Dongfeng’s American dream became a reality just after dark local time (early hours 7th May UTC), winning leg 6 of the Volvo Ocean Race in Newport, USA, beating their arch rivals Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing by just 3 minutes and 25 seconds.
Credit : B Weiss
Skipper Charles Caudrelier immediately dedicated this leg win to his shore team: “I would like to dedicate this victory to the shore team. It started in Ushuaia with the shore crew, when first they delivered the boat to Itajai and then fixed the boat and put in a new mast in less than one week. They worked so hard to have the boat ready – I am very proud of them. Everyone on the boat for this leg did a fantastic job and that was the key to winning, for sure. All the team deserves this victory. All the crew have improved, the Chinese improve, we get stronger and stronger each time. To beat Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing shows we have become a great team.”
“Now we still have to push hard – this was the first step to come back in the race after the 8 points we got breaking the mast,” said Kevin Escoffier. “We still have three legs to come back on Abu Dhabi and I hope they will do a mistake and we can be better than them. For sure they have not made many but statistically they can. Its not over.”
Crédit : A Sanchez
Leg 6 Itajai to Newport, USA: 5,811 nautical miles sailedFinish position: 1st place
Time of finish: 02:03:00 UTC, 3 mins and 25secs ahead of Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing
Duration of leg: 17d 09h 03m 00s
Overall result after six legs: 2nd place (17 points), behind Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (11 points)
Best 24 hour run in the fleet: Dongfeng, 484.3nm
April 1, 2015 - Dongfeng retires on leg5 and will motor the boat to Itajaí. (Video)
http://scanvoileinenglish.blogspot.fr/2015/04/dongfeng-retires-on-leg5-and-will-motor.htmlFrom Dongfeng
