It was a challenging day for the Volvo Ocean Race teams as they
tackled the Around Hong Kong Island Race on Sunday with a generously
sized spectator fleet on hand to cheer them on.
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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