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Volvo Ocean Race 16.08.2017

16. August 2017/in Volvo Ocean Race/von Dr. Irvin Krumnacker

16.08.2017

Dongfeng Race Team moves on from Leg Zero to two-boat testing

“I think we have good speed and a good spirit on board and I am pretty sure we can do very well. Of course the Spanish team on MAPFRE is very strong, but I am very happy with my team and how we work and how we progressed this week,” said Charles Caudrelier.

Charles Caudrelier the skipper of Dongfeng Race Team, was in a positive mood this morning after the end of the Volvo Ocean Race Leg Zero series which saw the red and white Chinese boat finish second overall.

With a spectacular win in the Rolex Fastnet Race, plus a third place in the passage race from Plymouth to St Malo, Caudrelier was happy with his team’s performance in the four warm-up races, with just under 70 days now left until the start of the Volvo Ocean Race proper in Alicante on October 22nd.

“I am happy – we did some nice things,” said Caudrelier after the final part of Leg Zero – the passage race from St Malo to Lisbon – was shortened early this morning due to light winds off Cape Finisterre with Dongfeng in fourth place.

Carolijn Brouwer, one of two female crew on Dongfeng, said the Leg Zero races had been a useful chance to put the team’s training to the test in a competitive environment.

“It was good to put a bit of racing rhythm into the team and we are quite happy with the speed of the boat and how we are working,” she said. “There are definitively some improvements in some areas and the good thing is that there is still a couple of months left for us to do that.”

Navigator Pascal Bidégorry reckons Leg Zero only underlined how close the racing is going to be in the Volvo Ocean Race. “We all have the same tools to work with in terms of the meteorological information we get. The boats don’t have big differences in terms of speed and when you deviate from the ‘direct route’, there are never big accelerations,” said Bidégorry.

“So this is a racing mode where you try small options rather than a big radical alternative. We have seen that in the last edition of the race – when you look at the global route of each boat, they all stayed really close all around the world. So we can imagine the same scenario this time,” he added.

Bowman Jack Bouttell agrees – Leg Zero had shown how hard it is to get ahead and stay there in a finely balanced one-design fleet. “The Volvo Ocean Race will be really close and really frustrating for sure, and a really hard battle to be at the front, but it was good to race together. And it was good for the team to have pressure on manoeuvres and pressure on decisions. There is still a lot to do to get ready and we learnt about ourselves and the others in the last two weeks,” he said.

Instead of sailing to Lisbon as originally planned, Dongfeng is now heading to the Spanish Galician resort of Sanxenxo where Dongfeng Race Team and MAPFRE will take part in the first two-boat testing programme ever organised for Volvo Ocean 65s.

Bruno Dubois, the Dongfeng Race Team Director, said the team had accepted MAPFRE’s invitation to join them for two weeks of training together. “The idea is to work on sail crossovers and do some start practice together. We offered other teams the chance to join us but none of them were available,” he said.

Dubois explained that this was not about MAPFRE and Dongfeng Race Team – two of the strongest entries in the Volvo Ocean Race – sharing or giving away secrets. “Our focus is not on what we are giving, but on what we will get out of this. We will play it open and in a totally transparent way and both teams are going to learn from it,” added Dubois.

Leg Zero, overall final rankings after 4 races:
1. MAPFRE 29 points
2. Dongfeng Race Team 24
3. Team Brunel 23
4. team AkzoNobel 22
5. Vestas 11th Hour Racing 20
6. Turn the Tide on Plastic 13
7. Sun Hung Kai Scallywag 9

WHAT IS THE LEG ZERO?
This is the first year that the race has formed part of the Volvo Ocean Race Leg Zero series – a four-part warm-up for the Volvo Ocean Race proper that starts from Alicante in Spain on October 22nd. Following the Round The Island Race on August 2nd and the Fastnet Race on August 6th, the Volvo Ocean Race crews completed two passage races, from Plymouth to St Malo on August 10th, and then from St Malo to Lisbon, on August 13th.

