A 20-knots streak allowed the Chinese to overcome the Mapfre in the last few moments by taking advantage of a smaller candle

The Dongfeng Race Team has taken an exciting victory in the second stage of the Zero Stage, in which the Volvo Ocean Race fleet has competed in the Rolex Fastnet Race, by imposing for only 56 seconds on the finish line to the Mapfre. The battle in the last night between Chinese and Spanish has been in the face of a dog. Although both sailboats dominated the exit, there have been multiple alternations in the leadership over the more than two and a half days in which they have competed without rest, but Chinese and Spanish came to the last night dominating the fleet. The Mapfre faced the last miles in the head, but in the last sigh an unexpected chucucucco entered and the Dongfeng was able to overcome the Spaniards by carrying a smaller candle that allows better performance in conditions above twenty knots.

The rest of the Volvo Ocean Race fleet also had a great performance taking into account the little training time some of the teams carry, as the seven sailboats crossed the finish line in less than 40 minutes. The team Akzonobel, in which Chuny Bermudez de Castro sailed, was fourth after having led the race in several phases of the race. The classification of the VO 65s in the Rolex Fastnet Race has been as follows:

1-Dongfeng Race Team: 2 days 15 hours 38 minutes 10 seconds
2-Mapphre: 2 days 15 hours 39 minutes 06 seconds
3-Team Brunel: 2 days 15 hours 45 minutes 47 seconds
4-team AkzoNobel: 2 days 15 hours 52 minutes 40 seconds
5-Vestas 11th Hour Racing: 2 days 16 hours 09 minutes 11 seconds
6-Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag: 2 days 16 hours 13 minutes 53 seconds
7-Turn the Tide on Plastic: 2 days 16 hours 17 minutes 32 seconds

Classification of the Zero Stage after two of the four tests: 1-Mapfre 15 points; 2-Dongfeng Race Team 13; 3-Team Brunel 13; 4-Team AkzoNobel 11; 5-Vestas 11th Hour Racing 7; 6-Turn the Tide on Plastic 6; 7-Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag 5... two other tests remain in the Zero Stage. On Thursday, the fleet will sail from Plymouth to Saint- Malo, in France. After a non-punctual Pro-Am Race on Saturday, the teams will complete the program with a last sleeve between Saint- Malo and Lisbon, which will start on Sunday. In the end a winner of the Zero Stage will be proclaimed, although the score will not be taken into account for the Volvo Ocean Race.

The American maxi Rambler 88 has been declared a real-time winner of the Rolex Fastnet Race 2017... George David's ship crossed the line of arrival at Plymouth at 22: 14 local time on August 8, with a 2-day chrono 09-34-26

06 / 08 / 2017: Dongfeng leads the VOR fleet after a spectacular start of the Rolex Fastnet Race

The Dongfeng Race Team has taken over from the west of the Solent to become the first leader of the Volvo Ocean fleet 65 on the Rolex Fastnet Race, the second test of the Zero Stage of the Volvo Ocean Race 2017- 18. With 2.5 knots of rising tide and 18-21 knots of south-east wind, the Chinese team, patrolled by Charles Caudrelier, skimmed the rest of the fleet with skill to ensure the advantage it achieved at the exit; meanwhile, the Mapfre was firmly installed at the headposts.

The Mapfre is installed in the head group thanks to a good exit

Chinese and Spanish were the dominators on the way out, but the Spanish team was affected by the dirty wind that was throwing the Nikata from barlovento, the most long ship of the Fastnet (115 feet). One of the major challenges of this start for the Volvo fleet was to navigate in the midst of the very large Fastner fleet, which in this edition is composed of 390 ships. The 605 miles that make up the route of the Fastnet would point to and end the challenge of sailing among other ships, as the last two sleeves of the Zero Stage - Plymouth to Saint-Malo and Saint-Malo to Lisbo- will be carried out only with the sailboats of the Volvo Ocean Race.

When they leave Wight Island behind, the fleet will face stable wind conditions to Land's End, where the remains of an old cold front, and strong tides await them. This transition will be quite hard and could divide the fleet, as the more experienced teams should react more quickly to changing circumstances. Although it is early to make an exact prediction, the fleet could reach the finish line in Plymouth in the morning of Wednesday. The fleet will return from Plymouth in the sleeve to Saint- Malo on Thursday.

04 / 08 / 2017: Start the mythical Rolex Fastnet Race with the Mapfre online departure among the favorites

After the exhibition that he gave the Mapfre in the first test, in which he beat the absolute record in monocascos of the return to the island of Wight with imposing conditions that surrounded the 40 knots of wind, the rest of the opponents have a great opportunity to show that they are determined to stand up to the Spaniards. The team patronized by Xabi Fernández received all the praise for his excellent performance and for Joan Vila's great performance in navigation, but this first contact was extremely positive for all the teams, who began to draw their first conclusions thinking about the departure of the race, which begins on October 22 from Alicante. It will also complete this second test of the Zero Stage the Galician Chuny Bermudez de Castro, one of the key pieces in the structure of the AkzoNobel team, which ended in the third square on the goal of the island of Wight.

This Sunday starts the second test of the Zero Stage of the Volvo Ocean Race, which will bring together the seven sailboats that currently make up the fleet in one of the most emblematic races of the international sailing: the Rolex Fastnet Race (Photo Ian Roman)

The conditions to be presented by the Fastnet, whose total route will be 605 miles, also boast a frankly complicated start: the forecast is that there will be a lot of wind on the rise from the Cowes exit line to the Fastnet Rock, in the south-east of Ireland. The Volvo Ocean Race fleet will have its exit at 1140 UTC, and will quickly meet the smaller ships that left before, as the 390 ships that make up the fleet of this historic quote are usually glued to the west of the Solent at the beginning. The emotion could soon become frustration if conditions do not allow the fleet to pass ahead of the first Cape, the Portland Bill, before the tide turns against it. With a strong current against the coast, and lighter winds below them to the south, the ships that destroyed the record of the island of Wight could end up going very slow.

The crew of the Mapfre for the Fastnet will be made up of Xabi Fernández, Joan Vila, Ñeti Cuervas- Mons, Pablo Arrarte, Rob Greenhalch, Blair Tuke, Támara Echegoyen, Sophie Ciszek and Willy Altadill... the OBR will be Ugo Fonollá.