香港港內為8-10節東南風，氣溫12度，非常適合航行。起航槍響後，阿克蘇諾貝爾隊領跑，新鴻基/Scallywag隊和布魯內爾隊緊隨其後。

起航後，阿克蘇諾貝爾隊的領先位置無人撼動，但新鴻基/Scallywag隊和布魯內爾隊間第二名的爭奪非常激烈，在直播結束前15分鐘，布魯內爾隊趕超本土作戰的新鴻基/Scallywag隊，位列第二。

第六賽段2月5日從廣州出發，在香港做短暫停留後，於2月7日再次出發，前往帆船之都新西蘭奧克蘭。本賽段可能是2017-18賽季歷時最長的賽段，全程6100海裡，預計2月27日抵達。

船隊離開香港後不久，受季風和洋流的雙重影響，船隊將在逆風頂流的環境中拼搏。下周經過斐濟島時，船隊可能遭遇熱帶風暴，為此，賽事組除了在菲律賓周圍設立禁航區外，還在台灣臨時增設繞標點，盡量讓船隊繞過極端惡劣環境，避免直面熱帶風暴。隨後船隊將向南經過赤道無風帶。

變化無常的赤道無風帶是影響本賽段的關鍵。本賽段與第四賽段不同的是，儘管距離赤道無風帶還很遠，但船隊一開始的航線選擇將影響穿越無風帶的。越往東航線越長，但無風區更窄，而選擇東南方，雖然航線短，但陷入無風區的風險更高。

布魯內爾隊船長佈維•貝金賽前表示，本賽季最大的差距可能會在本賽段出現。

目前分列積分榜排名一二位的曼福隊和東風隊則對穿越赤道無風帶表示擔憂。

「我們必須穿越赤道無風帶，大家都清楚無風帶的氣候非常複雜，有很多不確定因素。我們很擔心自己會被突如其來的雲困住。」東風隊船長夏爾說。

東風隊的老對手曼福隊則同樣憂心忡忡，船長哈維說：「我們都知道赤道無風帶有多難，第四賽段對我們來說尤其如此。那時候我們比領先船隊落後10- 15小時，看到別的船隊已經加速前進而我們依然深陷無風區，這感覺實在是非常痛苦。」

維斯塔斯11小時隊缺席本賽段，他們已經將賽船運往奧克蘭，期望能在3月18日前完成賽船維修工作，參與第七賽段的角逐。

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Light and variable wind shortly after the start allowed the leading boats to break away as they found new wind pressure first. But it didn’t mean opportunities for passing later in the afternoon were completely closed off.

MAPFRE had the best start in the fleet and eked out ahead in light winds. Three teams broke the line early and needed to restart, with Team Brunel, Turn the Tide on Plastic and Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag all turning back.

It put them at an immediate disadvantage, but while Brunel had the best re-start, it was Turn the Tide on Plastic who moved up the fleet to challenge the leading pack over the next 20 minutes.

However as the race progressed, MAPFRE and Dongfeng Race Team found the new favourable wind first and built a commanding lead over the others.

When MAPFRE crossed the finish line, they were flying a protest flag but later informed the Race Committee they would not be following through with a protest, making the results on the water final.

Sunday’s results mean Dongfeng Race Team has the best overall score on the weekend after two second place finishes. The team will claim a full 7 points from the Hong Kong series which pulls it into a tie on the overall leaderboard with MAPFRE, both sitting on 25 points. Dongfeng Race Team is ranked first based on winning the most recent series in Hong Kong.

Volvo Ocean Race In-Port Race Series Leaderboard
Dongfeng Race Team – 25 points
MAPFRE – 25 points
Team Brunel – 17 points
team AkzoNobel – 16 points
Vestas 11th Hour Racing – 12 points
Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag – 9 points
Turn the Tide on Plastic – 7 points

*** Note: The results of the Around Hong Kong Island Race have been combined with Saturday’s HGC In-Port Race to rank the teams after the two weekend races. The overall leader from this weekend’s racing win the maximum seven points from Hong Kong.

Information from Volvo Ocean Race

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