In the last 42 days Tom and Lawrence have covered an incredible 1823 nautical miles (nm).

When they started they had 2900nm in total to travel however, unless the were going to row over land they would need to go a little further to keep Yves in the ocean (about 3150nm if they were to follow the shortest route between all their waypoints.)  This is part of the reason by one nautical mile rowed does not result in being one nautical mile closer to Salcombe.  On average so far Tom and Lawrence have rowed 43nm per day and made 26nm towards Salcombe.  This is significant difference of 17nm between distance rowed and distance towards Salcombe each day.

Part of this can be explained by the route and the need to row around particular features such as the Grand Banks and the mainland of the USA when they departed from New York.  The remaining difference can then be explained by the boat not necessarily in a straight line as waves, wind and current constantly work to knock the guys away from the shortest possible route.  This was witnessed by all of us just a few weeks ago when Yves was stuck in the circle of current that took Tom and Lawrence 10 days to break out of.  The Big Vortex of Doom (BVOD) lost the lads 10 days of progress so we can also look at some of these calculations with the somewhat rose-tinted expectation that this won’t happen again.

When we ignore the effects of the BVOD the averages creep up a little higher.  Now the guys are rowing 44nm per day and making 35nm towards Salcombe despite the dog leg in the route.  This is a much smaller difference of just 9nm per day.

There is even more good news for the future when we consider that now the team have passed the last of their main geographical obstacles they can point directly towards Salcombe and we can expect to see the difference between the miles rowed and the miles made towards target, decrease dramatically.  So let’s guess that Tom and Lawrence will start to be more accurate with their steering and loose only 4.5nm per day.  Giving us an expected average mileage towards Salcombe each day of around 40nm.

So with 1785nm left to row we can expect the crew to maybe take another 44 days before they finish, which would give them a crossing time of 86 days – July 27th.

However, there is an awful long way yet to go and many other aspects to the calculations that we have not considered here.  As they eat their food rations the boat will become lighter and thus faster but they will be more tired having spent months at sea and so their speed may drop.  The Gulf Stream which has helped and hindered their progress to date should become less influential in their future progress will that reduce their pace or will the benefit of not getting stuck in a westerly current increase their average speeds?  Or will they get stuck in another swirl of current halting progress for a few days?  Maybe they will find an extra burst of speed as they get closer to Britain but will their need to be more precise with their course force them to slow down?  Only time will tell but it is clear to see why working out when they will arrive is no exact science.

The team started out with 90 days of food rations so at the moment it looks like it is almost the perfect amount.  We also know that there have been a few days (especially near the start when they weren’t eating all of their rations and so have a little more in reserve). The support team continue to monitor the amount of food on Yves and the teams progress and stand ready to advise Tom and Lawrence accordingly.

NB:// All figures and distances listed above are rounded up and based upon the Earth being a perfect sphere. This is not 100% accurate but provides us with enough information to analyse and assess the state of play.  Timings and arrival dates are based on the latest daily position gained on 14th June at 15:00.

The battle wears on but champions remain unbowed

via By the numbers – Ocean Valour.

– Sailors relish The Hague pit stop

– But eyes are still fixed on Swedish finale

– Four teams battle it out for two podium places

– Follow the racing all the way on our super App

LORIENT, France, June 15 – Four boats, 960 nautical miles (nm), six days sailing, one objective – to join Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing on the Volvo Ocean Racing 2014-15 podium.

That is the sum of it for a quartet of challengers after nearly 38,000nm of navigating some of the most treacherous seas on earth over more than eight months of gruelling competition for professional sport’s longest challenge.

Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ian Walker/GBR) have already all but secured the overall trophy in Lorient, France, after claiming their seventh podium position (third) of the eight legs sailed so far.

Even if they finish last in the final leg to Gothenburg from Lorient, starting on Tuesday at 1700 CEST, via a pit stop in The Hague, they still cannot be caught by their closest pursuers, Team Brunel (Bouwe Bekking/NED), eight points behind them.

Only a catastrophic breach of rules leading to two or more penalty points coupled with a last-placed finish in Sweden can deprive Walker of the honour of lifting the trophy now – and that is very, very unlikely to happen.

There’s still much to sail for, though, with Ian Walker determined to finish in style.

Meantime, Bouwe Bekking and his second-placed crew are desperate to take that second step on the podium.

But no less than three teams are breathing down their necks and determined to pass them on the final leg.

