Volvo Ocean Race 2017: Dongfeng take early lead on opening day as two crews penalised
- Published
The Dongfeng boat is being skippered by Charles Caudrelier
Chinese team Dongfeng took an early lead on the opening day of the Volvo Ocean race as the seven crews started the first leg from Alicante to Lisbon.
In bright sunshine, the 45,000 nautical mile around-the-world race got under way and there was drama from the off.
On the approach to the final turning mark, both Team Brunel and Mapfre were penalised for being too close to Dongfeng, who had the right of way.
Spanish team Mapfre now sit second, with Vestas 11th Hour in third.
Before racing started, team AkzoNobel submitted their final crew list hours ahead of the start time after a testing week for the crew.
Last week it was announced that original skipper Simeon Tienpont had left the team and had been replaced by watch captain Brad Jackson.
But on Friday evening, Tienpont won an arbitration judgement allowing him to return to the team to lead a newly constituted squad.
The teams
Boat | Country | Skipper (nationality) |
|---|---|---|
AkzoNobel | Netherlands | TBC |
Dongfeng | China | Charles Caudrelier (Fra) |
Mapfre | Spain | Xabi Fernandez (Spa) |
Vestas 11th Hour | USA/Denmark | Charlie Enright (US) |
Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag | Hong Kong | David Witt (Aus) |
Turn The Tide On Plastic | United Nations | Dee Caffari (GB) |
Brunel | Netherlands | Bouwe Bekking (Ned) |
The route
The race is more than 45,000 nautical miles long and will take the seven crews around nine months to complete
Leg | Start date | Route | Distance (NMs) | Scoring |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 22 Oct | Alicante-Lisbon | 700 | 8-6-5-4-3-2-1 |
2 | 5 Nov | Lisbon-Cape Town | 7,000 | 8-6-5-4-3-2-1 |
3 | 10 Dec | Cape Town-Melbourne | 6,500 | 15-12-10-8-6-4-2 |
4 | 2 Jan | Melbourne-Hong Kong | 6,000 | 8-6-5-4-3-2-1 |
5 | 1 Feb | Hong Kong-Guangzhou | 100 | 1pt for completing stage |
6 | 7 Feb | Hong Kong-Auckland | 6,100 | 8-6-5-4-3-2-1 |
7 | 18 Mar | Auckland-Itajai | 7,600 | 15-12-10-8-6-4-2* |
8 | 22 Apr | Itajai-Newport (USA) | 5,700 | 8-6-5-4-3-2-1 |
9 | 20 May | Newport (USA)-Cardiff | 3,300 | 15-12-10-8-6-4-2 |
10 | 10 Jun | Cardiff-Gothenburg | 1,300 | 8-6-5-4-3-2-1 |
11 | 21 Jun | Gothenburg-The Hague | 700 | 8-6-5-4-3-2-1 |
* The first boat to round Cape Horn on this leg wins an extra point.
- Published14 October 2017
- Published14 October 2017
