MAPFRE draw first blood in Volvo Ocean Race
by Volvo Ocean Race 14 Oct 2017 18:01 BST
14 October 2017
The local heroes on Xabi Fernández's MAPFRE were a popular winner in the first point scoring race of the Volvo Ocean Race.
Fernández and his team made a bold call at the start to duck behind the entire fleet in order to sail up what turned out to be the favoured right hand side of the course, coming from behind to earn a narrow lead at the first gate.
"It was pretty clear from Joan (Vila) and Rob (Greenhalgh) that we wanted to hit the right side of the course in the first upwind looking for more breeze," explained Fernández.
"Our intention was to start on port but Pablo (Arrarte) saw the gap himself when Brunel did a poor tack and they couldn't accelerate so we want for the cross and we had plenty of room and once we hit the right everything went well."
MAPFRE then managed to stretch out to a lead of nearly one-minute at the bottom gate, giving them a lead they would enjoy the rest of the way.
"The truth is it hasn't been an easy race but we took a bit of a risk at the start," Fernández said after the finish. "We saw the gap in front of Brunel and we went for it. Everything went really well."
In fact, the Spanish team sailed a flawless race, in terms of strategy and execution, and were never threatened after grabbing the lead at the first mark.
But behind them, it was a hard-fought race. Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag was strong on the first leg, but dropped back over the course of the race. In contrast, Dongfeng Race Team fought up the fleet to grab second place, battling with Vestas 11th Hour Racing and Team Brunel who were trading places throughout the race.
"There was a lot of action! MAPFRE played their own game alone but behind them, we had a big fight for second place. It's good, it's good," said skipper Charles Caudrelier on Dongfeng Race Team.
"We showed how we can sail well, after having not such good results in the last few days. It's great that we managed to come back and get this result."
"It was a very exciting first In-Port Race for us," said Charlie Enright, the skipper of Vestas 11th Hour Racing. "They're always really close. You know, when you're racing these 65-foot canting keel boats around a one-mile track it gets interesting, with a lot of exchanges and big headsails and a lot of grinding. We did some good things and some bad things and got third place. All in all, not a bad way to start the campaign."
"I had a bad start and that put us on the back foot," said Bouwe Bekking the skipper of Team Brunel. "But we sailed the boat very nicely. All in all, we're pretty happy with how we sailed today."
Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag made a late gain to grab fifth over team AkzoNobel with Turn the Tide on Plastic never recovering from a poor first leg.
"It was okay. Fifth's not great but it was okay. We were second at the top but we just made one mistake on the first run and it cost us. Basically, it was good. Amazing to be racing here in Alicante," said David Witt, the skipper of Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag.
MAPFRE In-Port Race Alicante Results:
| Pos | Team | Elapsed Time | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | MAPFRE | 54:38:00 | 7 |
| 2 | Dongfeng Race Team | 56:06:00 | 6 |
| 3 | Vestas 11th Hour Racing | 56:54:00 | 5 |
| 4 | Team Brunel | 57:13:00 | 4 |
| 5 | Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag | 58:07:00 | 3 |
| 6 | team AkzoNobel | 58:31:00 | 2 |
| 7 | Turn the Tide on Plastic | 59:39:00 | 1 |
Full Race Replay:
www.volvooceanrace.com
MAPFRE wins the Alicante In-Port race (from MAPFRE)
The first in-port race of the Volvo Ocean Race 2017-2018 was disputed today in Alicante, with victory claimed by the Spanish team. The windward-leeward race, held in front of the Postiguet and San Juan beaches, saw Xabi Fernández and the MAPFRE team winning with nearly two minutes' advantage ahead of Chinese Dongfeng Race Team, and the American Vestas.
A bold move at the start, which paid off
One of the most spoken-about moments of the racing this afternoon was MAPFRE's start, not the most common of sights, and yet a move which paid off perfectly.
The starting gun sounded at 12.00 UTC with Spaniard Pablo Arrarte at the helm, skipper Xabi Fernández, trimming, British sailor Rob Greenhalgh and New-Zealander Blair Tuke, as tacticians, and Joan Vila, navigating.
Whilst the rest of the fleet opted to sail left, MAPFRE decided to take the side of the Committee boat and cross behind the rest of the fleet.
