France's Groupama completed a heroic comeback victory on Leg 8 of the Volvo Ocean Race on Friday, strengthening their grip on the overall standings and realising a dream homecoming to the port of Lorient.
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| Photo: Paul Todd/Volvo Ocean Race |
Franck Cammas and his men were cheered by thousands of fans on the Brittany coast after crossing the Leg 8 finish line at their home port at 13:31:04 local, 11:31:04 UTC, with an elapsed time of four days, 23 hours, 31 minutes and four seconds.
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| Photo: Paul Todd/Volvo Ocean Race |
Groupama earn 30 points and extending their advantage over Telefónica, whose own victory hopes were dashed when they broke a second rudder while leading overnight.
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| Photo: Paul Todd/Volvo Ocean Race |
It is an impressive comeback for Groupama who dropped to fourth place just two days ago when their mainsail jammed and the team spent a costly two hours with bowman Brad Marsh at the top of the 31-metre mast effecting repairs in storm conditions.
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| Photo: Paul Todd/Volvo Ocean Race |
But the never-say-die crew fought back to reclaim the lead less than 12-hours before the finish with blistering pace in the North Atlantic low pressure system that packed 45 knots winds and four metre waves.
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| Photo: Yann Riou/Groupama Sailing Team/Volvo Ocean Race |
The French team’s victory hopes were bolstered by the misfortune of their arch-rivals Telefónica as the Spanish team were forced to slow to survival speeds after breaking both their rudders on the furious run to the finish.
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| Photo: Yann Riou/Groupama Sailing Team/Volvo Ocean Race |
Telefónica skipper Iker Martínez said the damage had effectively ended their chances of overall victory, with Groupama now enjoying a significant lead with just one leg and two in-port races remaining.
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| Photo: Yann Riou/Groupama Sailing Team/Volvo Ocean Race |
While Groupama’s crew revel in the warm wishes of French sailing fans, the race for the remaining podium places continues with CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand holding a narrow lead in second place over PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG.
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| Photo: Yann Riou/Groupama Sailing Team/Volvo Ocean Race |
Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing are in fourth place, whileTeam Telefónica are fifth and Team Sanya sixth.
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