The winner of the second port race of the Volvo Ocean Race 2017/18 in Lisbon was the Dutch team Brunel, which finished the first stage of the regatta in sixth place. And since November 5, the crews have been fighting for the championship in the second stage, which is almost five times longer than the initial one.
Conditions were tough in the port race held in Lisbon, Portugal on Friday 3 November.
The competition brought an unexpected victory for the crew under the Dutch flag. The leader of the first competition in Alicante, MAPFRE team came second, while the winner of the first round, Vestas 11th Hour Racing team came in only fifth.
One day later, on November 5, the offshore regatta participants went on start of the second stage. To date, they have passed the Madeira Archipelago and the challenging leg with 4m waves and 30 knots of wind.
From strong storms the boats can get into absolute no winds, such as when passing «horse latitudes», where once tortured sailors had to throw overboard horses transported from Europe due to a lack of fresh water.
Teams must therefore choose the right strategy to navigate each section with precision, as every decision can bring both a significant advantage and a huge loss of time.
Before the start of the second stage some teams were replenished with experienced athletes. So, for example, in Team AkzoNobel returned navigator Jules Salter, who went ashore while recovering skipper Simeon Tienpont. Also joining the crew are Chris Nicholson and Peter van NieKerk, both of whom have competed on several previous occasions.
And six-time Volvo Ocean Race winner Roberto Bermudez de Castro Munoz, aka Chuny, on board the Vestas 11th Hour Racing.
The current leader is difficult to determine, as boats have now gone west of the direct route to Cape Town in pursuit of good winds, so part of the fleet, on the contrary, is moving away from the destination.
