(May 21, 2018; Day 2) – Dongfeng Race Team has had a successful first night at sea on Leg 9 of the Volvo Ocean Race, but their duel with arch-rivals and overall race leader MAPFRE got interested today when they split to the north just before 1300 UTC while MAPFRE continued with the bulk of the fleet charging out to the southeast.

But as history has shown, these two red boats can’t wander far from each other, with MAPFRE gybing two hours later to port to match angles with Dongfeng, and now both teams are separated by 80 miles from all but Turn the Tide on Plastic which was the first to jump on the northerly route.

After the clouds cleared for the fleet to exit Newport, visibility deteriorated once beyond Castle Hill for the first night at sea. “The fog was quite spooky and disorientating and pretty wet,” noted Plastic skipper Dee Caffari.

Dongfeng and MAPFRE, both consistently among the fastest in the fleet, are likely to stay near each other  now in fear of tactically stumbling. With only three points separating themselves on the overall leaderboard, and with this leg being for doublepoints, managing risk will be crucial early in the leg.

Leg 9 – Position Report (19:00 UTC)
1. Dongfeng Race Team (CHN), Charles Caudrelier (FRA), 2545.6 nm DTF
2. MAPFRE (ESP), Xabi Fernández (ESP), 14.9 nm DTL
3. Team Brunel (NED), Bouwe Bekking (NED), 52.7 nm DTL
4. Vestas 11th Hour Racing (DEN/USA), Charlie Enright (USA), 56.2 nm DTL
5. Team AkzoNobel (NED), Simeon Tienpont (NED), 58.6 nm DTL
6. Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag (HKG), David Witt (AUS), 61.9 nm DTL
7. Turn the Tide on Plastic (POR), Dee Caffari (GBR), 63.2 nm DTL
DTF – Distance to Finish; DTL – Distance to Lead

Overall Results (after 8 of 11 legs)
1. MAPFRE (ESP), Xabi Fernández (ESP), 53 points
2. Dongfeng Race Team (CHN), Charles Caudrelier (FRA), 50
3. Team Brunel (NED), Bouwe Bekking (NED), 42
4. Team AkzoNobel (NED), Simeon Tienpont (NED), 36
5. Vestas 11th Hour Racing (DEN/USA), Charlie Enright (USA), 28
6. Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag (HKG), David Witt (AUS), 27
7. Turn the Tide on Plastic (POR), Dee Caffari (GBR), 22

2017-18 Edition: Entered Teams – Skippers
• Team AkzoNobel (NED), Simeon Tienpont (NED)
• Dongfeng Race Team (CHN), Charles Caudrelier (FRA)
• MAPFRE (ESP), Xabi Fernández (ESP)
• Vestas 11th Hour Racing (DEN/USA), Charlie Enright (USA)
• Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag (HKG), David Witt (AUS)
• Turn the Tide on Plastic (POR), Dee Caffari (GBR)
• Team Brunel (NED), Bouwe Bekking (NED)

Background: Racing the one design Volvo Ocean 65, the 2017-18 Volvo Ocean Race begins in Alicante, Spain on October 22 2017 with the final finish in The Hague, Netherlands on June 30 2018. In total, the 11-leg race will visit 12 cities in six continents: Alicante, Lisbon, Cape Town, Melbourne, Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Auckland, Itajaí, Newport, Cardiff, Gothenburg, and The Hague. A maximum of eight teams will compete.