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
Tag: Volvo Ocean Race
VOR Talking Points – Heroic recovery sees Groupama home in third
Groupama completed a heroic recovery to claim third place in Leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race on Tuesday, limping across the finish line in Itajaà with a jury-rigged mast for 20 points that revive their hopes of overall victory. Just six days ago Franck Cammas’ crew were questioning what they
VOR Talking Points – Groupama clinch leg 4 victory after plugging leak
Groupama sailing team survived a late scare to secure a dramatic victory on Leg 4 of the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12 on Saturday, crossing the finish line shortly before midnight in Auckland to end Team Telefónica's winning streak and give New Zealander Brad Marsh a homecoming of a lifetime. The French
VOR Talking Points – Groupama stalk Camper as Puma gamble all
The main pack of five boats led by CAMPER continued to weave their way east in search of trade wind sailing on Friday, as lone wolf PUMA Ocean Racing pinned everything on the arrival of a northerly breeze in the coming days. PUMA’s radical northerly route has seen them closing in
VOR Talking Points – Telefonica see off Groupama to make it three in a row
Telefónica became the first team since Steinlager 2 in 1989-90 to win the first three legs of the Volvo Ocean Race when they held off the challenge of Groupama sailing team to arrive first into the Chinese port of Sanya on Saturday. Team Telefónica, skippered by co-World Sailor of the Year
VOR Talking Points – Telefonica leads in final showdown
At 1000 UTC today, Telefónica (Iker MartÃnez/ESP) led Groupama 4 (Franck Cammas/FRA) by 27 nautical miles (nm) in the final showdown of Leg 3 to Sanya. Both boats tacked shortly before 0900 UTC and are still upwind but on the layline for the finish, 274 nm ahead. Soon, as the
VOR Talking Points – Team Telefonica lead as challanger suffer
At 1000 UTC today, Telefónica (Iker MartÃnez/ESP) still led the hunt, 11 nm ahead of PUMA’s Mar Mostro, 46 nm off the coast of Sumatra, with the rest of the fleet spread out over 96 nm from first to last. The Malacca Strait is such a busy stretch of water and,