Team Brunel have finished Leg 2 in fourth place, gliding into Cape Town in the early morning hours on Saturday morning local time.
© Pedro Martinez/Volvo Ocean Race
On the approach to the finish, skipper Bouwe Bekking took a moment to send some thoughts about his team:
“These last two days have been frustrating in a way, always sailing in less and more headed pressure than the boats ahead, but you know there is nothing you can do…
“As a crew we made a lot of improvements compared to Leg 1 and we are starting to get a better grip on the sail crossovers, but there are always some new surprises.
“On the navigational front, there always some points where you look back and say that part maybe we could have done better, but in general I think we did a good job.”
At one point, with about a week to go in the leg, Bekking and his team were pushing hard for a second place finish, but they couldn’t hold on to the podium.
“We improved hugely on Leg 1,” Bekking said after the boat docked. “We’re not fast enough when the breeze is up but we figured out why and that gives us confidence for the next leg.
“I was happy with our group. The learning curve has been humongous but everyone is healthy and fit and enjoyed it.”
One of those rookies on his team is America’s Cup winning helmsman Peter Burling. He said he the team is starting to gel after two legs of racing.
“It’s a long race, we think we’re in better shape going forward. We feel like we’ve made some good steps and we’ll keep working on things to improve on over the next few weeks.
Three teams remain racing in Leg 2, with an ETA for the final pack at 21:00 UTC on Saturday night.
Leg 2 – Provisional Results – as at Saturday 25 November at 00:18 UTC
1. MAPFRE — FINISHED — 15:10.33 UTC – 19 days, 01h:10m:33s
2. Dongfeng Race Team — FINISHED — 18:02.39 UTC – 19 days, 04h:02m:39s
3. Vestas 11th Hour Racing — FINISHED — 19:37.53 UTC – 19 days, 05h:37m:53s
4. Team Brunel — FINISHED — 00:14.47 UTC – 19 days, 10h:14m:47s
5. team AkzoNobel +323.7
6. Turn the Tide on Plastic +324.9
7. Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag +326.6
Volvo Ocean Race – Current Leaderboard
1. MAPFRE — FINISHED — 14 points (after Leg 2)
2. Vestas 11th Hour Racing — FINISHED — 13 points (after Leg 2)
3. Dongfeng Race Team — FINISHED — 11 points (after Leg 2)
4. Team Brunel — FINISHED — 6 points (after Leg 2)
4. team AkzoNobel — RACING — 4 points (after Leg 1)
5. Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag — RACING — 3 points (after Leg 1)
7. Turn the Tide on Plastic — RACING — 1 point (after Leg 1)