Image: Ainhoa Sanchez/Volvo Ocean Race

The Spanish flagged MAPFRE team has won Leg 2 of the Volvo Ocean Race, a 7,000 nautical mile marathon from Lisbon, Portugal to Cape Town, South Africa.

“It’s amazing, we’re super-happy. We came here in one piece and in front of the others, we can’t ask for more,” skipper Xabi Fernández said moments after finishing.

“This is what we will see all the way around the world. Super-tight racing, everyone has good speed and small mistakes are very expensive. This time we were luck to do the least mistakes and that’s why we won.”

For most of the first half of the leg, MAPFRE trailed Dongfeng Race Team on the long charge to the south, but last weekend, after crossing the Doldrums, 14 days into the leg, navigator Juan Vila and skipper Xabi Fernández made the winning move, a quick gybe to the southwest that Dongfeng didn’t cover.

Within hours, the decision paid and MAPFRE had a tactical advantage they would never relinquish over the final week of racing.

The team earns 8 points for the Leg 2 victory (7 points plus one bonus point for the win), which is enough to take the overall lead in the race regardless of the finishing positions behind.

For Leg 2, MAPFRE sailed 7,886.5 nautical miles over the ground at an average speed of 17.3 knots.

Completing the podium is Vestas 11th Hour Racing, the winner of Leg 1. Skipper Charlie Enright’s team was always in the mix with the leaders on this leg, but couldn’t find a way to slip into the lead.

“We’re happy with a podium result against a lot of good teams,” Enright said, dockside in Cape Town. “We’re not satisfied yet with how we’re sailing the boat, so we still have a lot of work to do, but we’ll keep chipping away. We’re still trying to get faster through the water and streamline our decision-making, but it’s a long race. We have time.”

The next boat to finish should be Team Brunel, expected to cross the line in Cape Town in fourth place sometime after midnight (UTC) Friday night.

Then it will be another 24 hours or so to the trailing group of three – team AkzoNobel, Turn the Tide on Plastic, and Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag are engaged in a tight battle for fifth place. Current projections have them all finishing with an hour of each just after midnight on Saturday night (UTC).

Leg 2 – Provisional Results – Friday 24 November (Leg 2, Day 20) as at 15:10 UTC

1. MAPFRE — FINISHED — 15:10.33 UTC – 19 days, 01 hour, 10 minutes, 33 seconds
2. Dongfeng Race Team +37.2 nautical miles
3. Vestas 11th Hour Racing +62.1
4. Team Brunel +131.6
5. team AkzoNobel +447.1
6. Turn the Tide on Plastic +449.4
7. Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag +451.3

The post MAPFRE win epic Leg 2 of the Volvo Ocean Race appeared first on All At Sea.