Just six points separate the Dutch boat (27 points) from Dongfeng Race Team (Charles Caudrelier/FRA – 29 points), MAPFRE (Iker Martínez/ESP – 31 points) and Team Alvimedica (Charlie Enright/USA – 33).

And both Leg 8 winners, Team SCA (Sam Davies/GBR), and runners-up, Team Vestas Wind (Chris Nicholson/AUS), have ample reason to upset them all too.

They will each be desperate to prove that their fantastic performances from Lisbon to Lorient were no flashes in the pan.

It’s all boiling up to be one final, enthralling, leg – especially with what promises to be a massively attended 24-hour pit stop in The Hague, added to the mix on Friday/Saturday (June 19-20).

Bekking would like nothing better than to sail into his home country in the lead – “it’s going to be huge there, it will be crazy” – and then seal the deal in Gothenburg, two days later.

“It’s really all about Gothenburg,” he told Monday’s news conference.

“It will be nice to finish first in Scheveningen (The Hague), but the points are only awarded in Gothenburg. That will be the big thing and I’ll try to keep the guys focused on that as much as possible.”

Dongfeng Race Team’s Charles Caudrelier, meanwhile, is focused on denying his Dutch rival and rounding off a campaign that has already exceeded expectations with four rookie Chinese sailors in his ranks.

He confirmed that hitches with the onboard machine that converts sea to drinkable water, have been fixed after issues on two legs.

“We know the problem now, it shouldn’t be an issue again,” he said.

MAPFRE skipper Iker Martínez is simply happy to be back at the helm and moving on from the off-course wrangles over three penalty points that were given by the ISAF independent jury for infringements on Leg 5 and Leg 7.

“Once we’re in the water it’s much easier for us,” he said. “We know how to manage our boat and go sailing.”

As for Charlie Enright, who has skippered the youngest crew in the race, a podium place would round off perfectly a race in which his team has improved leg on leg as well as scooping two in-port wins including on Sunday in Lorient.

“It would be a great accomplishment, certainly,” he said. “We’ve thrown a lot into this and it would mean a lot to us. We’ve learned so much along the way. If only we knew when we started what we know now.”

The seven boats are expected to arrive in The Hague (Scheveningen) on Friday morning and leave after midday the following day following the brief stop.

They will then arrive in port for the final time on Monday (June 22), or more unlikely, the following day, in Gothenburg for a grandstand finish roared on by what is expected to be a packed Race Village.

via Best of rivals – but four into two don’t go| Volvo Ocean Race 2014-2015.

Note to editors: This version adds quotes from Team Alvimedica and Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing’s skippers (full story below).

– Enright’s crew dominate for Lorient victory

– MAPFRE snatch second in the closing stages

– Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing still clear at the top of standings

– Follow the final Leg 9 on our fabulous App

LORIENT, France, June 14 – Team Alvimedica claimed their second Volvo Ocean Race in-port race series victory in Lorient, France, on Sunday after leaving their rivals trailing following a delayed start due to lack of wind.

The victory, which follows their triumph in the opening in-port race in Alicante eight months ago, bolsters the hopes of Charlie Enright’s crew to claim a much-coveted final podium finish in the series that concludes in Gothenburg, Sweden, on June 27.

The SCA In-Port Race Lorient victory will also lift their chances of a top-three finish in the overall standings. The series also acts as a tie-breaker for the tightly contested second and third places in the offshore competition that also finishes in Gothenburg the week after next.

A lack of breeze on the race track kept the fans in Lorient waiting some 30 minutes before the action started, but there was drama aplenty from the off.

MAPFRE (Iker Martínez/ESP) were forced to duck behind the rest of the seven-strong fleet as a premature start loomed and they immediately conceded seemingly costly ground on their rivals in such a key race.

Team Alvimedica had no such problems and led the boats on the windier right hand side of the course, giving them a good advantage in the chase to the first gate.

Team SCA (Sam Davies/GBR) and Team Vestas Wind (Chris Nicholson/AUS), first and second respectively in Leg 8 from Lisbon to Lorient, chose the lefthand side of the course and that stored up problems for them as they approached the first mark.

Both were ordered to take penalty turns. The all-women’s crew for apparently failing to give MAPFRE enough space (water) as they tacked around the mark, and Team Vestas Wind for commiting a similar offence against Team Brunel (Bouwe Bekking/NED).

The fleet split right and left on the next leg, while Team Alvimedica cruised untroubled away at the head of the fleet, building their lead to around 300 metres.

By the fourth leg, the young Turkish/American-backed crew continued to stretch away with Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing heading the chasing pack and quite happy to consolidate their position at the top of the overall in-port race standings if they could.

