Volvo Ocean Race, AkzoNobel win epic Leg 6 to Auckland

Team AkzoNobel has won Leg 6 of the Volvo Ocean Race, racing 6,344 miles from Hong Kong to Auckland in 20 days, 9 hours and 17 minutes and 26 seconds.

It was a tremendous win, and came after an epic final 24 hours, when a ridge of high pressure off the north east coast of New Zealand stalled the progress of the leading boats, allowing those behind to close what had appeared to be an insurmountable gap.

For team AkzoNobel and SHK/Scallywag, the buffer they’d built up over the past week was only just sufficient, and they were able to match race down the coast all the way to the finish line in the Waitematā Harbour, usually sailing within hailing distance of each other.

In the end, the margin at the finish was just two-minutes.

“It’s been a 7,000 mile match race, it’s unreal,” said Tienpont. “I’ve never sailed a race like this in my life. We’ve always been in each other’s sights. They were always there. It’s been neck and neck. They never stopped fighting and we never stopped defending. I’m so proud of our crew. They never flinched.”

It’s the first leg win for team AkzoNobel and earns the team an important 8 points on the leaderboard, after fighting all the way to the finish with Scallywag.

“Our team never gives up,” said Scallywag skipper David Witt. “We just didn’t pull it off this time. We had our chances, but AkzoNobel were just a little bit too good this time. But we’ve come a long way since leg one.”

The second place finish in Leg 6, combined with a leg win into their home port of Hong Kong, has elevated SHK/Scallywag up to third place on the overall leaderboard.

While the weather pattern of the last 24 hours has made for a heart-stopping finish for race fans, it also led to a heart-breaking result for Dee Caffari’s Turn the Tide on Plastic.

Just 24 hours ago, Caffari and her team appeared poised to claim their first podium of the race, even while challenging for the leg win. MAPFRE and Dongfeng Race Team, first and second on the overall leaderboard, were over 60 miles behind Caffari.

It would have made for a well-earned and popular result for an underdog team. But as the leading trio bumped up against an unavoidable patch of calm winds, MAPFRE and Dongfeng roared in, closing the gap down minute by minute.

As darkness fell on Tuesday night and the wind picked up for the final 60-mile sprint to the finish, the two powerhouse red boats were within striking distance of Caffari and her team, just 2 miles back. And over the next 90 minutes, they were able to grind their way past, pushing Turn the Tide on Plastic back into fifth place with 20 miles to run.

While Caffari and her crew showed incredible fighting spirit, clawing ahead of Dongfeng Race Team once again as the boats raced through the Hauraki Gulf on the final approach, they couldn’t hold on, and would need to settle for fifth place, behind both MAPFRE and Dongfeng.

Nevertheless, this marks their best result of the race to date and is a sign of progress for a young and improving team.

Team Brunel remains on the race course, speeding towards the finish approximately 90 minutes behind their fellow competitors after falling victim to a bold tactical choice over the weekend that backfired.

All of the racing is Live on the Tracker as well as on the website with live video coverage of the finish.

DTL nm GAIN_LOSS        STATUS                SPEED kt              COURSE               TWS kt  TWD      DTF nm                ETA

UTC

1                             AKZO    ARV       Elapsed time: 20d 09:17:26

2                             SHKS     ARV       Elapsed time: 20d 09:19:40

3                             MAPF   ARV       Elapsed time: 20d 09:39:38

4                             DFRT     ARV       Elapsed time: 20d 09:42:36

5                             TTOP     ARV       Elapsed time: 20d 09:45:08

6                             TBRU     0.00       0.00       RAC       23.2       193º       24.8       56º         19.22     27 Feb 15:00-16:30 UTC

7                             VS11      DNS