The Dongfeng Race Team, for which Jeanneau is the official supplier, is flying the national colours of China in the Volvo Ocean Race.
Today, we are proud to announce that the Chinese-French team has finished in second place – only two nautical miles from the winning team – in the first leg of the race, which covers 6,487 nautical miles between Alicante (Spain) and Cape Town (South Africa).
Six months ago, the Chinese crew of the Dongfeng Race Team, which also includes several French sailors, had never before sailed together offshore. This illustrates the dizzying speed with which the DFRT team has prepared, first during intense training sessions aboard the Sun Fast 3600, then aboard their Volvo Ocean 65 for the first leg of this iconic race.
After the first few difficult days, the crew found their groove and made gains on their competitors. Despite two major setbacks – in which they had to face a broken rudder, then a broken padeye for an outrigger, which violently released the gennaker sheet – the Dongfeng Race Team has finished in second place, with only 12 minutes and four seconds between their boat and the lead boat, a more than encouraging result for this first leg in what is one of the greatest ocean races in the world.
Jeanneau would like to congratulate the DongFeng Race Team for this brilliant result, which shows their aptitudes, their strength and their determination to stand out in this race. We wish them fair winds and calm seas for the second leg, which will take them from Cape Town, South Africa to Abu-Dhabi.
Sources: http://www.volvooceanrace.com and Ed Gorman
Photos : Ainhoa Sanchez