Dong Feng Image credit: Jeremie Lecaudey

Rolex Fastnet Race 08.08.2017

8. August 2017/in Fastnet Race 2017/von Dr. Irvin Krumnacker

08.08.2017

Dongfeng first to ease sheets at the Fastnet Rock

“It’s good, rounding the Fastnet is always fantastic…it was not easy to be the first here.“ Charles Caudrelier

After a night of close-quarters tacking in the Celtic Sea into a 15-knot northwesterly breeze Dongfeng Race Team, which had been in second place in the seven-strong Volvo Ocean Race fleet, was the first to round the famous Fastnet Rock this morning.

Charles Caudrelier and his crew managed to overhaul former class leader AkzoNobel and were the first to ease sheets and begin the leg back to Plymouth with the wind now behind Dongfeng and set to freshen as they head towards the Isles of Scilly.

At 08.30 local time this morning Dongfeng had 246.3 miles left to sail to the finish off Plymouth and was two miles ahead of AkzoNobel, skippered by Simeon Tienpont, with the Spanish entry MAPFRE, skippered by Xabi Fernández, another half a mile astern.

On Dongfeng there were broad smiles and a thumbs-up from navigator Pascal Bidégorry as the crew worked the boat downwind for the first time in this 605-mile classic and with the famous Fastnet lighthouse now behind them.

„It’s good, rounding the Fastnet is always fantastic. It is a nice day, not a very windy one. It was not easy to be the first here. We have had a great fight with the Spanish and with AkzoNobel since the beginning of the race and then the whole fleet compressed in a really light spot,“ said skipper, Charles Caudrelier.

„Now this is a long downwind phase and it will probably be very challenging, because the wind is very shifty and the other boats at the back will try something. So it will be very hard to stay ahead before we reach the Isles of Scilly. After that, things will be more clear.”

Marie Riou, who is taking part in the Rolex Fastnet Race for the first time, was also glad to round the rock in first place. “We passed the rock in daylight so I saw it and that was nice. I’m really happy to be here. Now, we have to go downwind and stay focused until the finish line. We overtook team AkzoNobel during the night so we are in first place which is good, but there is still a long way to go. But this is a good start and it’s good to be in first place, really exciting!”

Ranking for the V065 fleet at 09:42 (UTC)
1 – Dongfeng Race Team (China), Charles Caudrelier
2- team Akzo Nobel (Netherlands), Simeon Tienpont
3- MAPFRE (Spain), Xabi Fernández
4- Scallywag (Hong Kong), David Witt
5- Team Brunel (Netherlands), Bouwe Bekking
6 – Vestas-11th hour racing (USA/Denmark), Charlie Enright
7 – Turn the Tide of Plastic (International), Dee Caffari

Track the fleet here

LEG ZERO – ROLEX FASTNET RACE

Crew on board
Charles Caudrelier (FRA, skipper/helm)
Pascal Bidégorry (FRA, tactics)
Daryl Wislang (NZL, watch)
Stuart Bannatyne (NZL, watch)
Jérémie Beyou (FRA, watch)
Carolijn Brouwer (NL, trim)
Marie Riou (FRA, trim)
Jack Bouttell (GBR/AUS, bow)
Chen Jinhao/Horace (CHN, bow)

Volvo Ocean Race Leg Zero timeline (local time)
9 August, ETA in Plymouth, dock in at Mount Batten
10 August, 13:30 Plymouth-Saint Malo start
11 August, 9:00, ETA Saint Malo, fleet in the ‘Bassin Vauban’
12 August, 9:45, Pro-Am race start
13 August, 13:00, Saint Malo-Lisbon start
15 or 16 August: ETA in Lisbon

Scoring
Each of the four races will be scored equally on a high points scoring system. 1st place/8 points; 2nd/7pts; 3rd/6pts; 4th/5pts; 5th/4pts; 6th/3pts; 7th/2pts

Rolex Fastnet Race 06.08.2017

7. August 2017/in Fastnet Race 2017/von Dr. Irvin Krumnacker

: Fastnet Start

: Fastnet Startaction

: Mapfre Needles

06.08.2017

Startvideo

Classic upwind start for record breaking Rolex Fastnet Race

The Solent laid on ‚classic‘ conditions for the start of the Royal Ocean Racing Club’s 47th Rolex Fastnet Race. In brilliant sunshine and with brisk westerly winds gusting up to 20 knots, the giant fleet tacked up the western Solent before compressing through the usual bottleneck at Hurst Narrows. A record-sized fleet of 368 boats started the race, 12 more than two years ago, confirming the Rolex Fastnet Race’s position as the world’s largest offshore yacht race.

