that right in style.
"It's the most stressful leg I've ever done in my life," said a mightily relieved Caudrelier, minutes after crossing the line. "But the result is fantastic!"
After finishing narrow runners-up to Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ian Walker/GBR) and Team Brunel (Bouwe Bekking/NED) respectively in Legs 1 and 2, Dongfeng took a firm grip of the 4,670-nautical mile stage from Abu Dhabi to China, virtually from the start on January 3.
At one stage, entering the treacherous Malacca Strait, they stretched their advantage over the fleet to more than 106nm but the fleet never gave up their chase and as they skirted along the wind-shielded Vietnamese coast, Caudrelier found his team's lead cut to under 10nm.
But the 40-year-old and his crew of experienced French sailors mixed with rookie Chinese Cheng Ying Kit ('Kit') and Liu Xue ('Black') stuck grimly to their game plan and slowly but surely stretched their lead once more as they entered the final day's sailing.
Tension up
An infuriating – for Caudrelier and his crew – lack of wind in the South China Sea kept the tension up into the small hours of Tuesday morning and once more the fleet led by Walker's Azzam closed the gap a little but Dongfeng had come too far for too long to relinquish their advantage now.
At just past 0731 local time (2331 UTC), they crossed the finish on a glorious Sanya morning just after daybreak, some 45nm clear of second-placed Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ian Walker/GBR).
Walker went on to guide Azzam to a comfortable runners-up spot to follow their third place in Abu Dhabi from Leg 2 and pronounced himself very satisfied with a performance which keeps his team firmly on track, only one point adrift of the new leaders.
"We learned an awful lot in this leg," he told a news conference. "And that will serve us well in the future of the race."
Team Alvimedica (Charlie Enright/USA) also had plenty of positives to pull from their first podium place in a leg after they had started their entire campaign with victory in the Alicante in-port race.
The Rhode Islander concedes his young crew are still on a learning curve, especially compared with old hands like Walker and Bekking, who boast crews that have sailed many, many more miles together.
"We simply gelled a lot better on this leg," he told reporters, before explaining: "We're developing our relationships and finding efficiencies and starting to click more and more as we go along."
Little consolation
For Bekking there was no such consolation to find after being pipped by MAPFRE (Xabi Fernández) into fifth spot; not the follow-up he was looking for after winning the previous leg into Abu Dhabi in such fine style.
Asked by a local reporter to describe his performance in three words, he could only find two that did the job adequately: "Bloody hopeless."
Fernández, in contrast, had every reason to be quietly satisfied with his job as stand-in for Iker Martínez who skipped the leg to concentrate on pre-Rio Olympic training in Miami, but will be back at the helm for the next stage to Auckland from February 8.
"We sailed the boat better and better and I hope we're going to make more opportunities (to get on the podium in a leg) in the future," he said.
Team SCA (Sam Davies/GBR) will bring the eventful leg to a conclusion later on Tuesday.
For the British skipper and her crew, it has been a stage full of promise and rising impatience to build on the daily experience they are gaining in future legs.
"We know that we still need to improve, but we feel that even in this second half of the leg we have moved forward and we are confident that we can keep gaining on our performance in Leg 4," she said in a message to her team from the boat.
"There is a sense of impatience to go out there again and see what we can do."
www.volvooceanrace.com
Historic victory for China as Dongfeng finishes first in to home port of Sanya (from Dongfeng Race Team)
It was an unbelievable end to a magnificent leg for Dongfeng Race Team. After leading the fleet virtually all the way from Abu Dhabi to Sanya in China, over more than 5,000 miles of intense ocean racing, Dongfeng finally crossed the finish line in first place as the sun rose over Sanya (23:31:38 UTC) in a time of 23 days, 13 hours, 31 minutes and 38 seconds.
This is the first time in history a Chinese team (or any Chinese sailor) has won a leg in the Volvo Ocean Race's 41-year history. And what a leg to win supported by its Chinese partners – Dong Feng meaning wind from the east, Aeolus (Fong Shen) meaning the Wind Guardian and the City of Shiyan.
The reality is that it couldn't have been scripted better. The Chinese team with two Chinese rookie sailors onboard – Liu Xue (Black) and Cheng Ying Kit – showed unparalleled grit and determination and led the entire fleet of some of the world's best offshore sailors to their home country China. With the ambition to 'bring offshore sailing to China' nobody could have predicted the impact this team would have.
Arriving at the pontoon in Serenity Marina, Charles Caudrelier said: "It was the most stressful race of my life. We take the lead on the first day and we had to keep it because we had to arrive first here because it was very important for me and for the project, so we are so proud. One year ago we were here and we were discovering the Chinese sailors who were rookies and now they win the leg – it's just fantastic. Maybe in the first time in offshore sailing something like this has happened – in just one year these guys have become great sailors. I am so proud, this is everything I wanted but I didn't dare think about. It's a team job and you cannot win a leg without a strong team."
