Now it counts: Volvo Ocean Race teams to face first test in Saturday\u2019s MAPFRE In-Port Race<\/p>\n
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Ainhoa Sanchez\/Volvo Ocean Race<\/p>\n
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Ainhoa Sanchez\/Volvo Ocean Race<\/p>\n
The first official racing of the 2017-18 Volvo Ocean Race will take place on Saturday afternoon with the MAPFRE In-Port Race Alicante, marking the first point-scoring competition of the event.<\/p>\n
The starting gun will fire at 14:00 local time (12:00 UTC) with seven of the best sailing teams in the world pushing hard to lay down a marker in the first competitive confrontation with points on the table.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou always go out and want to win,\u201d said Bouwe Bekking, skipper of Team Brunel, who will have Alberto (Albi) Bolzan on the helm for the race. \u201cHe\u2019s an excellent helmsman. He has a lot of hours driving these boats but he\u2019s also one of the smaller guys on board and it\u2019s important to have power on the winches for these in-port races.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the most important thing for the in-port race is to treat it as practice for the race start for the offshore leg,\u201d said Charles Caudrelier, speaking from experience after starting behind the fleet on the Prologue leg. \u201cEven on the long legs, the start is important\u2026 it helps the team to be confident to get the lead early.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of the sailors on our team come from short course racing,\u201d said Dee Caffari the skipper on Turn the Tide on Plastic. \u201cSo they get a real buzz out of this. They\u2019re all over this style of racing. I have to remind them that a Volvo Ocean 65 takes a bit longer to manoeuvre and we can\u2019t go as close to the other boats as they\u2019re used to, so I have to manage expectations a bit!\u201d<\/p>\n
The MAPFRE In-Port Race Alicante is two laps of a windward-leeward course, set with a target time of 45-minutes. The start time is 14:00 local time, and conditions are forecast to be ideal. During the morning there will be a light northerly wind, but from noon, it will start to turn to the east and strengthen to a solid 10 knots down the race course.<\/p>\n
The race course for the MAPFRE In-Port Race is set up with a gate system, with two top (windward) marks and two bottom (leeward) marks. The racing yachts must go between the two buoys at each end but are then free to turn either left or right, increasing the tactical options and opportunities for passing.<\/p>\n
In Friday\u2019s practice session, MAPFRE took the win over Sun Hung Kai \/ Scallywag, who impressed with their best showing, and Vestas 11th Hour Racing, who took third place, completing the podium.<\/p>\n
via Now it counts: Volvo Ocean Race teams to face first test in Saturday\u2019s MAPFRE In-Port Race| Volvo Ocean Race<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Now it counts: Volvo Ocean Race teams to face first test in Saturday\u2019s MAPFRE In-Port Race Download Ainhoa Sanchez\/Volvo Ocean Race Download Download Ainhoa Sanchez\/Volvo Ocean Race The first official racing of the 2017-18 Volvo Ocean Race will take place … Continue reading