“It’s part of sailing”
“It’s hard for the guys because they sailed very well and we finished fifth only because of that one mistake Andrew Cape and I did.” That’s Bouwe Bekking right there. Team Brunel’s skipper is blunt, honest, direct. He’s very Dutch.That’s not the whole truth though; his crew sailed a great Leg 4, going for a bold option north of the Philippines and taking the lead seven days into the leg, on February 15. Until they crossed the equator and gybed east to avoid a Pacific island. “Myself and our navigator Capey probably made one little mistake, a costly mistake, and it was the end of the leg for us,” Bouwe says as his boat crosses the finish line in fifth place, in the New Zealand night.
But the six-time race veteran puts things into perspective. “We’ve seen in the past couple of legs that very strange things can happen. The fleet is so close now: as soon as a team gets a little puff, they do very well. It’s part of sailing.”
“Getting better and better”
Team SCA sailed almost the perfect leg, being the first ones to tack north after the Philippines early on in the leg, showing some nerves and great boat-handling skills. “For us, it was the obvious option,” reflects skipper Sam Davies. “We knew this option was there before we left Sanya and we studied how it was developing. It was looking good and it was surprising not to see more teams going north.”
But despite a great first call, the rest of the leg didn’t quite unfold the way the girls wanted it to. That option initially paid off, but they slowly dropped to the back of the fleet, cloud after cloud, gybe after gybe.
Taking the sixth place in Auckland, almost seven hours after the first boat, MAPFRE, Sam’s interview is a mix of satisfaction and disappointment. On the overall ranking, Team SCA remains in sixth place while MAPFRE and Team Alvimedica are tied for points for fourth place, MAPFRE currently ahead because they lead in the In-Port series.
Team Brunel is third, and Dongfeng and Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing are tied for points for the lead, the first place going to Abu Dhabi for the same reason – a better In-Port result.
LEG 4 RESULTS
1. MAPFRE (ESP) – 28/02/2015 – 08h31mn20s UTC – 20days 02h 31mn 20s
2. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (UAE) – 28/02/2015 – 08h35mn45s UTC -20days 02h35mn45s
3. Dongfeng Race Team (CHN) – 28/02/2015 – 08h39mn22S UTC – 20days 02h39mn22s
4. Team Alvimedica (USA/TUR) – 28/02/2015 – 09h58mn08S UTC – 20days 03h58mn08s
5. Team Brunel (NED) – 28/02/2015 – 12h30mn30S UTC – 20days 06h30mn30s
6. Team SCA (SWE) – 28/02/2015 – 15h32mn25S UTC – 20days 09h32mn25s
VOLVO OCEAN RACE SCOREBOARD
1. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing – 8pts
2. Dongfeng Race Team – 8pts
3. Team Brunel – 14pts
4. MAPFRE – 16 pts
5. Team Alvimedica – 16 pts
6. Team SCA – 24pts
7. Team Vestas Wind – 28pts – Did not start Leg 3 and 4