Leg 10, from Cardiff to Gothenburg, day 04 on board Turn the Tide on Plastic. 14 June, 2018.
Image: Jen Edney/Volvo Ocean Race

The final leg of the Volvo Ocean Race will determine the winner after the finish of Leg 10 in Gothenburg leaves the top three teams in a dead heat.

Team Brunel has completed one of the great comebacks in sailing, setting up an epic final leg to The Hague next week in what will be the closest Volvo Ocean Race in history.

Three teams – MAPFRE, Team Brunel and Dongfeng Race Team – will start the final leg in a dead heat at the top of the table, with the overall title on the line. It is an unprecedented scenario in the 45-year history of the race.

Skipper Bouwe Bekking led his Team Brunel to a come-from-behind win in Leg 10 over Xabi Fernández’s MAPFRE squad, who claimed second place, less than two-minutes behind after nearly 1,500nm of bow to bow racing.

Bekking has led his team on an incredible comeback pace, following a dismal opening half to the race. At the conclusion of Leg 6 into Auckland, the team was mired in sixth place, on just 20 points. In comparison, MAPFRE, the race leader at the time, had already won 39 points.

But since then, Team Brunel has been on fire, posting a 1-2-1-1 scoreline over the past four legs, to bully its way to equal first at the top of the leaderboard, after collecting 45 out of a possible 47 points, an incredible scoring ratio.

The Leg 10 results mean MAPFRE and Team Brunel sit equal at the top of the leaderboard with 65 points. MAPFRE will be ranked in first place by virtue of leading the In-Port Race Series, which is the tie-break mechanism for the Volvo Ocean Race.

Charles Caudrelier’s Dongfeng Race Team, who was the leader at the beginning of Leg 10, had a fourth place finish into Gothenburg, putting Dongfeng on 64 points (although the team is in pole position to earn an additional bonus point for best elapsed time which will be added after the Leg 11 finish).

This means the top three boats in the Volvo Ocean Race will start the final sprint into The Hague on June 21 in a dead heat, with the overall title on the line.

Team AkzoNobel was third into Gothenburg, another strong podium finish for Simeon Tienpont’s team.

Turn the Tide on Plastic had a strong leg, battling with the leading group from start to finish. In the end, Dee Caffari’s squad would take a fifth place finish, moving them to within one point of over-hauling Scallywag.

“We’ve been racing in sight of five boats for the entire leg,” Caffari said at the pontoon after finishing. “To have the racing that close right up until the finish is immense…

“We were ahead of AkzoNobel and Dongfeng at times but they put the afterburners on at the end and we couldn’t quite hold them. But we were really competitive and I’m very proud of my team.”

Leg 11 from Gothenburg to The Hague features a fly-by dogleg past Aarhus, Denmark, and starts at 1400 local time in Gothenburg (1200 UTC) on 21 June, 2018.

Volvo Ocean Race Leg 10 — Results
1. Team Brunel – Finished – 4 days, 5 hours, 12 minutes, 1 second
2. MAPFRE – Finished – 4 days, 5 hours, 13 minutes, 56 seconds
3. team AkzoNobel – 4 days, 5 hours, 32 minutes, 53 seconds
4. Dongfeng Race Team – 4 days, 5 hours, 45 minutes, 52 seconds
5. Turn the Tide on Plastic – 4 days, 6 hours, 02 minutes, 00 seconds
6. Vestas 11th Hour Racing – 4 days, 6 hours, 26 minutes, 40 seconds
7. SHK / Scallywag – Racing – 4 days, 8 hours, 25 minutes, 03 seconds

Volvo Ocean Race Points Table after Leg 10
1. MAPFRE – 65 points
2. Team Brunel – 65 points
3. Dongfeng Race Team – 64 points *
4. team AkzoNobel – 53 points
5. Vestas 11th Hour Racing – 38 points
6. SHK / Scallywag – 30 points
7. Turn the Tide on Plastic – 29 points

* One additional point will be awarded to the team with the best elapsed time at the conclusion of the race in The Hague. Currently, Dongfeng would win this point.
** Should there be a tie on the overall race leaderboard at the end of the offshore legs, the In-Port Race Series standings will be used to break the tie.

Current Volvo Ocean Race In-Port Race Series Points Table
1. MAPFRE – 56 points
2. Dongfeng Race Team – 49 points
4. Team Brunel – 41 points
3. team AkzoNobel – 39 points
5. Vestas 11th Hour Racing – 26 points
6. Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag – 21 points
7. Turn the Tide on Plastic – 17 points

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