#VOR - Spanish team MAPFRE crossed the finish line for Leg 7 of the Volvo Ocean Race in Itajaí, Brazil on Sunday morning (8 April), securing a fifth place finish and collecting six points.
The result hands the overall lead in the race to Dongfeng Race Team, who leapfrog over MAPFRE with a one-point advantage on the leaderboard.
It’s a disappointing turn of events for skipper Xabi Fernández and his team, who had led the race since winning Leg 2.
“It’s been difficult for all of us,” Fernández said. “We were expecting much better, but it’s not the end of the world, it’s not so bad.
“We were compromised this leg with technical problems, but it’s nothing to do with the crew work or the trust we have in each other. We’vebeen going very well up to this moment and I’m pretty sure we’ll keep going well in the future.”
While MAPFRE was able to hang on to the leaders through the gales and hard miles of the Southern Ocean despite a damaged mast track, a torn mainsail at Cape Horn subsequently forced a 13-hour stop for repairs.
That allowed the leading group to push ahead of a high-pressure ridge, which would eventually all but block MAPFRE’s progress north towards the finish and turn that 13-hour pit-stop into a near five-day deficit at the finish line.
MAPFRE crossed the finish line at 07:59 UTC (08:59 Irish time), for an elapsed time for the leg of 21 days, 06:59:09 - nearly 28 hours behind fourth-placed Turn the Tide on Plastic.
Five boats finished Leg 7, with Team Brunel taking the win and scoring maximum points, followed just minutes behind by Dongfeng Race Team, while Team AkzoNobel were third on Thursday morning (5 April).
Two teams retired from the leg: Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag, following the tragic loss of John Fisher overboard; and Vestas 11th Hour Racing following a dismasting south of the Falkland Islands. Both teams are now delivering their boats to Itajaí with a view to being on the start line for Leg 8 on Sunday 22 April.