"The option was very clear for Joan and Rob, who wanted to go right on the first upwind leg, looking for more breeze. Our initial intention was to start with the others, but Pablo then saw a gap when Brunel tacked poorly, and couldn't accelerate, so we went for the cross and gained a lot of space again. On the right it worked out really well," explained Xabi Fernández.
"On board we felt that the right was the favoured side, and so we ducked behind the others," added Ñeti Cuervas-Mons, who at 35 years old, is about to take part in his fourth round-the-world race. "It worked out to be the favoured side. It was a risky choice, but we got it right. A clear decision from Patán on the helm, and Joan's navigation."
At the front from start to finish
After ducking behind the fleet, Xabi Fernández's extremely-well trimmed MAPFRE reached the first gate in just 10 minutes, and with an advantage of 24 seconds ahead of Scallyway, and 37 seconds in front of second-placed, Dongfeng.
At the second gate MAPFRE held onto their advantage, whilst Dutch team Brunel recovered a lot of ground, and rounded the gate with Vestas.
The second of the three laps saw MAPFRE maintaining a more conservative strategy, well driven by "Patán" (Pablo Arrarte), in the centre to mark both sides of the race course; controlling the fleet and their arrival at the gate.
MAPFRE held onto their lead for the three laps of the "round the cans", with wind conditions between nine and thirteen knots, whilst for the rest of the fleet it was a juggle of position changes right up to the finish line.
The final podium positions were: MAPFRE, Dongfeng and Vestas.
The start of Leg 1 of the Volvo Ocean Race is on 22nd October at 14:00 h.
Quotes:
Xabi Fernández, Skipper:
I think we all know that we have a strong team, but we realised from the very beginning that the combination of Pablo as our main driver, combined with Rob (who is a very strong tactician), and Blair and Joan, makes for a very good combination. Pablo is strong, and he doesn't get scared in any situation, which is why he is at the helm.
Everything will begin in a week's time, and it couldn't get off to a better start for us. We are really happy with how the team has performed, with an impeccable start on port tack to the right side. We would like to thank all the public for their support, as we saw a lot of boats on the water here today. There is just one week to go until the real race begins.
Antonio "Ñeti" Cuervas-Mons, bowman:
We won on home ground, and I think it is really good news for the team, and for all the people who are here to support us in Alicante, and in Spain in general. I am really moved and quite emotional. We now have a week to enjoy the victory.
We can see the results of the work that we put in over the winter in Sanxenxo, and it is good to see that our hard work has paid off. But we can't get too confident, this race is extremely long, and the important sailing is offshore. The action will really start on the 22nd.
Dongfeng Race Team finishes a strong second in Alicante In-Port Race (from Dongfeng Race Team)
After a year of training and preparation, the Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18 finally got underway today with a testing In-Port Race in light conditions off the Spanish resort of Alicante.
Racing in front of thousands of spectators watching from on shore and on a flotilla of spectator boats, Charles Caudrelier and his crew on Dongfeng sailed a smart race to finish second behind MAPFRE skippered by Xabi Fernandez.
Caudrelier and navigator Pascal Bidégorry picked their way around a tricky racecourse, on the red and white Volvo Ocean 65 sponsored by Dongfeng Motor Corporation, to take the runner's up spot. Vestas 11th Hour Racing skippered by Charlie Enright was close behind in third place with Team Brunel skippered by Bouwe Bekking fourth.
Speaking after docking at the Alicante Race Village, Caudrelier was pleased with his first taste of competition in the 2017-18 Volvo Ocean Race. "I'm very happy about this day and well done to MAPFRE," he said.
"We worked hard and we needed a good result because the last one – the Prologue - was not as good as we expected. It was good to get back to the top of the fleet today. Even though the conditions were a bit difficult, we managed to do that."
The Frenchman said the key moment in the race came on the second downwind leg of three, when he and his crew got past Vestas 11th Hour Racing to take second place, a position they held to the finish.
"We passed Vestas downwind with very good speed," Caudrelier explained. "After that, we created a small gap between us and them so it was easier because we could sail without disturbed air from the other boats."
Chinese sailor Chen Jinhao, also known as Horace, said the race was all about trying to complete manoeuvres and tactical options smoothly. "When we started we were not in the lead but we learnt and improved a lot. We are trying to keep it simple and avoid making any mistakes," he said.