The result now was in no doubt in terms of who would win, but Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, Team Brunel and Dongfeng Race Team were still separated by only metres as the fifth leg continued.

As the leg finished, Azzam and no less than three other boats converged on the mark with Team Brunel, MAPFRE and Dongfeng Race Team scrapping for second place with the Emirati boat.

Into the final leg, MAPFRE steamed through in the closing stages with a perfect angle and extra wind to snatch second from Walker’s crew and Dongfeng Race Team also bypassed the Emirati boat as the line approached, leaving them fourth.

Team SCA then won a three-way showdown for fifth, just ahead of Team Brunel with Team Vestas Wind taking seventh.

The results leave the in-port standings perfectly poised for the final deciding race in Gothenburg on June 27.

Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, the overall event winners elect, are still top on 25 points, six clear of Team Brunel (31), with Team Alvimedica (32), Team SCA (33), MAPFRE (34) and Dongfeng Race Team (36) all with good chances of podium places.

Team Vestas Wind, who missed all the in-port races from Abu Dhabi to Newport, Rhode Island, because of their rebuild following a collision with a reef, are on 66 points.

Should Team Brunel win the final race in Gothenburg, they would lift the trophy at the expense of Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing since they would have the most individual victories in the series.

Walker, who is already assured of the main offshore trophy as long as his crew do not pick up a batch of penalty points in the final leg from Lorient to Gothenburg, was satisfied with Sunday’s performance.

“It was a good result for us,” he told reporters. “We were just trying to cover Team Brunel and to get enough points to get the series won. We’ve not quite done that, but we’re in a pretty good position.”

Enright then summed up: “We had a really, really good start which made it pretty easy to execute our game plan. We need another good result in Gothenburg to close the deal.”

via UPDATE: Team Alvimedica set up in-port series finale thriller| Volvo Ocean Race 2014-2015.

Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing’s British skipper Ian Walker (GBR) savoured his triumph in the 12th edition of the Volvo Ocean Race this week after yet another podium spot in Leg 8 to Lorient, France – but his hunger to bring more trophies back to the Emirate is not satisfied yet (full story below).

– Skipper Walker hungry for more silverware

– In-port race series perfectly poised for final two races

– Follow the action in Lorient on our fabulous App

LORIENT, France, June 13 – Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing’s British skipper Ian Walker (GBR) savoured his triumph in the 12th edition of the Volvo Ocean Race this week after yet another podium spot in Leg 8 to Lorient, France – but his hunger to bring more trophies back to the Emirate is not satisfied yet.

Only a freak batch of penalty points can rob Walker and his team from lifting the handsome silver trophy in Gothenburg at the end of the nine-month, 38,739-nautical mile, offshore marathon on June 27.

They lie eight points clear of their closest rivals, Team Brunel (Bouwe Bekking/NED) in the standings, and even a Dutch win and a last place for Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing in the final stage, would only close that gap by six points.

A jubilant, but still tired Walker, reported on Friday that he had spent the previous evening not savouring his triumph deep into the night with his team mates in a Lorient restaurant, but catching up on his sleep.

He had barely slept a wink in the three-and-a-half day leg from Lisbon, Portugal, to Lorient, which finished with a title-clinching third place for his crew just before dawn on Thursday, behind winners Team SCA (Sam Davies/GBR) and Team Vestas Wind (Chris Nicholson/AUS).

Walker also underlined that he still has unfinished business. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing are also leading the in-port race series and he would like nothing better than doing the ‘double’ and make his adopted country even prouder.

They are currently leading by four points (see Scoreboard), again with Team Brunel in second place, but in this competition, the podium places are very much still up for grabs.

Six of the seven teams – Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, Team Brunel, Team SCA, Team Alvimedica (Charlie Enright/USA), MAPFRE (Iker Martínez/ESP) and Dongfeng Race Team (Charles Caudrelier/FRA) – still have chances of podium places, with two races of the 10-part series to be decided, here in Lorient and in Gothenburg at the end of June.

The series is also a tiebreaker for the offshore competition and that could be key since teams could still finish up tied after Leg 9.

The SCA In-Port Race Lorient, takes place in the Brittany port at 1200 UTC/1400 local time on Sunday.

“We will be giving it everything we have got,” said Walker. “My team have sailed really well in the in-port series too and we’ll certainly be pressing as hard as we can to bring more silverware back home to Abu Dhabi. That’s our focus now.”

