Sail break introduces doubt in Dongfeng’s Volvo Ocean Race third leg runaway

Dongfeng Race Team's tack line on the J1 snapped on Thursday, throwing a wrench into their cruise to victory in the third leg to Sanya, China.

Dongfeng Race Team shown sailing into the Malacca Straits during Leg 3 of the Volvo Ocean Race on Monday. Sam Greenfield / Dongfeng Race Team / Volvo Ocean Race / January 19, 2015

Chinese leg three leaders Dongfeng Race Team were given a big wake-up call in the Volvo Ocean Race on Thursday when an equipment failure threatened to cost them their advantage.

Victory in the destination port of Sanya, Hainan Island, on the southernmost tip of China would give the team the outright lead and make race history as the first Chinese boat to win a leg in the 41-year-old event, offshore sailing’s most prestigious round-the-world race.

However, their apparent cruise to the win was rudely interrupted early on Thursday when a tack line on the J1, which is used for sailing upwind, snapped and ruled out the use of the vital sail.

The crew scrambled to repair the line and within a half hour, a makeshift repair had restored the sail for use in the South China Sea.

Frenchman Kevin Escoffier was fashioning a longer lasting solution to ensure Dongfeng reach Sanya at the end of the 4,670 nautical mile (nm) leg from Abu Dhabi which will take about three and a half weeks to complete.

The team have led for much of the way since leaving the UAE on January 3 but their advantage has been whittled down to just under 40nm with 945nm (as of 1.55pm UAE time on Thursday) still to sail on the third leg of nine overall in the nine-month, 38,739nm race.

“I hate having problems on the boat – but in a way I’m happy this might have woken everyone up to the fact that we are a very long way from winning this leg still,” team chief Bruno Dubois told reporters.

Skipper Charles Caudrelier (France) added in a message from the boat: “It was a good reminder to us onboard if we needed one, and I hope for those on land following, that we have a very long and treacherous way still to go on this leg.

“Of course we are happy to have a healthy lead, but that lead can disappear very easily through mechanical failure like this and lots of other kinds of problems.”

Dongfeng are 39.9nm clear of Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing with the next three – Team Alvimedica, Team Brunel and Mapfre – placed within 2nm of each other, between 42nm and 43.4nm behind the Chinese-backed boat.

Dongfeng, Abu Dhabi and Brunel were locked together on four points apiece at the top of the standings before the start of the third leg.

Fastest boat in the fleet early on Thursday, however, was sixth-placed Team SCA (Sam Davies/Great Britain), which made up some 14nm in 22 knots of wind over the three hours leading to the latest position report at 1.55pm. The all women’s crew are still 124.4nm behind Dongfeng, however.

The leaders are expected to arrive in Sanya sometime on Tuesday (January 27) in a thrilling climax to the leg.

The race itself will conclude after visiting 11 ports and every continent on June 27 in Gothenburg, Sweden.

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