VolvoOceanRace last event in The Hague In-Port Race

Today is the last event of the VolvoOceanRace 2017-2018. It was an epic event this year and for most teams the results are fixed, except for TurntheTidetoPlastic and SunHungKai boats. 
These Boats gained equal point in the Overall ranking, and there for the results of the In-Port race serie will decide who takes the penultimate and last place . 

And there is the battle between the Dutch boats, for the final Podium place in the In-Port series. 

So we may expect some fierce battles on the North Sea coast in front of The Hague.

In-Port Race The Hague

Wind forecast promisse a 14 kts wind strengtsh , so that could bring some nice fast and sharp sailing. 

The race will start 11:30 UTC, 13:30 local time. As normally I expect a live broadcast can be seen via the VolvoOceanRace website or via Twitter. 



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Dongfeng wins last Leg in VolvoOceanRace.. AND .. Overall Victory.

This version of the VolvoOceanRace 2017-2018 has been very compatitive with a close and exciting last Leg. The Overall Ranking after 10 Legs was even for the 3 leading Teams, Mapfre , Dongfeng and Brunel; taking into account that Dongfeng would win the bonus point for the shortest sailing time overall. 

Thus the results of these 3 Boats, would automatically rank them in the Overall accounting the finishing order in The Hague. 

In the begin, it was Dongfeng leading closely followed by Mapfre, and Brunel loosing out and on the chase. It was the last stretch over the North Sea to wards the finish, where multiple exclusion zones, gave options for different strategies.

That split in the fleet, Brunel and Mapfre choosing the middle route over the North Sea, while Dongfeng choose the more risky route along the coast into a narrow "channel" between the exclusion zone and the coast. The latter route was longer, but the High would give Dongfeng a better wind towards the Finish. 

Dongfeng wins the VolvoOceanRace 2017-2018

It was exactly this, that brought the Victory to Dongfeng. Trailing the other boats till about the Island of Texel on the NW corner of The Netherlands, where Dongfeng gained a better boatspeed only to cut in front of the other boats just before the finish in The Hague and take the Win. 



The Scorecard looks like this, with now a clear winner.

There is one In-Port Race to come, Saturday 30th June at 11:30 UTC, 13:30 local in the waters just outside The Hague. This last In-Port Race is especially important for TurntheTideonPlastic and SunHungKai/Scallywag as these boats ended with equal points and the best score in the In-Port scorecard will decide the ultimate ranking. 

VolvoOcean Race fleet approaching the Last Finish line.

This version of VolvoOceanRace 2017-2018 is on the approach to the Finish in the last Leg 11, Gothenburg to The Hague. 

It is a very exciting last Leg, as the 3 highest ranked Boats for the Overall win, all have the same number of points; considering the bonus point for shortest overall sailing time goes to Dongfeng. This implicates that the 1st of these three Boats will take the VolvoOceanRace Victory for this year ; the 2nd the 2nd etc. 

The most interesting is , that the fleet have split. One part sails the middle route on the North Sea in between the exclusion zones, amongst them Mapfre and Brunel, and the other part sails the German and Dutch coast, a narrow gap between the land and the exclusion zone. 
The winner of this separation battle on the 3 top boats, will take the Overall Victory; so ultimately it is a strategical decision that decide.

Some 88 Nm to go for the wWestern group and 134 Nm for the Eastern group.

The expectation is that the last 20Nm will decide the winner.

Live broadcast of the Finish , between 11-13 UTC today, is expected,keep an eye on VolvoOceanRace website , or Twitter. 

Vestas wins VolvoOceanRace penultimate In-Port Race.

It was from the beginning a hard battle between Mapfre and Dongfeng and also between Brunel and SunHungKai/Scallywag, but it was Vestas that sailed a perfect sail and took Victory. Congratulations.

Vestas wins Gothenburg In-Port race.

. There was a strong wind and Brunel made a fantastic flying start from behind, to take the lead. They could keep the lead till the 2nd Mark with strong sailing, but on the first downwind leg, Brunel had the wrong sail, too small, and somehow could not change it. While starting Leg 3 as the leader, they were in 6th at the end, never to recover, so far for the speed-kings of Leg 10.
Mapfre, straight from the start jumped on Dongfeng and prevented Dongfeng by pushing them into the wind, from sailing away from the Start . Later with a starboard-port Mapfre again fought Dongfeng , apparently Mapfre had more intentions to beat Dongfeng than to win the In-Port race; well actully by beating Dongfeng Mapfre got so many points that they took Victory inthe In-Port race series. 