MAPFRE are the in-form team, having won the last two in-port races in Newport, Rhode Island, and Lisbon, and to boost their cause, skipper Iker Martínez is back at the helm having missed Leg 8 to Lorient due to Olympic training commitments.

He will also sail the final leg to Gothenburg, via a pit-stop in The Hague, which starts from Lorient at 1500 UTC/1700 local time on Tuesday (June 16).

via Can Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing make it a double?| Volvo Ocean Race 2014-2015.

Britain’s Ben Ainslie, the most successful Olympic sailor in history, has won another prestigious prize to add to a trophy cabinet already groaning with top honours: The Magnus Olsson Award in memory of the much-missed Volvo Ocean Race sailor (full story below).

LORIENT, France, June 12 – Britain’s Ben Ainslie, the most successful Olympic sailor in history, has won another prestigious prize to add to a trophy cabinet already groaning with top honours: The Magnus Olsson Award in memory of the much-missed Volvo Ocean Race sailor.

Swede ‘Mange’ Olsson was one of the best, most recognisable and popular sailors ever to compete in offshore sailing’s toughest test, taking part in six races.

He was helping to prepare the all-female Team SCA (Sam Davies/GBR) for the current 2014-15 12th edition, when he died from a stroke at the age of 64.

The day after his protégées won Leg 8 from Lisbon to Lorient, France, following an impeccable performance in testing Atlantic conditions, the honour in his name has been awarded to a sailor whose own career has been littered with awards throughout.

Shortly after his death, Olsson’s family and some of his closest friends created a memorial fund in his name.

Its aim is to promote Swedish youth sailing and boating activities by awarding grants to individuals or organizations as well as presenting the annual Magnus Olsson Award that honours an individual or organisation – preferably with Olsson’s inimitable spirit and enthusiasm.

Winning the prize has delighted Ainslie, who succeeds another multi-Olympic champion and 2008-09 Volvo Ocean Race winner, Torben Grael (BRA), who was awarded the first award last year.

“Magnus was a sailor who everyone looked up to and admired. His reputation was as a true great of the sport who embodied an amazing spirit for sailing,” he said.

“I am very honoured to receive this award and to help work with the Magnus Olsson Memorial Foundation to support and encourage the next generation of young sailors.”

Ainslie, 38, the son of former Whitbread Round the World sailor Roddy, has reached the podium in five consecutive Olympic Games from 1996 to 2012, finishing in the silver medal position in the first of those in Atlanta and winning gold in the next four.

Ainslie is the only person who has been made ISAF World Sailor of the Year four times and in 2010 he finished in first place in the ISAF World Match Racing Championship.

In September 2013, he joined as a tactician during an Oracle Team USA practice session and the following day, he replaced John Kostecki going into race six of the 2013 Americas Cup with his team staring defeat in the face.

Oracle Team USA went on to defend the America’s Cup by a score of 9-8 against Emirates Team New Zealand, coming back from 8-1 down at one stage.

Ainslie was also knighted by his country in 2013 for services to the sport.

Now stepping into a new role, as skipper and team principal of Ben Ainslie Racing, Ainslie will develop and lead a British entry into the 35th America’s Cup for 2017, with the aim of bringing the Cup back to his country where it all began in 1851.

He will receive the prize at a ceremony in Gothenburg on Friday, June 26 in the Volvo Ocean Race village stopover.

At the same ceremony, two scholarships will be awarded to young Swedish sailors. Scholarship recipients will also have the opportunity to receive mentoring support for a year from Ainslie as the winner of the Magnus Olsson Award.

The scholarship recipients will also be presented in Gothenburg on June 26. On the same day there will be a ‘Mange Olsson Memorial Foundation Youth Sailors Workshop’ – a workshop for boys and girls who take sailing seriously.

As recognition of the strong links between Olsson and the Volvo Ocean Race, a special tribute will also be presented to a crewmember from the Volvo Ocean Race.

via Ainslie wins Magnus Olsson Award for contribution to sailing| Volvo Ocean Race 2014-2015.

Three skippers with different points to prove made the Lorient dock an oasis of hard-won satisfaction for the podium finishers at the end of a short, but super-challenging Volvo Ocean Race Leg 8 (full story below).

– Walker, Davies and Nicholson with much to celebrate

– Fleet now takes stock ahead of final leg to Gothenburg

– Make sure you don’t miss a beat with our fabulous App

LORIENT, France, June 12 – Three skippers with different points to prove made the Lorient dock an oasis of hard-won satisfaction for the podium finishers at the end of a short, but super-challenging Volvo Ocean Race Leg 8.

For Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing skipper, Ian Walker (GBR), it was the triumphant feeling of returning to the race for the third time and achieving a career ambition in all but sewing up offshore sailing’s most prestigious title with one stage to go.

Sam Davies’s (GBR) emotions were similarly not difficult to fathom on the Brittany port’s packed dock in the emerging dawn on Thursday.

Her crew of intensely proud, professional female sailors had taken criticism that they were not up to the job of taking on the men in the nine-month, 38,739-nautical mile race – and they had just answered those ‘experts’ in the best way possible.

Although Leg 8 was much shorter than its seven predecessors, any of the sailors in the seven competing boats will tell you that, in intensity, it was one of the toughest legs of the course.

Conditions were challenging from day one with strong head winds (35 knots plus) and a hideous short sea almost all the way from Lisbon to Lorient.

Team SCA’s women not just mastered those conditions, but they pulverised the competition – in relative terms – by leading virtually all the way.

For the stage’s runner-up, Chris Nicholson (AUS), skipper of Team Vestas Wind, the sensation of a job done almost to perfection must have run just as deep as with Walker and Davies.

Many had predicted that the blue boat would not even be on the start line in the penultimate leg of the Volvo Ocean Race.

A calamitous collision with an unyielding rock and coral reef in the middle of the Indian Ocean back in November during Leg 2 should have written off Nicholson’s boat, Vestas Wind, there and then.

But backed by Vestas, secondary sponsors Powerhouse, and a shore crew just as determined as he, Nicholson defied apparent logic and helped oversee the re-building of his campaign.

And on Thursday, that re-birth came to a magnificent conclusion as they easily stole second place behind Team SCA.

“When I look at what we had to get through to get the boat on the water, if I have to be honest, I was kind of hoping we would do fourth or fifth,” said Nicholson, on arrival in Lorient to be greeted by his family.

“Second – I’m over the moon.”

His friend and newly appointed navigator, Tom Addis (AUS), knows that feeling.

“Nico has been through a lot this race, and I can’t imagine how relieved he’d be to have a good result.

“Expectations are not something we’ve talked about at all, and I’m the same as Nico. I had no idea if we would do first or last or somewhere in the middle. I was very confident going into this with him in the first place – we’re very similar people, very simple types really.”

Nicholson, Davies and Walker will now have four more days in Lorient, along with their rivals from Team Brunel (Bouwe Bekking/NED), MAPFRE (Xabi Fernández/ESP), Dongfeng Race Team (Charles Caudrelier/FRA) and Team Alvimedica (Charlie Enright/USA), before they all set sail for the final leg of the race on Tuesday, to Gothenburg, via a pit-stop in The Hague.

On Sunday, they will turn their attention to the SCA In-Port Race Lorient in a series that is very finely poised (see Scoreboard).

via Three proud skippers | Volvo Ocean Race 2014-2015.

Ian Walker (GBR) and his Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing crew all but clinched the 12th edition of offshore sailing’s toughest challenge in the early hours of Thursday when a third place in Leg 8 left them with an eight-point lead in the Volvo Ocean Race with one stage to go (full story below).

– Only freak finish can deprive Walker of lifetime ambition

– All-women crew silence the critics with crushing stage triumph

– Four still can finish in runners-up place in Gothenburg finale

– Keep up with all the action for the final leg on our fabulous App

LORIENT, France, June 11 – Ian Walker (GBR) and his Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing crew all but clinched the 12th edition of offshore sailing’s toughest challenge in the early hours of Thursday, when a third place in Leg 8 left them with an eight-point lead in the Volvo Ocean Race with one stage to go.

Only a very unlikely combination of a last-place finish in Leg 9 to Gothenburg from Lorient, France, plus at least two penalty points can deprive the team of a remarkable achievement (see Scoreboard).

For Walker, 45, it is the realisation of a career ambition to become the first British skipper to win the overall trophy in the 41-year-old event, although John Chittenden won the Cruising Division of the 1989-90 edition won by Sir Peter Blake’s Steinlager2.

And it is no less of an extraordinary achievement for the Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing project, which only entered the race for the first time in 2011-12 and finished a disappointing fifth. The team and skipper Walker learnt hard lessons.

A pre-race strategy for 2014-15 of a podium finish in each leg has been carried out almost to perfection – they were fifth in Leg 7 – to take them through to a handsome victory.

Their triumph was set up at 0305 UTC/0505 local time on Thursday, when they finished in the final podium position behind fairy-tale Leg 8 winners Team SCA (Sam Davies/GBR) and runners-up, Team Vestas Wind (Chris Nicholson/AUS).

With MAPFRE (Xabi Fernández/ESP) obligingly sandwiched in fourth between Azzam and Team Brunel (Bouwe Bekking/NED), it was mission all but accomplished for Walker and his ecstatic crew.

“It’s not really sunk in yet,” said a still dazed Walker. “When we passed the finish line we all went quiet and asked ourselves ‘is that it?’

“But I can’t thank our team enough. We made a plan one and a half years ago and we just carried out that plan.”

He could not resist a thought of the reaction ‘back home’ in Abu Dhabi. “I bet they’re going nuts,” he said. “We couldn’t have done it without their backing.”

Dongfeng Race Team (Charles Caudrelier/FRA), who, like Team Brunel, realistically needed to beat Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing to stand any chance of wresting the trophy away following their disappointing mast-break in Leg 5, could only finish in seventh and last place behind Team Alvimedica (Charlie Enright/USA).

To underline, once again, how close this 2014-15 race has been, though, all seven boats finished within one hour and 26 minutes of each other after three-and-a-half days of sailing from Lisbon, Portugal to Lorient.

Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing were certainly not the only team in celebratory mood on the Lorient dock.

Earlier, skipper Sam Davies (GBR) and her Team SCA crew struck a resounding blow for women’s offshore sailing with the Leg 8 victory.

The comfortable victory was the first leg win for a female crew in offshore sailing’s toughest challenge since Tracy Edwards’ Maiden clinched two stage wins in Class D of the 1989-90 race.

At least as satisfying for the first all-women’s crew to enter the race in 12 years will be the opportunity to silence critics who suggested that they were looking outclassed in the current 12th edition by their experienced male rivals.

True, the Swedish entry has yet to claim a podium place until now, but the crew has clearly improved leg after leg and many observers felt that a breakthrough performance was just around the corner.

The win was certainly no fluke in an upwind leg that tested seamanship to the full with an often heinous sea state and strong winds virtually throughout.

They grabbed the 647-nautical mile leg from Lisbon by the scruff of the neck on Monday and strengthened that grip on Tuesday after taking an offshore course while most of their rivals hugged the Spanish and French coast approaching the Bay of Biscay.

It took them three days 13 hours 11 minutes and 11 seconds to grab their share of Race history.

“Thanks to everybody for all your support. It’s not really sunk in yet,” said a jubilant Davies. “It probably won’t hit us until we hit the dock and we see there aren’t any other boats there.

“It’s a reward for all the hard work we have done. It’s a great confidence booster. It’s going to be huge for us. We’ve had a mountain to climb to get here.”

via Morning glory for Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing and Team SCA| Volvo Ocean Race 2014-2015.

Skipper Sam Davies (GBR) and her Team SCA crew struck a resounding blow for women’s offshore sailing in the early hours of Thursday morning when they gloriously clinched Leg 8 of the Volvo Ocean Race (full story below).- A resounding blow for women’s offshore sailing- Team Vestas Wind bounce back for second place – Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing nearing overall trophy winLORIENT, France, June 11 – Skipper Sam Davies (GBR) and her Team SCA crew struck a resounding blow for women’s offshore sailing in the early hours of Thursday morning when they gloriously clinched Leg 8 of the Volvo Ocean Race.The comfortable victory was the first leg win in offshore sailing’s toughest challenge since Tracy Edwards’ Maiden clinched two stage wins in Class D of the 1989-90 race, won overall by Sir Peter Blake’s famous Steinlager2.At least as satisfying for the first all-women’s crew to enter the race in 12 years will be the opportunity to silence critics who suggested that they were looking outclassed in the current 12th edition by their experienced male rivals.True, the Swedish entry had yet to win a podium place until now, but the crew has clearly improved leg after leg and many observers felt that a breakthrough performance was just around the corner.The win was certainly no fluke in an upwind leg that tested seamanship to the full with an often heinous sea state and strong winds virtually throughout.They grabbed the 647-nautical mile leg from Lisbon by the scruff of the neck on Monday, and strengthened that grip on Tuesday after taking an offshore course while most of their rivals hugged the Spanish and French coast approaching the Bay of Biscay.It took them three days 13 hours 11 minutes and 11 seconds to grab their share of Race history.”Thanks to everybody for all your support. It’s not really sunk in yet,” said a jubilant Davies. “It probably won’t hit us until we hit the dock and we see there aren’t any other boats there.”It’s a reward for all the hard work we have done. It’s a great confidence booster. It’s going to be huge for us. We’ve had a mountain to climb to get here.”Behind them, another fairy-tale was unfolding as Team Vestas Wind (Chris Nicholson/AUS) closed to a remarkable second-placed finish in their return to the race after six months out following a collision with an Indian Ocean reef on November 29 during Leg 2.Nicholson had every reason for the huge smile on his face as he approached the port of Lorient following a near perfect race from Lisbon starting on Sunday.He had simply hoped that his boat could negotiate the leg without mishap and be competitive – a high podium finish is almost beyond his wildest dreams.”It’s a very special moment,” said the team’s Onboard Reporter, Brian Carlin (IRL), simply.Astern of the leading pair, third-placed Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ian Walker/GBR) were nearing an ever bigger prize than the handsome silver leg trophy claimed by Team SCA.They needed simply to finish ahead of their nearest overall pursuers in the standings,Team Brunel (Bouwe Bekking/NED) and Dongfeng Race Team (Charles Caudrelier/FRA), with a boat in between, to be all but be sure of winning the 12th edition of the Volvo Ocean Race.As Team SCA passed the finish at 0211 UTC/0411 local time on Thursday, that prospect looked very much on with MAPFRE (Xabi Fernández/ESP) in fourth, Team Brunel fifth, and Team Alvimedica (Charlie Enright/USA) keeping Dongfeng Race Team at bay in the fight for sixth.The boats will have a short maintenance period before Sunday’s SCA In-Port Race here in Lorient, before the fleet set sail for Gothenburg via a much-awaited pit-stop in The Hague, on Tuesday, June 16.It promises to be a period of considerable celebration for at least three crews of very, very happy sailors.

via Team SCA silence critics with glorious leg win| Volvo Ocean Race 2014-2015.

Dongfeng Race Team (Charles Caudrelier/FRA) and Team Brunel (Bouwe Bekking /NED) were fighting to keep their dreams of overall Volvo Ocean Race victory alive as Leg 8 shaped up for a thrilling finish at dawn in Lorient, France, on Thursday (full story below).- Dutch and Chinese battle to keep overall victory hopes alive – Team SCA and Team Vestas Wind sail on at head of fleet – Dawn finish forecast as Lorient gears up for thrilling finale – Follow all the Leg 8 twists and turn as they happenALICANTE, Spain, June 10 – Dongfeng Race Team (Charles Caudrelier/FRA) and Team Brunel (Bouwe Bekking /NED) were fighting to keep their dreams of overall Volvo Ocean Race victory alive as Leg 8 shaped up for a thrilling finish at dawn in Lorient, France, on Thursday.The nine-month offshore marathon could hardly be more finely poised. So far, in the event that started in October last year in Alicante, some 37,000 nautical miles (nm) have been sailed in a full circumnavigation of the world.However, Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ian Walker/GBR) need only to stretch their lead to eight points by finishing two places ahead of their Chinese and Dutch rivals, and the 12th edition’s title will be theirs.The Emirati boat’s skipper, Ian Walker, has barely captured a wink of sleep in the last 24 hours and by Wednesday’s 0945 UTC position report, he was well placed in third place, just ahead of Team Brunel and Dongfeng Race Team (see panel above).All is not lost for messrs Caudrelier and Bekking, however. Conditions along the French coast continue to be challenging, with high winds and a choppy sea state. Key manoeuvres north towards the final destination of Lorient could yet decide the 647nm stage.To add to Dongfeng Race Team and Team Brunel’s concerns, both had on-board breakages over the past 24 hours that threatened to hamper their progress.Bekking’s boat suffered damage on their J2 headsail. It blew out along the inside of a reinforcing strip. It is the key sail for the conditions the fleet is currently sailing in. Meanwhile, Dongfeng’s electronic water-maker, converting sea water into drinking water, has broken and the crew are using a manual desalinator, which takes much longer to operate and wastes valuable man hours on board.At the head of the fleet, Team SCA (Sam Davies/GBR) and Team Vestas Wind (Chris Nicholson/AUS) are continuing to put the hammer down to close out what could be a remarkable leg victory for either of them.Team SCA are the first all-women’s challengers to enter offshore racing’s toughest challenge for 12 years and victory in Lorient, after a four-day ‘sprint’ from Lisbon, would mark the first female crew win in a leg since Tracy Edwards’ Maiden sailors achieved it on two occasions in the 1989-90 race.Navigator Libby Greenhalgh (GBR), brother of Rob Greenhalgh currently sailing on MAPFRE (Xabi Fernández/ESP), summed up in a blog sent late on Tuesday, the mounting excitement on board the blue and magenta boat.“How does it feel? Nerve-wracking, exciting, stressful, worried; butterflies are in my tummy,” she wrote.“The race is wide open and the next 24 hours are key. It is a different position to be leading the fleet and making the first moves or seeing the fleet make a move you chose not to.“We haven’t been shy to make the first move or a different manouevre before, but when you are leading, it feels like so much more is at stake.”In the midst of all the excitement, spare a thought for Team Alvimedica (Charlie Enright/USA) and MAPFRE. Locked in the overall race standings on 27 points, 11 behind Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, neither can realistically win the race barring disaster to the leaders.Yet their performance in the next 18 hours could hardly be more crucial in the context of the race.If they end up as the ‘sandwich’ between Walker’s Emirati boat and their Chinese and Dutch pursuers, then the event will be decided.The latest estimated time of arrival in Lorient, Brittany, is from 0400 UTC/0600 local time on Thursday with no quarter expected or given by any of the crews between now and then.This is round-the-world sailing on a knife-edge and few involved, on board or off it, have time or inclination for a wink of sleep until it’s all over. Just ask Ian Walker.

via Sailing on a knife-edge| Volvo Ocean Race 2014-2015.

Team SCA (Sam Davies/GBR) continued to clasp firmly on to their slim advantage in tough conditions on day three of Leg 8 to Lorient, France, on Tuesday, a fairy-tale success tantalisingly in their sights (full story below).

– Team SCA retain slender lead in chase to Lorient

– But re-built Vestas Wind is hard on their heels

– Follow our twice-daily updates on Inside Track

ALICANTE, Spain, June 9 – Team SCA (Sam Davies/GBR) continued to clasp firmly on to their slim advantage in tough conditions on day three of Leg 8 to Lorient, France, on Tuesday,  a fairy-tale success tantalisingly in their sights.

At 0930 UTC on Tuesday, they maintained a lead of 8.5 nautical miles (nm) with just over 400nm of the stage still to negotiate.

“It’s blowing a solid 30 knots in four-metre waves, it’s on the edge. We haven’t seen proper upwind sailing like this so far in the race,” said Volvo Ocean Race official meteorologist, Gonzalo Infante.

Team SCA’s navigator, Libby Greenhalgh (GBR), told Inside Track on Tuesday that the wind and sea state were delaying their planned tack back towards the French coast as they approach Brittany in 24 hours.

On Tuesday, they were the first boat to reach the Bay of Biscay to the west of the main pack.

So far, the female crew have improved leg on leg since the race start in October, but have not posted a result better than sixth in any of them.

Behind the first all-women’s crew to enter offshore sailing’s toughest challenge since 2001-02, is another boat for which a podium finish would be a dream result: Team Vestas Wind (Chris Nicholson/AUS).

The blue boat was a near write-off after a collision with a reef in the Indian Ocean last November during Leg 2, yet an incredible effort and near total re-build restored the crew to the eighth stage start line in Lisbon.

Few expected Chris Nicholson’s crew to be competitive after such a long layoff, but they have been at the forefront of the seven-boat fleet from the first night on Sunday and only trailed Sam Davies’ crew by 8.5nm early on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the rest of the fleet face a dilemma: whether to follow Team SCA and Team Vestas Wind’s course further offshore, or hug the Spanish/French shorelines, where the winds may be stronger.

Explained Infante: “Just because the winds are stronger nearer land, doesn’t mean that the boats there will go faster. There’s the sea state and stability of the boats to take into consideration.”

Behind the leading two, there is so much to play for. Currently, Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ian Walker/GBR) are third and, crucially, ahead of the two boats closest to them in the standings, Team Brunel (Bouwe Bekking/NED) and Dongfeng Race Team (Charles Caudrelier/FRA).

The Emirati crew is determined to stretch their six-point lead over the pair in a race that looks likely to go down to the wire in the final stopover of Gothenburg, via a pit-stop in The Hague.

MAPFRE (Xabi Fernández/ESP) and Team Alvimedica (Charlie Enright/USA) did much of their pre-race training in the Atlantic and are also right in the hunt in this intriguing, short leg.

The boats are currently estimated to arrive in Lorient on Thursday (June 11) between 0200-0400 UTC. They will have a short maintenance period before setting off for the climax of the nine-month, 38,739nm marathon the following Tuesday, June 16.

via Glimpsing glory in the viewfinder| Volvo Ocean Race 2014-2015.