"We tried to focus on boatspeed and tactics. Pascal (Bidégorry) made a good decision and then we gained a bit each time until we finished in second. It was a good start and now we are looking forward to the first offshore leg."
French crew member Marie Riou was relieved to emerge with a strong result on a day when it was easy to lose position in light wind conditions. "It was a good day because we finished second," she said with a broad smile.
"We had a nice start. It was a bit tricky on the first upwind and first downwind legs but we stayed focused throughout the race. We managed to comeback and finished just after MAPFRE, so it is a good result for us."
Returning to the Race Village, where thousands of race fans had gathered, Riou was thrilled by the loud welcome from Dongfeng Race Team's many supporters in Alicante. "The atmosphere is awesome. There were lots of people so it is really great to come back to the pontoon to see people supporting us," she said.
The In-Port Races do not count towards the overall score in the Volvo Ocean Race itself, but if there is a tie between teams at the end of the race then the team that finishes higher up the ranking in the In-Port Races will prevail.
With the first In-Port Race now completed the focus shifts to the first leg of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Alicante to the Portuguese capital Lisbon, which starts on Sunday October 22nd.
Podium finish for Vestas 11th Hour Raing (from Vestas 11th Hour Racing)
"It's the first day of the action. Points count," Mark Towill, Team Director, told the Vestas 11th Hour Racing team at the morning meeting in Alicante. And count they did as the sailors finished third in the first In-Port Race of the 2017-2018 Volvo Ocean Race earning 5 points in the cumulative series.
"How you do in the In-Port races can mean the difference between winning the whole thing or finishing on the podium, so every point counts," said skipper, Charlie Enright. No one knows that more than Enright because in the last edition, it all came down to the final leg of the final In-Port race to break the tie between MAPFRE and Charlies's former team, Alvimedia.
The seven Volvo Ocean 65s started their three-lap windward-leeward course in a 7-9 knot steady easterly breeze. At the start, Vestas 11th Hour Racing was in a controlling position crossing the line first. The team rounded the first gate in 4th place very close to the other teams. Over the first few legs, the crew was able to use their boat speed and tactics to battle back one place at a time, rounding Gate 3 in 2nd place.
"There was no massive favor in the course, it was more about doing fewer maneuvers and boat speed," said Phil Harmer. The Aussie sailor figured this was his "40-something" In-Port Race competing in his sixth Volvo Ocean Race. "We tried a maneuver that really isn't a maneuver at the second top gate essentially tacking and setting right away. In these big boats, you just can't do that."
However, they were able to recover and hold off the competition finishing behind MAPFRE and Dongfeng Race Team respectively. The podium finish all came down to the last leg. In a nailbiting downwind, after Brunel and Vestas 11th Hour Racing rounded Gate 5 within 6 seconds and split sides, it was in the last few boat lengths to the finish line that the team was able to cross clear ahead of their opponent to finish third.
"Third place is not a bad way to start the campaign," said Enright. "We'll take it and continue to improve." Charlie had one final message for the crowds of Alicante upon docking in: "We appreciate all the support of people coming down to the village to watch. Now let's just keep it clean, folks."
Vestas 11th Hour Racing will be in Alicante until the Leg Start to Lisbon on October 22nd, between now and then they will be racing in Pro-Ams, participating in the Ocean Summit, and joining local school children onboard an educational ocean research vessel.
Team Brunel fourth in first in-port race (from Team Brunel)
Team Brunel with Dutch skipper Bouwe Bekking started the Volvo Ocean Race by finishing fourth in the In-Port race. There was victory for the Spanish Mapfre. Skipper Bekking was pleased with the result: "Of course we would have liked to have been on stage, but a fourth place is okay for now."
Bad start, good speed
Bekking: "The way we sailed was a lot better than in the practice race yesterday. That is one of the most important things. We made fewer mistakes but there is still a lot to improve. We had a bad start but the speed of the boat was good. At one point going downwind, we even overtook all the boats except Mapfre."
It's okay for now
"There were no mistakes made in the boat handling, that was the most important thing. All in all, we're so pleased. Of course we would have liked to have been on stage, but a fourth place is okay. Especially for this moment."
"Mapfre had a good start. They have just sailed well and are currently the team who won the most in the preparation. They are the team to beat, but let's wait until the first stage starts really.