The first start got underway at 11:00 BST for the nine multihulls and within minutes, the blue three-hulled streak that is Concise 10 had pulled out a lead, frequently heeling to an alarming degree, just one hull immersed. By the time IRC One was starting at 12:20 Tony Lawson’s MOD 70, skippered by Ned Collier Wakefield, was already off Poole. Crewman Paul Larsen, who five years ago became the world’s fastest sailor setting a world record of 65.45 knots, reported Concise 10 was sailing under reefed mainsail and staysail. „We’re making 20 knots tacking past Poole and just dropping into the watch system. Glamour start conditions in the Solent. I can just see the next boats clearing Hurst Castle.“ However Larsen warned that unless the wind freed up, there was little chance for them to break the multihull race record. By 1500 Concise 10 was already level with Portland Bill.

The multihulls were followed away from Cowes by two other ’non-IRC‘ classes – the nine doublehanded IMOCA 60s and twenty seven Class40s. Given the upwind conditions, the older, conventionally foiled IMOCA 60s were prevailing. At 1630 Paul Meilhat and Jules Verne Trophy record holder crewman Gwénolé Gahinet aboard SMA, the 2012-3 Vendee Globe (and the 2013 Rolex Fastnet Race) winner as MACIF, were leading the 60s past Portland Bill. The first ‚foil-assisted‘ IMOCA 60 was favourite Alex Thomson and Nicholas O’Leary on Hugo Boss in third place, taking a northerly route, close to the land.

In the Class40s present championship leader Phil Sharp on board Imerys led past St Alban’s Head, but later there was little too choose with the British boat neck and neck for the lead in this incredible fleet with the Maxime Sorel-skippered V And B, Burkhard Keese’s Stella Nova, Benoit Charon’s LMAX Normandie and race veteran Halvard Mabire and Miranda Merron on Campagne de France.

The five IRC handicap classes, chasing the race’s overall prize of the Fastnet Challenge Cup started with the smallest boats first at 1120.

This afternoon at 1600, the IRC One fleet had fanned out across the course to the southeast of St Alban’s Head. James Neville’s HH42 Ino XXX was leading the charge inshore as Staffan Wincrantz’s Arcona 465 SALT 2.0 was ahead on the water to the south, just ahead of the venerable 1960s maxi Kialoa II, owned by Patrick Broughton.

Mid-afternoon, competitors in IRC Two were favouring the inshore route with Dutchman Frans Rodenburg’s First 40 Elke, closest to St Alban’s Head at 1620, with class favourite Gilles Fournier and Corinne Migraine’s J/133 Pintia nearby.

The IRC Three boats were following a similar tactic with the offshore tack being less popular. Having started 20 minutes earlier, they were still successfully fending off the advances of the larger, faster IRC Two fleet. The Russian JPK 10.80, Igor Rytov’s Boyatyr, was leading the pack inshore while the brilliantly-named Seafarers Ale Anticipation, the First 40.7 of former 470 Olympian Pete Newlands, was ahead on the water offshore.

The inshore-offshore spread was more evenly distributed among the smallest boats in IRC Four. Here Noel Racine’s impeccably sailed JPK 10.10 Foggy Dew was ahead inshore while Dan Rigden’s Elan 37 Tacktic was furthest down the track out to sea.

The last to start were the largest in the IRC fleet, IRC Zero, including the line honours contenders George David’s Rambler 88 and Ludde Ingvall’s 100ft CQS. By 1520 Rambler 88 was off and close into St Alban’s Head, leading IRC Zero on the water just ahead of the biggest boat in the fleet, the 115ft Nikata.

Among the seven one design VO65s competing in ‚Leg 0‘ of the 2017-18 Volvo Ocean Race, it was very close, with the Charles Caudrelier-skippered Dongfeng Race Team a nose ahead and making 12.3 knots but facing a threat from Team Brunel, skippered again by Dutch race veteran Bouwe Bekking, making 12.5 as the boats passed St Alban’s Head.

