There is just one more boat at sea after two more teams crossed the Volvo Ocean Race finish line in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.
Mapfre and Alvimedica arrived in the UAE to take fourth and fifth place respectively, with the all-female crew of SCA expected at around 07:00 on Monday.
Mapfre’s Spanish skipper Iker Martinez said he was pleased to finish fourth, despite having led for a large part of the second leg, before a tropical storm hit the fleet.
After coming last in Cape Town, making two key crew changes and leaving South Africa at the bottom of the leaderboard though, fourth place is symbolic. “We’re more than happy,” said the former Olympian.
“The improvement since leg one is huge and I’m proud of everyone doing a very good job.”
Mapfre did take the lead three times during the leg, the last time because of their bold option east.
They were hoping to catch the trade winds first, east of Madagascar. It was a strong call for navigator Jean-Luc Nélias, who only joined the team in Cape Town, which didn’t pay off, although his skipper has backed him.
“Jean-Luc and myself took that decision together. It was a risk, but the whole crew was supportive, even when it didn’t go well,” Iker revealed.
Nélias replaced Nico Lunven in Cape Town, and Rob Greenhalgh took Michel Desjoyeaux’s spot on board.
Alvimedica, who have garnered praise for taking themselves out of the second leg in order to be on standby to assist Vestas Wind after they ran aground, arrived at 17:29 on Sunday.
Amory Ross, Alvimedica’s on board reporter, said: “We led for the best part of a week, had some rough luck with doldrums clouds and lost touch, sailed through the remnants of a tropical system, stood by for a stricken Vestas, rejoined the fleet, passed Mapfre, lost Mapfre, and experienced the beauty and desolation of the Middle Eastern waters for the first time. It feels like we’ve been out here forever.”
