The China-backed Dongfeng Race Team held a 30-nautical mile lead over closest rival Team Brunel as the Volvo Ocean Race fleet moved slowly through the pollution-plagued Bay of Bengal on Tuesday on leg three of their nine-month offshore race.
No Chinese-backed boat has ever won a leg of the Volvo race but it would be appropriate if Dongfeng breaks the duck by winning the third leg to Sanya, Hainan Island.
Frenchman Charles Caudrelier, skipper of Dongfeng, would dearly love victory in the third stage, which is expected to be completed around January 25-26.
Nothing is ever for keeps on this leg. We need to fight for another 15 days to get our boat home
“Onboard we are focused but tired from the constant battle of nerves. Nothing is ever for keeps on this leg. We need to fight for another 15 days to get our boat home,” he said.
It has been a case of very watchful progress because of the pollution in the Bay of Bengal.
Team Brunel skipper Bouwe Bekking wrote in a blog: “There was so much plastic in the water that I started counting in several intervals of 10 minutes for a duration of four hours, the amount of plastic I could see floating by.”
Dongfeng, Team Brunel and Abu Dhabi Ocean were locked at the top of the leader board on four points apiece after two of the 11 legs of the race, which started in Alicante, Spain, and will finish in Gothenburg, Sweden, on June 27.