This morning Xabi Fernández, skipper of MAPFRE, looked forward to the race: „Once out of the Solent it will be upwind sailing up to the Fastnet rock, and finally we will sail downwind towards Plymouth. This is the first time I’ve competed in the Rolex Fastnet Race. It is a historic race, much like the Rolex Sydney Hobart.“

Joan Vila, MAPFRE’s legendary navigator confirmed the forecast: „Once we leave the Solent, the wind will blow at around 20 knots. From there, it will drop until tomorrow morning, with the probability of encountering areas of very light wind. As we get closer to Plymouth, the wind will build again.“

HOW TO FOLLOW THE RACE

RACE MINISITE: www.rolexfastnetrace.com
Follow the story of the race with all the latest news and updates, great images from the start, Fastnet Rock and from the race course, plus video, audio, fleet tracking and the Virtual Regatta game.

SOCIAL MEDIA:
Like us on Facebook: facebook.com/royaloceanracingclub
Twitter: twitter.com/rorcracing or @rorcracing
Instagram: instagram.com/rorcracing or @rorcracing
YouTube – youtube.com/user/RORCRacing
The official Race Hashtag is #rolexfastnetrace

FASTNET RADIO & TV:
Set up to engage race fans with regular updates, Fastnet Radio will be broadcasting in Plymouth on 87.9FM.
https://www.rolexfastnetrace.com/Multimedia/87-9-fm-fastnet-radio-2017.html

RACE TRACKER:
Watch the Rolex Fastnet Race online via the fleet tracker. YB Trackers are fitted to every yacht so you can see each boat’s position along the course. View by class or select your favourites to follow friends and family, check out their boat speed and weather conditions in real time, read the social media feed and see how the live leaderboard is developing at https://www.rolexfastnetrace.com/Tracking/2017-fleet-tracking.html

VIRTUAL RACE: Nearly 10,000 people have signed up so far!
Armchair sailors will be able to test their skills on the same course as competitors in the 2017 Rolex Fastnet Race. Watch out, it’s addictive!
https://www.virtualregatta.com/en/index_fastnet2017.php

: Fastnet Start

: Fastnet Startaction

: Mapfre Needles

Rolex Fastnet Race 04.08.2017

4. August 2017/in Fastnet Race 2017/von Dr. Irvin Krumnacker

04.08.2017

Dongfeng crew all set to rock and roll in the Fastnet classic

“We are not expecting much time in the bunk at all and when you are in the bunk you have to be ready to get up and manoeuvre,” said Daryl Wislang watch captain on board Dongfeng who won the last edition of the Volvo Ocean Race on Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing.

04.08.2017, Gosport UK – Along with their six rivals in the 2017-18 Volvo Ocean Race, Dongfeng Race Team will line up for the Rolex Fastnet Race on Sunday which promises to be a thrilling battle between crews preparing for the round-the-world marathon.

The 47th biennial Fastnet forms the second part of the Volvo Ocean Race Leg Zero series and follows a Round the Island (Isle of Wight) sprint on Wednesday. At 603 nautical miles, the Fastnet will be the first chance for the teams to test themselves against each other over several days at sea.

“Going into the Fastnet we are expecting a pretty tight battle between the Volvo Ocean Race fleet,” said Daryl Wislang who knows this will be a hard few days aboard the Chinese red and white Volvo Ocean 65 skippered by Charles Caudrelier and sponsored by Dongfeng Motor Corporation. “The last Volvo Ocean Race involved close racing for each leg and, after sailing 6,500 miles for example, boats were still finishing within 10 minutes of each other. I don’t see why the Fastnet is going to be any different.”

Setting sail from the Royal Yacht Squadron line off Cowes on Sunday at 12.40pm (local time), Dongfeng and her rivals will make their way along the English south coast to Land’s End and then head across the Celtic Sea to the famous Fastnet Rock off the southwest coast of Ireland, before returning to finish at Plymouth.

This year’s race looks likely to feature a long windward stretch for the Volvo Ocean Race boats almost all the way to the Fastnet and then a fast downwind return leg to the finish. Along the way navigators will have their work cut out as the crews make their way past the great headlands of the English south coast, taking care to make the best of the tide.

