Volvo Ocean Race: SHK/Scallywag completes arrivals into Cardiff

The full fleet of seven Volvo Ocean Race boats has now arrived in Cardiff, Wales, with David Witt’s Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag the final team to cross the finish line in Leg 9 of the Volvo Ocean Race.

The team finished just under a day behind the leaders on this transatlantic race, after falling off the back of a weather system early in the leg. Since then the Scallywags have generally been sailing in less wind than the leading group ahead of them.

Despite some compression in the fleet with transitions between weather systems, it was never enough to bring the team back into contention.

“It’s good to be here in Cardiff and arrive home in Wales. It’s great,” said Trystan Seal, who grew up sailing in Wales.

The end of the transatlantic leg means an end to the longer offshore legs of this edition of the Volvo Ocean Race. Leg 10 takes the teams to Gothenburg, Sweden, while the final stage of the race brings the teams from Sweden to The Hague.

“We were talking on board earlier during some of the more blustery conditions about how we would miss those conditions now that we’re finished with all the long, offshore legs,” Seal noted.

“But I think for many of us these next two legs will still have all sorts of challenges. There are lots of points to play for, so we’re looking forward to it.“

Leg 9 of the Volvo Ocean Race was won by Bouwe Bekking’s Team Brunel, making a late charge for the top of the leaderboard.

But it is Charles Caudrelier’s Dongfeng Race Team who is the new overall race leader. With two stages left in the race, Dongfeng is at the head of the table, just one point clear of MAPFRE and three points ahead of Brunel.

Volvo Ocean Race – Leg 9 – Results / Leaderboard 

1. Team Brunel – Winner Leg 9 – 08 days, 08 hours, 39 minutes, 53 seconds
2. team AkzoNobel – Second place Leg 9 - 08 days, 08 hours, 43 minutes, 58 seconds
3. Dongfeng Race Team – Third place Leg 9 - 08 days, 10 hours, 16 minutes, 12 seconds
4. Vestas 11th Hour Racing – Fourth place Leg 9 - 08 days, 11 hours, 09 minutes, 09 seconds
5. MAPFRE – Fifth place Leg 9 - 08 days, 12 hours, 49 minutes, 52 seconds
6. Turn the Tide on Plastic – Fifth place Leg 9 - 08 days, 14 hours, 56 minutes, 21 seconds
7. Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag – Sixth place Leg 9 - 09 days, 08 hours, 22 minutes, 50 seconds

Volvo Ocean Race Projected Leaderboard after Leg 9

1. Dongfeng Race Team – 60 points (finished)
2. MAPFRE – 59 points (finished)
3. Team Brunel – 57 points (finished)
4. team AkzoNobel – 48 points (finished)
5. Vestas 11th Hour Racing – 36 points (finished)
6. SHK / Scallywag – 29 points (finished)
7. Turn the Tide on Plastic – 26 points (finished)