Significant victory for Dongfeng into Sanya

Chinese team's win into her home port, vital for Volvo Ocean Race

Leg three of the Volvo Ocean Race and there was a third different winner with the Charles Caudrelier-skippered Dongfeng Race Team claiming honours into her homeport of Sanya in China.

The red VO65 crossed the finish line as dawn broke in the Chinese stopover (23:31:38 UTC) after the 4,670 mile leg from Abu Dhabi that took 23 days, 13 hours, 31 minutes, 38 seconds
 for the leg to complete for the leg winner, who in fact sailed 5,403 miles. At the time second placed Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing was 45nm behind with Team Alvimedica a further 13.5nm back.

The result puts Dongfeng Race Team into the lead of the Volvo Ocean Race, one point clear of Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing.

Dongfeng Race Team's victory on this leg was convincing, having led since the six VO65 exited the Gulf of Oman. Her Franco-Chinese crew for leg three comprised skipper Charles Caudrelier, navigator Pascal Bidegorry, Chinese crew Cheng Ying Kit, Liu Xue, experienced French sailor Thomas Rouxell, Kevin Escoffier and Eric Peron and Anglo-Australian former Artemis Offshore Academy sailor Jack Bouttell.

Arriving at the pontoon in Sanya's Serenity Marina, Charles Caudrelier commented: “It was the most stressful race of my life. We took the lead on the first day and we had to keep it because we had to arrive first here, because it was very important for me and for the project, so we are so proud.

"One year ago we were here and we were discovering the Chinese sailors who were rookies and now they win the leg – it’s just fantastic. Maybe in the first time in offshore sailing something like this has happened – in just one year these guys have become great sailors. I am so proud, this is everything I wanted but I didn’t dare think about. It’s a team job and you cannot win a leg without a strong team.”

For Caudrelier's crew, it was vital to get ahead early on this leg which was more an orienteering exercise taking in the Persian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz, Gulf of Oman, Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, Andaman Sea/Malacca Straits and finally the South China Sea, than a traditional oceanic leg. There were moments of panic, notably in the Strait of Malacca, when the chasing pack managed to catch up causing Dongfeng Race Team's lead to diminish from 106 miles to nine miles at one point. But nonetheless Dongfeng maintained her lead - the longest time a team has led the fleet of one designs since the start of the race. 

Among Charles Caudrelier's crew on board Dongfeng Race Team for leg two were two Chinese sailors Cheng Ying Kit and Liu Xue and this win represents the first time in the race's history that a Chinese sailors has ever won a leg. The result will provide major impetus to the team's plans to ‘bring offshore sailing to China’.

Liu Xue, the youngest sailor in the race at the age of 21, could not contain his delight upon arriving: “I have made the best decision of my life to join this team. I have learnt so much. This leg and this moment I will remember and cherish for the rest of my life.” His very proud grandmother, who had never flown on a plane until she flew into Sanya for this arrival, stood close by to Black.

Charles Caudrelier wrote on day 12 of the leg: “I am watching them with admiration, we’re leading this leg, we’re at the top of the overall leaderboard – you can’t compete with the race favourites without a great team. And to build a great team, you need great players. Thinking about the journey of the Chinese sailors since February 2014, Black didn’t speak a word of English and had never spent a night at sea. But from the first day he really impressed us – then he quit straight away after his first offshore sailing, beaten by the brutality of the bad weather – and then a few months later he returned. To start your offshore sailing career with a Volvo Ocean Race is brutal. This afternoon I was watching him trim the sails and I realised that he’s learnt thousands of details in a very short period of time. It’s the same for Kit who is realising his life’s dream onboard right now, his first offshore race. This evening he gave me a Chinese lesson, and it reinforced the enormity of the challenge they [the Chinese sailors] are taking on, learning in 6 months to sail and to work in a previously unknown language. I am proud of them.”

Victory in China was significant for not only Dongfeng Race Team, but also the Volvo Ocean Race. One of China's largest automotive groups, Dongfeng is China's largest manufacturer of commercial vehicles and in January last year Volvo acquired a 45% stake in its subsidiary Dongfeng Commercial Vehicles. Since Ford sold it in August 2010, Volvo itself has also been Chinese owned, via the car maker Geely, part of Zhejiang Geely Holdings.  

Photos below by Victor Fraile, Agathe Armand and Sam Greenfield/Volvo Ocean Race