Leg Eight of the Volvo Ocean Race is complete. It took considerably longer than anticipated due to a complete lack of wind. Several boats wound up rationing food. The race committee shortened the course. They were forced to postpone the in-poprt race for a day because there was no one there to sail.

The major news of the leg is that the yacht Brunel was forced to retire from the race after finishing. Due to a navigational error, they missed a required mark of the course.

Here are the standings going into the final leg.

ABN AMRO ONE - 94.0

Pirates of the Caribbean - 66.0

Brasil 1 - 62.0

ABN AMRO TWO - 52.5

Ericsson Racing Team - 52.0

movistar - 48.0

Brunel - 11.5

Pirates of the Caribbean will finish second, although there is a mathematical chance that they can be overtaken by Brasil 1. With only six boats racing Brasil 1 would need to win the leg with Pirates finishing no better than fifth. However, since there is no chance for Pirates to take first place they will likely keep a fairly tight cover on Brasil 1.

The real contest for the last leg is the race for fourth place. With a half point separating ABN AMRO Two and Ericsson, whichever of them crosses the finish line first, takes fourth place.

It has been 211+ days since this adventure started. It has been exhilarating, terrifying and tragic - and I'm just following it on the internet. In truth it's far from the next best thing to being there.

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Posted by: Stephen Macklin at 03:20 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment