With only 53 days remaining until the start of the Prologue from Lisbon to Alicante, now is the time for the teams to complete their final training at sea, their sponsor engagements and safety training.<\/p>\n
These few weeks will be precious for Hong Kong entry Team Sun Hung Kai\/Scallywag, who had less than a week of training before starting Leg Zero.<\/p>\n
Skipper David Witt and his team have years of experience of sailing together and will now redouble their efforts to extract the best from their One Design Volvo Ocean 65.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe racing on Leg Zero has shown us what we\u2019re strong at, what we\u2019re weak at,\u201d said Witt. \u201cMAPFRE have dominated, they\u2019ve shown everybody how strong they are and they\u2019ve set the bar where we\u2019ve all got to get to. We are not weak in all areas \u2013 there are some areas we are quite good at. It\u2019s good to find this out now rather than on Leg 2 of the race. And now we\u2019ve got five weeks to fix, I\u2019ve got a pretty good idea how to fix it and now we\u2019ve just got to get on with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
While it\u2019s tempting to label MAPFRE as favourites going into the race, none of the skippers will be taking anything for granted.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Dongfeng is well prepared and they have been working hard all the winter as well,” said MAPFRE’s Xabi. “The new teams, like AkzoNobel, are coming together with some good experience and improving every day they sail together. There is a good mix of crew across Brunel, very experienced and they will be very competitive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Charles Caudrelier, whose Dongfeng team finished second overall and won the Volvo Ocean 65 class in the Fastnet, added: \u201cI think I am happy. I think we had a good speed and a good spirit onboard. I\u2019m pretty sure we can do very well.”<\/p>\n
Standing on the dock in Alicante in a couple of months\u2019 time, the crews will have 45,000 miles of sailing in front of them \u2013 and the knowledge that anything could happen.<\/p>\n
Leg Zero, overall final rankings:<\/p>\n
1. MAPFRE 29 points<\/p>\n
2. Dongfeng Race Team 24<\/p>\n
3. Team Brunel 23<\/p>\n
4. team AkzoNobel 22<\/p>\n
5. Vestas 11th Hour Racing 20<\/p>\n
6. Turn the Tide on Plastic 13<\/p>\n
7. Sun Hung Kai Scallywag 9<\/p>\n
via MAPFRE set the Volvo Ocean Race bar with overall Leg Zero victory| Volvo Ocean Race<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" With only 53 days remaining until the start of the Prologue from Lisbon to Alicante, now is the time for the teams to complete their final training at sea, their sponsor engagements and safety training. These few weeks will be … Continue reading