There were moments of panic where the chasing pack were catching up and the lead did diminish (from 106 miles to 9 miles at one point). In just under 24 days and racing more than 5,000 nautical miles, Dongfeng held their position. It's the longest time any team has led the fleet since the start of the race back in Alicante in October, which is no surprise as the determination onboard Dongfeng was almost tangible as the teams left for Sanya. Dongfeng was going to fight like hell to win this leg.
Persian Gulf, Hormuz Strait, Gulf of Oman, Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, Andaman Sea/Malacca Straits and the South China Sea are just a few of the challenges the determined men of Dongfeng have had to face as they battled their way through leg 3. Dongfeng have shown exceptional capabilities and stamina on what has been one of the slowest and agonizing legs so far.
This is the ultimate triumph for a project that has the future of Chinese sailing at its core. The youngest sailor in the race at the age of 21, Liu Xue, could not contain his delight on the dockside: "I have made the best decision of my life to join this team. I have learnt so much. This leg and this moment I will remember and cherish for the rest of my life." As a very proud grandmother, who had never flown on a plane until she flew into Sanya for this arrival, stood close by to Black.
When it was agreed that Dongfeng Race Team would lay the foundations for offshore sailing in China no one could have predicted such a perfect result. With little under a year of training the Chinese sailors in the squad have impressed, even if this made Dongfeng Race Team one of the less experienced teams and, subsequently, the least favourite to win when the race started. So this is not only a victory for China but for Caudrelier and his men who have worked day and night to train their Chinese counterparts.
Charles Caudrelier wrote on day 12 of the leg: "I am watching them with admiration, we're leading this leg, we're at the top of the overall leaderboard – you can't compete with the race favourites without a great team. And to build a great team, you need great players. Thinking about the journey of the Chinese sailors since February 2014, Black didn't speak a word of English and had never spent a night at sea. But from the first day he really impressed us – then he quit straight away after his first offshore sailing, beaten by the brutality of the bad weather – and then a few months later he returned. To start your offshore sailing career with a Volvo Ocean Race is brutal. This afternoon I was watching him trim the sails and I realised that he's learnt thousands of details in a very short period of time. It's the same for Kit who is realising his life's dream onboard right now, his first offshore race. This evening he gave me a Chinese lesson, and it reinforced the enormity of the challenge they [the Chinese sailors] are taking on, learning in 6 months to sail and to work in a previously unknown language. I am proud of them."
The Vice President of the International Sailing Federation and China Yachting Association, Mr. Li Quanhai congratulated to Dongfeng Race Team on their victory and stated: "Dongfeng Race Team has made history. It is the best result for a Chinese team in the world of offshore sailing."
Dongfeng Race Team has delivered an outstanding result on this leg and is going to enjoy the moment! However, even though this victory has put Dongfeng at the top of the overall leaderboard, this is only leg 3 of 9 and we can only be as good as our NEXT result.
Dongfeng Race Crew Leg 3:
- Charles Caudrelier, Skipper (FRA)
- Pascal Bidegorry, Navigator (FRA)
- Cheng Ying Kit (Kit) (CHN)
- Liu Xue (Black) (CHN)
- Thomas Rouxell (FRA)
- Kevin Escoffier (FRA)
- Eric Peron (FRA)
- Jack Bouttell (ENG/AUS)
- Sam Greenfield, Onboard Reporter
Team Alvimedica Earns Podium Position in China (from Team Alvimedica)
Crew Places Third in Epic Fight to Finish in Sanya
Team Alvimedica earned a podium finish today in China after some of the closest racing ever seen in the history of the Volvo Ocean Race. The Turkish-American team protected their position in the final stretch to Sanya, carefully navigating a course peppered with fishing boats along the Vietnamese coast and across the South China Sea to cap off a well-sailed leg to clinch third.
Dongfeng Racing won the leg to their homeport after leading from just after the start in Abu Dhabi to the finish in Sanya. The most exciting head-to-head competition was in the middle of the fleet where less than 20-miles separated the places second through fifth. After a hard-fought race where the closest rivals were in sight of each throughout much of the final 10 days to Sanya, Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing placed second and Team Alvimedica earned third.
Skipper Charlie Enright and crew fended off an attack from the Spanish entry Mapfre who crossed the Sanya line just 30 minutes behind Team Alvimedica.
"It was a combination of things – our boat speed was better in certain conditions, our crew was gelling better and we were working in a more efficient way," Enright said of what produced a podium finish on this challenging leg to Sanya. "We were really determined to improve our performance from the first two offshore legs and it paid off today. The guys really dug deep short-tacking up the coast of Vietnam to maintain our position across the South China Sea into Sanya. I am really proud of the guys and how hard everyone worked together to get this result."