The Chinese sailor Chen Jinhao, also known as Horace, has no illusions about how hard the Fastnet will be. “It’s not an easy race,” said the 25-year-old from Schen Zhen in China who will sail as bowman on Dongfeng. “Everything will need to be quick and fast and we need to make sure we are making quick and strong decisions.”

He sailed in the last Volvo Ocean Race, when Dongfeng finished third overall, having had to learn the ropes almost from nothing. “This is the first time that I will race in the Fastnet and I am excited to see the famous rock,” he added. “Back then, I didn’t really know what to expect and had to wait for instructions before each move. Now I know exactly what’s coming next and I am more relaxed and I can concentrate solely on doing my best.”

Dongfeng will sail the Fastnet with two female crew in Carolijn Brouwer and Marie Riou. Riou is ready to go. “I am looking forward to getting back out there,” said the four-time Nacra 17 class world champion. “I am really excited to be on the startline on Sunday. It will be my first time on the course and I have heard lots about this race and it looks like the weather will be good,” she added.

Skipper Caudrelier believes the field is quite open and that the Spanish team which won the Round the Island Race, is a tough competitor. “It is completely different from before as even if teams start late, we have four or five teams with great sailors on board. MAPFRE is the big favourite; they have done four or five editions together and have a fantastic spirit which can be a key point. They proved in the Round the Island Race on Wednesday that they are strong.”

This year’s Fastnet, which was first sailed in 1925, features a huge fleet of some 375 yachts sailed by more than 3,000 people from 29 nations with 164 crews from outside Britain.

This is the first year that the race has formed part of the Volvo Ocean Race Leg Zero series – a four-part warm-up for the Volvo Ocean Race proper that starts from Alicante in Spain on October 22nd. Following the Fastnet (ETA August 9th), the Volvo Ocean Race crews will complete two passage races, from Plymouth to St Malo starting on August 10th, and then from St Malo to Lisbon, starting on August 13th.

The Dongfeng Race Team crew for the Rolex Fastnet Race
Charles Caudrelier (FRA, skipper/helm)
Pascal Bidégorry (FRA, tactics)
Daryl Wislang (NZL, watch)
Stuart Bannatyne (NZL, watch)
Jérémie Beyou (FRA, watch)
Carolijn Brouwer (NL, trim)
Marie Riou (FRA, trim)
Jack Bouttell (GBR/AUS, bow)
Chen Jinhao/Horace (CHN, bow)

Fleet
Akzo Nobel (Netherlands), Simeon Tienpont
Dongfeng Race Team (China), Charles Caudrelier
MAPFRE (Spain), Xabi Fernández
Scallywag (Hong Kong), David Witt
Team Brunel (Netherlands), Bouwe Bekking
Turn the Tide of Plastic (International), Dee Caffari
Vestas-11th hour racing (USA/Denmark), Charlie Enright

Volvo Ocean Race Leg Zero timeline (local time)
2 August, 09:50, Lendy Cowes Week Round the Isle of Wight Race start, Royal Yacht Squadron
5 August, 14:00, Rolex Fastnet Race press conference, RORC
6 August, 12:40, VO65 fleet start for the Rolex Fastnet Race
9 August, ETA in Plymouth, the boats will dock at Mount Batten
10 August, 13:30 Plymouth-Saint Malo start
11 August, 9:00, ETA Saint Malo, fleet in the ‘Bassin Vauban’
12 August, 9:45, Pro-Am race start
13 August, 13:00, Saint Malo-Lisbon start
15 or 16 August: ETA in Lisbon

Scoring
Each of the four races will be scored equally on a high points scoring system. 1st place/8 points; 2nd/7pts; 3rd/6pts; 4th/5pts; 5th/4pts; 6th/3pts; 7th/2pts

Volvo Ocean Race 01.08.2017

1. August 2017/in Volvo Ocean Race/von Dr. Irvin Krumnacker

01.08.2017

Volvo Ocean Race Leg Zero: Dongfeng Race Team is ready for battle
„This is the opportunity to measure what progress we have made in training and we are looking forward to meeting the fleet on the racecourse for the first time.“ Charles Caudrelier
After an intense six-month training period at its base in Lorient in France, Dongfeng Race Team has relocated to the English south coast. The Chinese team is now ready to compete in the Leg Zero series, the official warm-up for competitors in the Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18.