Dongfeng ,, with a poor start, made an error by cutting in front of Turn the Tide of Plastic and got a deserved penalty turn,making them to end last. 

Next event is the Start of the Last Leg Gothenburg to The Hague , on Thursday 21 June at 1200 UTC,1400 local.

Short time till In-Port Race in Gothenburg

Tomorrow , Saturday 17 June, already is the Gothenburg In-Port Race, so little rest for the crews; it was also a short Leg 10. 

A parcours is set in the bay of Gothenburg as seen below. I am told that these waters do hold some rocks that could be dangerous if not located good. Remember the stranding of Telefonica Blue on Marstrand some versions of the VOR ago, with Bouwe Bekking indeed skippering that Boat.

Gothenburg In-Port parcours

With 3 Boats in the lead with exactly the same points for the Overall ranking, the results in the In-Port race ranking will be more important then ever. 
Mapfre has a healthy lead with 7 points over Dongfeng and Brunel is again 8 points behind. So I do actually not expect too many changes in the leaderboards for In-Port races

Scoreboard In-Port races

As normal, the race will be broadcasted live, via the VolvolOceanRace website, via Facebook and Twitter. 

Next event will be the start of the last Leg 11, on Thursday 21  June , 1200 UTC.

Brunel glorious Winner of VolvoOceanRace Leg 10

Brunel is the glorious Winner in the penultimate Leg in the VolvoOceanRace 2017-2018, with a small margin over Mapfre.

Brunel Winner of Leg 10

Leg 10 started in Cardiff and sailed around Ireland and the UK, to finish in Gothenburg , Sweden. 
This Leg had it all, no winds, stormy winds, no waves , large wave, no currents, anti-currents and helping currents. 
Many Boats in one time at this Leg were in the lead, or close to the lead  and many position changes occured. 

Brunel did not had such a good start and half way, they were about 6th in the 7 boat VOR fleet. Thereafter , however, it seems that Brunel woke up and got chasing the Boats in front of them and one after the other was passed. Till yesterday, in a straight line battle with Mapfre , Brunel passed the red boat with spendid sailing and kept the lead till the Finish.

Now the last Leg 11, Gothenburg to The Hague, will bring the decision on podium places. The 3 top boats, Brunel, Mapfre and Dongfeng all have 65 points; including the bonus point for Dongfeng for the shortest sailing time overall, which is as good as sure.
So the ranking in the end of Leg 11, will directly translate in the ranking in the Overall VOR 2017-2018 . 

Leg 11 will start on 21 June, but first there will be the Gothenburg In-Port races on 17th June. 

Dongfeng winner in Cardiff In-Port Race

The Cardiff In-Port race was sailed in proper winds of about 10 kts. AkzoNobel and Dongfeng made both a good start, with Brunel in between them was pushed back by the foul winds. 
I was lucky to see Mapfre and Dongfeng sailing their own race, rather than match-racing each other and forgetting that other Boats are also participating. 

AkzoNobel sailed in the lead for 2 out of 3 rounds, but lost in the penultimate leg, out to Dongfeng but also Mapfre benefited from it so passed AkzoNobel into 2nd place. Brunel in the last leg, sailed a better strategy and could also pass AkzoNobel.

Dongfeng already leader in front of Mapfre

Vestas made a Start too sharp to be correct and had to make a penalty restart. She never recovered really , though could pass TurntheTideonPlastic and SunHungKai into a 5 th place.

Next event is the Start of Leg 10 Cardiff to Gothenburg on Sunday 10 June at 1500 UTC.

Cardiff In-Port Race as appetizer for the VolvoOceanRace last 2 Legs.

Enjoying an easy weekend in Cardiff with a cool Beer, that is good. Just one week to go till the Cardiff In-Port Race sets off the last 2 Legs in the VolvoOceanRace 2017-2018.

The parcours is shown below and the length is about 1 hour of sailing. 

Cardiff In=Port Race parcours

The Cardiff In-Port Race starts Friday 8th June at 1300 UTC, 1400 Local.

As normal , the race will be live broadcasted via the VolvoOceanRace website and Twitter. 



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