Leg 3 could be considered one of the most mentally challenging in the 39,000-mile race around the world. After coping with light air sailing across the Bay of Bengal, the fleet had to face one of the top three busiest shipping lanes in the world – the notoriously difficult Malacca Strait. Before entering the Strait, Enright said he was steeling himself for potentially the most challenging part of the entire circumnavigation with the need to be ready for changing sails, changing game plans, avoiding ships and fishing boats, and sleepless nights. Enright says Team Alvimedica succeeded in overcoming these challenges by staying versatile yet focused and determined.
Navigator Will Oxley said while the crew was aware of other teams behind in hot pursuit, Team Alvimedica made the decisions based on what was happening ahead. "We sailed our race looking forward not looking back. The improvement in boat speed and communication came together on Leg 3 to improve our overall performance on what was likely the most mentally challenging and stressful leg of the entire race."
Team Alvimedica crossed the Sanya finish line today in third place at 03:51:15 UTC or 11:51am local time, completing the 4,670-nautical-mile leg in 23 days, 17 hours, 51 minutes and 15 seconds. The six-boat Volvo Ocean Race fleet set out from Abu Dhabi, UAE, on January 3.
This marks the young team's first podium finish for one of the offshore legs. After three stages, the team stands in fourth place overall and only three points short of third place.
Alvimedica CEO Dr. Cem Bozkurt spoke to Enright soon after the team's arrival to Sanya. "The team has shown significant progress from the first day of this race, gaining experience and building up on their knowledge in the first two legs," Bozkurt said. "Overcoming many challenges along the way and especially in this leg, Team Alvimedica has proved that determination does lead to success."
The Sanya stopover runs until February 8, when the fleet starts Leg 4 to Auckland, New Zealand.
Team Alvimedica's global heart health charity initiative continues at the Sanya stopover. The Chinese Agape Foundation will be the recipient of the funds raised in the online auction now underway for two unique experiences with Team Alvimedica during the Sanya stopover.
Bidding for the "Jump Seat," closes February 1. The auction winner will be part of Team Alvimedica as they compete in Sanya against the Volvo Ocean Race fleet. To learn more about the auction, go to the team website here.
Team Alvimedica crew race crew are: Alberto Bolzan, 32, (ITA); Nick Dana, 28, (Newport, RI, USA); Charlie Enright, 30, (Bristol, RI, USA); Ryan Houston, 32, (NZL); Sebastien Marsset, 30, (FRA); Will Oxley, 49, (AUS); Dave Swete, 30, (NZL); Mark Towill, 26, (Kanehoe, HI, USA); and OnBoard Reporter Amory Ross, 30, (Newport, RI, USA).
Team Alvimedica is the youngest entry in the Volvo Ocean Race 2014-2015, the world's toughest and longest sporting event. The crew is led by American skipper Charlie Enright, age 30. Alvimedica, the European based medical devices company, is the team's owner. Founded in 2007, Alvimedica is a fast growing challenger in the global field of interventional cardiology, committed to developing minimally-invasive technologies. This is the team's first entry in the extremely challenging 39,000-mile race that started October 11, 2014 from Alicante, Spain and features stopovers in 11 ports around the world.
In the United States, TV coverage continues on the NBC Sports Network on Sunday, February 1 at 5pm Eastern.
A warm and colourful welcome for SCA into Sanya (from Team SCA)
Team SCA arrived to a warm and colorful welcome including fireworks, Chinese dragons, orchid garlands and traditional costumes into the city of Sanya on Hainan Island in southern China earlier this evening (local time).
The all-female team crossed the finish line of Leg Three just before 1300h UTC, completing the leg from Abu Dhabi to Sanya, China in 24 days 2 hours 41 minutes and 45 seconds.
"It was a really different leg. I wouldn't say it was hard in terms of the physical side but it just had lots of things coming at all angles whether it was the shoreline, fishing boats and posts and nets, or obstacles in the water. It was challenging in many different ways for all of us, as we have never sailed in that part of the world, which certainly kept us on our toes."
"I have never been to China before and what an amazing welcome. We were blown away by the number of boats on the water when we finished and the number of people and the volume is incredible, so it has made it quite special," said Abby Ehler (GBR).
"From a team perspective, we are aiming to constantly improve leg by leg and we have definitely seen signs of improvement in the sailing and the team work and now we only want to build on that. So we know it is only going to get better, to sail within sight of the other guys for so long was really good and to keep hanging on to those miles and not let the gap lengthen too much towards the finish kept us going and now we want to make sure that we improve on our finishing place overall, preferably ahead!" added Dee Caffari (GBR).
"I think everyone is really happy to arrive into Sanya it is amazing to see so many people here surrounding us right now. I feel that we really grew up as a team on this leg and I think it's only going to be better in the legs ahead," concluded Elodie-Jane Mettraux (SUI).
Team SCA will take a few days break before returning to prepare for the start of Leg Four from Sanya to Auckland, New Zealand on Sunday, February 8.