Dongfeng Motor Corp. is one of the oldest state-owned automakers in China. (Photo : Reuters)
After 17 days at sea, China’s Dongfeng race team won a tight finish against its Abu Dhabi rival Ocean Racing to take Leg 6 of the Volvo Ocean Race from Itajaí, Brazil, to Newport, Rhode Island, USA.
Skipper Charles Caudrelier steered Dongfeng across the line in Newport late yesterday in just three minutes and 25 seconds clear of Ian Walker's Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing entry Azzam.
The fleet was greeted warmly by American flag-waving supporters, who were eager to see the boats arriving in the North American port for the first time.
Newport is the second win for the Chinese-backed team, who were earlier forced to pull out of Leg 5 due to a broken mast and had to race against time to fit a new rig in under a week for the next stage of the race. The crew also experienced serious problems at the early stages of Leg 6 when the boat's electronic water-maker, which converts seawater to drinkable water, malfunctioned and threatened a 12-stop to repair it.
But now Caudrelier believes things are getting better for the team.
"For this leg, the goal was to be ready in Itajaí and the [shore] crew did a fantastic job. I'd like to give them the victory," the 41-year-old Frenchman said. "I'm very proud of them and very happy to take this first place. They worked very hard to get this boat ready. I'm really, really happy."
Walker said that Caudrelier and his crew deserved the win even though Azzam nearly overturned their lead as they passed Block Island 30 nautical miles from the finish line.
"We were within a couple of lengths of getting over them at Block Island--literally three or four boat lengths from rolling them--but they held on and dug deep. Very well-deserved win," he added.
With six legs gone, Dongfeng is now just six points behind Assam in the overall rankings, with three stages to go in the round-the-world competition. They are closely followed by Dutch Team Brunel, who finished third by under an hour behind the leading two, with Spanish boat MAPFRE in fourth. Team Alvimedica, backed by Turkey and the U.S., is expected to claim fifth ahead of the all-women Team SCA of Sweden.
The boats have 10 days in dock in Newport to conduct maintenance before starting the transatlantic Leg 7 to Lisbon, Portugal, on May 17.
