New Zealand sailor Blair Tuke's MAPFRE have stunned fellow olympic teammate Peter Burling's Team Brunel by snatching the 8th leg win in the Volvo Ocean race.
Peter Burling (Brunel) and Blair Tuke (MAPFRE) competing in Volvo Ocean Race Photo: © Richard Gladwell / www.photosport.nz 2018
With just 300 miles to go, MAPFRE was in fifth place.
As the fleet ghosted towards the finish line in extremely light and shifty winds, MAPFRE was among the leading quartet, battling in slow motion with Team Brunel, Dongfeng Race Team and Vestas 11th Hour Racing.
And even when the leaders were just 500 metres from the finish line, MAPFRE was still trailing Team Brunel as the pair emerged from the fog within sight of the spectators at the Fort Adams Race Village in New Port.
On approach to the final turning mark, MAPFRE picked up a zephyr of wind to sneak past Brunel and claim what just moments earlier would have been seen as a very improbable leg win. The margin after nearly 16 days of racing was just 1-minute and 1-second.
"This is unbelievable," skipper Xabi Fernández admitted moments after crossing the finish line.
"We were always hoping to come back a little bit but to be honest we were not expecting to win this leg, so we're super happy."
Bouwe Bekking's Team Brunel, who had been leading for most of the past week after the equator crossing took a well-deserved second place finish.
"A bit disappointed," said Bekking when asked about the finish.
"But we sailed a very good leg and we can be happy with our performance and how we were going. It take time to get on top of everything but I think the last couple of legs we've showed what we stand for."
Dongfeng Race Team, who had been ahead of the fleet on the approach to the east coast overnight Monday night, suffered the cruellest fate over the final miles.
Every break seemed to go against them and after being in position to claim the leg win, the team had to settle for fourth place with Vestas 11th Hour Racing storming past the crew in the final mile of the leg.
The final hours were painful for the exhausted sailors but extraordinary to watch.
With the wind nearly shutting down overnight on the approach to Newport, the fleet found itself pushed around by the tide and currents near shore, at times even drifting backwards, away from the finish line.
This meant there was a high degree of uncertainty. Positions were never secure until the finish line was breached by MAPFRE.
