A third place finish into Melbourne on Leg 3 of the Volvo Ocean Race has Vestas 11th Hour Racing on equal points for second place on the overall leaderboard.
Leg 3 was a difficult challenge for the Volvo Ocean Race fleet, a 6,500 nautical mile marathon that took the sailors down to the Roaring Forties, the Southern Ocean, where storm force winds battered the fleet for most of the leg.
© Ainhoa Sanchez/Volvo Ocean Race
Just after crossing the finishing line, Mark Towill, team director and co-skipper said:
“It was a tough leg. We’re happy to be on the podium again. It’s great to be in on Christmas and I know we’re all looking forward to getting ashore. It was a difficult leg, hard on the bodies, but everyone has held up well.”
The Vestas 11th Hour Racing crew finished behind Dongfeng Race Team but ahead of Team Brunel. At one point, with about 36 hours to go, the race tracker showed nothing to choose between Vestas and Dongfeng, but in reality, the tactical situation always favoured the Chinese/French boat.
“It was looking pretty close for a little while, but they were always ahead,” Towill said. “They were always comfortable. Brunel sailed well too so credit to them. It was challenging conditions and we’re all happy to be here and in one piece.”
Leg 3 – Provisional Results –at Sunday 24 December (Leg 3, Day 15) at 22:00 UTC
1. MAPFRE — FINISHED — 16:07.21 UTC – 14 days, 04h:07m:21s
2. Dongfeng Race Team — FINISHED – 20:10:16 UTC – 14 days, 08h:10m:16s
3. Vestas 11th Hour Racing — FINISHED – 21:52:11 UTC – 14 days, 09h:52m:11s
4. Team Brunel — RACING
5. team AkzoNobel — RACING
6. Turn the Tide on Plastic — RACING
7. Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag — RACING
Volvo Ocean Race – Current Leaderboard
1. MAPFRE — FINISHED — 29 points (after Leg 3)
2. Dongfeng Race Team — FINISHED — 23 points (after Leg 3)
3. Vestas 11th Hour Racing — FINISHED — 23 points (after Leg 3)
4. team AkzoNobel — RACING — 7 points (after Leg 2)
5. Team Brunel — RACING — 6 points (after Leg 2)
6. Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag — RACING — 5 points (after Leg 2)
7. Turn the Tide on Plastic — RACING — 2 points (after Leg 2)
