SCA glorious Victory in VolvoOceanRace Leg 8

The boys were chasing the girls for the last couple of days, but the Girls were too fast for them all. SCA took Victory in Lorient on Leg 8 in the VolvoOceanRace with a comfortable lead.

SCA's last Miles before taking the win.

SCA took the lead already in the first night of this Leg. In front of the Portuguese coast with weak  variable winds, they found the best winds and run away never to be approached again.The 2nd day , SCA could extend their lead and in the stormy Gulf of Bisque, they sailed a perfect strategy, with never gave any change to close in , let alone pass the girls. A well deserved win.

Second came Vestas Wind, after a 6 months rest, where their boat, which they wrecked on some coral reefs in the Indian Ocean. They must be happy, that their new navigator could avoid the corals reefs, there are  not too many around Portugal though. 

Third AbuDhabi and very important with a boat between them and their nearest rivals. The points in the Overall ranking are beyond reach for the other boats, so they just have to sail and finish the last Leg 9.

Brunel, made a good last day of sailing, with passages of first Dongfeng and later Alvimedica in the final miles in a tight battle.

VolvoOceanRace Leg 8 is on its way.

Saturday, 6th June, started the activities towards Leg 8 , Lisbon to Lorient, France, with a Lisbon In-Port Race with the full number of Boat; Vestas Wind is ready after a repair and able to sail again. [Vesta wind, made a small navigational error and landed on some reefs just North of Mauritius, the boat damaged that much that a 6 month repair campaign was required].

The Lisbon In-Port race was held in reasonable winds, be it that there were some un-expected shifts that either helped some of the Boats or pulled them back in the ranking. Maphre made a good start and actually was not in danger anymore, be it that they had to make some crucial moves to stay ahead of AbuDhabi and Alvimedica; it is thought that the extensive training of Alvimedica in Lisbon waters will have helped them with some local knowledge on winds, wind-shift and the currents from tide and the river.  
It was a very, lets say too close, finish between SCA and Vestas Wind. The later being in un-favorable position, tried to force themselves in between the buoy and SCA, which was not possible. Vestas Wind touched the buoy and came close to SCA, but got a penalty for unsafe sailing and had to to around; this lost them 2 places and on the last place. 

Ranking Lisbon In-Port 
1 Maphre
2 AbuDhabi
3 Alvimedica
4 SCA
5 Brunel 
6 Dongfeng
7 Vesta Wind

On Sunday, Leg 8 started with a Lisbon parcours under the bridge. Again Maphre made a good start and was leading the fleet till the turning point, landinwards of the bridge.By this time the wind collapsed and the currents came in. Maphre was taken by the currents and at a time got further and further away from the mark.  The fleet compressed to set sail to open waters. Midway a sudden windshift, forced all boats to make some heading changes.

Team Brunel, 1st Boat to leave Lisbon for Leg 8 to Lorient

 Brunel resolved this the best and they were the winners of the Leg 8 starting parcour race , setting sail as first into the open waters.  

Lisbon In-Port Race in VolvoOceanRace, will there be good wind?

Last version of the VolvoOceanRace had weak winds during the Lisbon In-Port Race, will tomorrow be any different? Lets hope that winds are good and that a fierce battle can be fought on the Tagus river. 

The Start is at  13:00 UTC Saturday 6th June 2015.

If you are not in Lisbon, you still can enjoy the live spectacle via internet, either on Youtube or the VOR website. 

A day later, the VOR fleet, complete this time with Boats Vestas wind back in the race, at the time Leg 8 to Lorient will start.