Ian Walker described winning the most iconic leg of the Volvo Ocean Race as “epic” after Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing team claimed victory in Brazil.
Leg five is renowned for being notoriously problematic, with teams battling against the might of the Southern Ocean and all its ferocity – rounding Cape Horn and dodging icebergs to name but two quandaries.
The daunting task of negotiating 6,776 nautical miles of the planet was made more challenging when the start of leg five was delayed by three days due to Cyclone Pam.
Azzam’s skipper surely had 2011/12 on his mind when ADOR were forced to retire from the leg due to a damaged hull.
There was another retirement this time, but it was Dongfeng Race Team who were forced out of the leg on Day 12 when the top section of their mast broke off, Charles Caudrelier eventually taking the decision to retire his team from the leg. That resulted in them incurring an eight point penalty which gives ADOR a seven point cusion at the top of the leaderboard.
“It’s awesome. The whole thing’s been pretty epic. Overall it’s been a great performance,” Walker said.
“The legs all count the same in terms of points, but it’s the iconic leg of the race and sailing in the Southern Ocean is what this race is all about. Last time we didn’t complete the leg so it was awesome to do it this time. Leg five is definitely where you can lose the race.”
That might well prove to be the case for Dongfeng. Walker admits the race has turned in their favour.
“We have a commanding advantage, allowing us to stick to our strategy of wanting to be in the top three, which we believe will be good enough to win the race,” he added.
One part of the race in which they were very good was on the approach to Cape Horn, off the coast of Chile, where ADOR set the speed record for the most amount of miles (550.82) sailed in 24 hours, a feat which catapulted them from fifth to first.
It was a lead they held almost exclusively to the finish line. The leading pack of ADOR, Mapfre, Team Alvimedica and Team Brunel remained in close quarters right up until the leg conclusion, all finishing within an hour of each other.
Mapfre were 32 minutes behind ADOR and Alvimedica, a further 22 minutes back, claimed third just a minute and 16 seconds ahead of Brunel.
