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Photo: Ainhoa Sanchez / Volvo Ocean Race |
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Charlie Enright Photo: Victor Fraile / Volvo Ocean Race |
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Photo: Rick Tomlinson / Volvo Ocean Race |
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Photo: Victor Fraile / Power Sport Images |
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Photo: Ricardo Pinto / Volvo Ocean Race |
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Photo: Rick Tomlinson / Volvo Ocean Race |
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Photo: Rick Tomlinson / Volvo Ocean Race |
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Photo: Amory Ross / Team Alvimedica / Volvo Ocean Race |
But Team Alvimedica stuck to their guns and eventually the tides and breezes turned to their advantage for an entrance into The Hague and across the finish line, chased by dozens of spectator boats.
They will head out of The Hague at 1200 local time (1000 UTC) on Saturday with their 1hr 46min 29sec advantage over Dongfeng Race Team and the rest of the fleet also taking their advantages and deficits over their rivals, in a staggered start.
The seven boats are due to finish the leg in Gothenburg on Monday afternoon, according to the latest estimates.
If Team Alvimedica were to be first into port there too, they would need Team Vestas Wind (Chris Nicholson/AUS) and Team SCA (Sam Davies/GBR) to improve on their current sixth and seventh places and sandwich themselves between Enright’s crew, Dongfeng Race Team and MAPFRE, to take an overall podium place.
Team Brunel were hoping to do better than fourth place sailing into their home port, but as Bekking said before the leg started, only the finishing positions in Gothenburg really matter.
Meanwhile, Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ian Walker/GBR) sailed serenely on to claim fifth place in The Hague, having avoided any major problems on the first half of Leg 9.
They have an unassailable eight-point advantage over Team Brunel at the top of the overall standings.
If the current positions stay as they are, Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing would have 24 points, Team Brunel and Dongfeng Race Team 31 apiece, MAPFRE and Team Alvimedica 34 each, Team SCA 51 and Team Vestas Wind 60.
That would leave the Inmarsat In-Port Race Gothenburg on Saturday, June 27, to split the ties between second and third and fourth and fifth: the perfect finale to one of the most closely contested races in 41 years of event history.
Volvo Ocean Race Media
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