Following Lendy Cowes Week Round the Isle of Wight Race tomorrow (August 2nd), the seven-boat Volvo Ocean Race fleet will compete in the Rolex Fastnet Race starting on August 6th. There will then be two special passage races for Volvo Ocean 65s, from Plymouth to Saint Malo (August 10th -11th) and then from Saint Malo to Lisbon (start, August 13th).

Leg Zero is the first racing for the Volvo Ocean 65 fleet ahead of the main Volvo Ocean Race which begins from Alicante in Spain on October 22nd. An overall Leg Zero winner will be declared, based on the four scoring races above, but no points will be carried forward to the Volvo Ocean Race itself.

The international Dongfeng Race Team crew, led by its French skipper Charles Caudrelier, is eagerly awaiting its first chance to line up against the boats and crews it will be racing in the coming months.

“Leg Zero is an important first outing for us where we hope to gain confidence and it is important to see how we and the others are sailing,” explained Caudrelier after delivering the red and white Volvo Ocean 65, Dongfeng, to Gosport on the Solent from Brittany. “This is the opportunity to measure what progress we have made in training and we are looking forward to meeting the fleet on the racecourse for the first time.”

“These short races are quite different from the Volvo Ocean Race because you don’t run a marathon like you run 800 metres. When you are close to the shore you also normally have more sail changes and more tacks and gybes so you will not sail the same way when you are at sea for three days compared to 25 days. But it is good to train with these kinds of races which are interesting and dynamic. You need to be good at transitions between localised weather patterns,” added Caudrelier.

The Leg Zero series comes at the end of an intense six-month training and crew selection phase for Dongfeng Race Team when the crew, which consists of men and women from six nations including China, have worked hard on all aspects of their preparation.

This has included inshore and offshore racing, race practice in small one-designs, work on calibration, manoeuvres, meteorology and physical fitness. In recent weeks the team has been working with Bertrand Pacé, the French former America’s Cup skipper and world match racing champion, on inshore race starting technique and teamwork.

At all times the emphasis has been on performance, something underlined by Dongfeng Race Team Director Bruno Dubois. “If there is something I have learned it is that we have to stay focused on our objective and that is to do the best we can in terms of results after our third place finish overall in the last Volvo Ocean Race,” said Dubois.

“Over the last few months, Charles has done a great job keeping the boat and the team running with a variety of activities without pushing too hard – we do not want to make the mistake of starting the Volvo Ocean Race with a tired boat and a tired team,” Dubois added. “Having said that, I know the guys and Charles want to do well in the Leg Zero races.”

For one Dongfeng Race Team sailor the relocation to the Solent has been like returning home. Jack Bouttell, the Australian/British bowman on Dongfeng, cut his teeth sailing on the Solent and he is looking forward to racing the Chinese Volvo Ocean 65 for the first time in familiar waters.

“The Round the Island Race should be fun,” said Bouttell. “All of us in the team are pretty curious to see some or our rivals out on the water for the first time and the famous course around the Isle of Wight is bound to throw up some interesting tactical and sail management issues – it’s going be a tricky first test.”

The Dongfeng Race Team crew for Round the Island
Charles Caudrelier (FRA, skipper/helm)
Pascal Bidégorry (FRA, tactics)
Daryl Wislang (NZL, mainsail)
Carolijn Brouwer (NL, trim)
Marie Riou (FRA, grind)
Jack Bouttell (GBR/AUS, bow)
Chen Jinhao/Horace (CHN, bow)
Yang Jiru/Wolf (CHN, pit)
Jérémie Beyou (FRA, pit)
Fabien Delahaye (FRA, pit)

Scoring
Each of the four races will be scored equally on a high points scoring system. 1st place/8 points; 2nd/7pts; 3rd/6pts; 4th/5pts; 5th/4pts; 6th/3pts; 7th/2pts

Dongfeng0108