France’s Groupama completed a heroic comeback victory on Leg 8 of the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12 on Friday, strengthening their grip on the overall standings and realising a dream homecoming to Lorient – while Telefónica were left to reflect on what might have been after a cruel twist of fate.
Just two days ago, Groupama were back in fourth struggling to catch up after spending more than two hours trying to free their jammed mainsail, with bowman Brad Marsh having to climb the 31-metre mast three times in storm conditions.
But once again the French crew led by skipper Franck Cammas showed off their blistering pace, hauling back their rivals to move into second going into the final 24 hours — and when Telefónica saw their hopes dashed by a second broken rudder 12 hours from the finish, Groupama were left unchallenged into Lorient.
The win sees Groupama take a maximum 30 points for a total of 219, bolstering their position at the top of the overall leaderboard.
Groupama couldn’t have picked a better place to notch up their second offshore leg win than their home port of Lorient — and in return, an army of French fans turned out to give them a hero’s welcome.
As Groupama revelled in victory, CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand crossed the line to take second place and move into third overall, while PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG were third and are second overall, trailing Groupama by 23 points. Just one leg and two in-port races remain with 42 maximum overall points available.
A French team last won the Volvo Ocean Race, formerly called the “Whitbread Round the World Race,†in 1985-86, when Lionel Péan captured the overall trophy on-board L’Esprit d’Equipe.
DISASTER FOR TELEFÓNICA AS BROKEN RUDDERS DASH HOPES FOR LEG 8 WIN AND OVERALL TROPHY
Lorient, France – The heartbroken sailors aboard Telefónica saw their dreams of a fourth leg win evaporate overnight when during the much anticipated and much feared gybe towards the finish in Lorient, Telefónica damaged their port rudder early Friday before sunlight.
The damaged rudder forced the Spanish-entry to drop speeds by more than half to around 10 knots and – with Groupama’s victory – all but mathematically ended Telefónica’s chances to become the first Spanish team ever to win the Volvo Ocean Race.
As Telefónica limped slowly towards France, Groupama took the lead and recorded their second leg win of the 2011-12 edition.
The drama began 24 hours ago for Telefónica. On Thursday afternoon, after fixing the broken starboard rudder, Telefónica regained the lead of Leg 8 from Lisbon to Lorient. As the expected wind shift arrived, late in the evening, Telefónica were the first to gybe, followed by Groupama.
Leading the fleet, and with less than 300 miles to Lorient, the Spanish boat landed awkwardly off a huge wave in a seething seaway and suffered damage to the port rudder, as well as a breakage in the spare starboard rudder fitted as a replacement on Thursday.
Fortunately for the team, the single effective rudder is the port one needed to sail towards Lorient. The reality of seeing his Leg 8 dreams dashed was sinking in for Telefónica skipper Iker MartÃnez.
“The mood on board is as good as it can be in circumstances like these, as we have just seen any chance of us winning this round the world regatta slip away. It’s like two years work just disappearing into thin air in a matter of minutes – what a mess. Now I’ll be happy if we all get to shore without any further problems,” said skipper MartÃnez.
Telefónica led the overall standings in the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12 for six months from late November through early June after surging to an early points lead with off-shore wins in Leg 1, 2, 3 and multiple in-port race victories.
But Groupama’s victory in Leg 4 ended their streak and became part a stretch of five consecutive podium finishes in offshore legs for Groupama that catapulted them past Telefónica in the standings and into first on June 1 in Lisbon.
VNR SHOTLIST #1 – LEG 8 FINISH VNR
00:00 – 00:05 OPEN SLATE
00:05 – 00:10 aerial of Groupama crossing finish line
00:10 – 00:15 Groupama celebrating on deck
00:15 – 00:20 Abu Dhabi arrives at dock
00:20 – 00:37 Groupama celebrating on deck
00:37 – 00:45 Groupama with chase boats
00:45 – 01:00 Groupama arrives to cheers at dock
01:00 – 01:09 Crowds at dock, sailors parade to stage
01:10 – 01:48 Prize ceremony & champagne
01:49 – 02:22 Quote – Franck Cammas, Groupama
[Translation]
“It was complicated but we are obviously excited to win this leg into Lorient. Honestly, we dreamed about winning at the leg start. It’s a terrific leg (for us). It was very complicated, it was terrible night last night. A few others had problems which turned out to help us.â€
“It’s a big pity for them [Telefonica] because they were sailing a great leg. Unfortunately what happened to them yesterday, I don’t know exactly… they don’t deserve this. They have tried to attack but I think that everyone has been trying to attack. In this around the world, sometimes you make it and sometimes you don’t and that’s what happens – unfortunate things.â€
02:46 – 02:51 END SLATE
[FRENCH]
VNR SHOTLIST #2 – TELEFONICA BREAKS RUDDER VNR
00:00 – 00:03 OPEN SLATE
00:03 – 00:50 Telefónica rough sailing in big waves
00:50 – 00:54 Next day, calmer seas
00:54 – 01:02 Antonio Cuervas-Mons suiting up for repairs
01:02 – 01:28 Cuervas-Mons on stern, attaching new rudder
01:28 – 01:42 Sailing again
01:42 – 01:47 END
VNR SHOTLIST #3 – NICO KNOCK DOWN
00:00 – 00:03 OPEN SLATE
00:03 – 00:33 massive wave knocks down CAMPER skipper Chris Nicholson
00:33 – 01:20 Chris Nicholson quote & replay
01:20 – 01:31 GVs CAMPER sailing
