Dongfeng fight back to the lead in Volvo Ocean Race Leg 6

Dongfeng were the Leg 6 leaders on Sunday as boats reached about a fifth of the way through the roughly 5,000 nautical mile stage to the US in the Volvo Ocean Race.

Dongfeng Race Team shown sailing during the 2014/15 Volvo Ocean Race. Victor Fraile / Volvo Ocean Race

Associated Press

Dongfeng Race Team, the Chinese-backed crew whose hopes of victory in the Volvo Ocean Race were rocked when they had to quit the fifth leg because of a broken mast, have bounced back by taking the lead Sunday in the next 5,010-nautical mile stage from Brazil to the US.

Dongfeng’s mast broke about 200nm from Cape Horn last month and they were forced to limp to Argentina for some makeshift repairs before a new rig was fitted in Itajaí, Brazil.

The sixth leg from Itajaí to Newport, Rhode Island, is promising to be even more closely fought than the previous stages since the race started in Alicante, Spain, last October.

After approaching 1,500nm of sailing in a week, all six boats in the fleet are bunched within 20nm of each other with Dongfeng protecting a narrow 5.7nm advantage early Sunday over Dutch boat, Team Brunel, with Spanish challengers Mapfre 1.3nm further adrift.

For the first time, the all-women’s crew of Team SCA are serious challengers for leg honours, 9.5nm off the lead with Saturday’s pace-setters Team Alvimedica 6.2nm behind them and overall race leaders, Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, bringing up the rear, 19.7nm off the lead.

This leg, unlike the previous stage that was contested in the roughest of conditions in the Southern Ocean, is a mainly tactical battle in shifting winds, but is no less challenging.

Dongfeng skipper Charles Caudrelier (France), whose boat is second in the overall standings and seven points behind leaders Azzam before leg six, admitted in his latest blog on Sunday that he was feeling the pressure.

“The wind is very light and unstable and each of the boats has good and bad phases,” he wrote. “It’s hard on the nerves, no gain is ever for keeps.

“This Volvo Ocean Race is really something else. The move to a one-design boat has really changed the race and made it even tougher. The permanent contact with our competitors is tiring and stressful.”

The boats are expected to reach Newport around May 7 after close to three weeks of sailing from Brazil through the Atlantic.

After this leg, they have three more stages to negotiate, finally completing the 38,739nm, nine-month offshore marathon in the final week of June in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Follow us on Twitter @NatSportUAE