The Spanish boat had done a great race, where she had to move up from the sixth place after a mistake in a manoeuvre, as Iker Martínez explained when he arrived to the shore: “We have started really well, and we have been on the leader group all the time, except at the moment when he had a problem gybing and due it almost all the fleet overlaped us. We knew that could happen to all the fleet too, and it was. We moved up, and the whole team onboard did an impeccable work”.

Pedro Campos, movistar’s CEO, spoke about this result that allows “movistar” to be on the fifth place on the leaderboard: “It is an excellent result, not only because we have got a second position but also we have showed we can reach a very good speed in heavy conditions. We have been the only Farr design that has been able to face both ABN AMRO boats. After this result, we can still win the Volvo Ocean Race; it won’t be easy but is possible”.

The wind raised 43 knots

The weather forecast showed a hard competition in Table Bay’s waters. The inshore race started at 13:00, local time –12:00 Spanish time-, with south easterly winds peaking at around 40 knots, as Bouwe Bekking explained after the race was finished: “We had seen wind up to 43 knots, with a boat speed downwind of 34 and 35 knots.  ABN AMRO 1 was the leader since the beginning of the race and we couldn’t overlap her, but we had an intense fight with the other competitors. This result is very good for us, not only we have got three points but also because both ABN AMRO were the favourites due to these heavy conditions”.

“Despite conditions, we had great fun and we have driven the boat under control all the time”, - Iker Martínez pointed out.

The Spanish team made an only mistake during the race, and this relegated it from the second position to the sixth place, as Pepe Ribes the movistar’s bowman told: “There was a moment of stress when we lost the second position after a mistake while we were gybing. At that moment, there was no coordination onboard, all the team came back to our positions a little bit later and all the sails were on deck. After that, we went on fighting, making really good manoevres and with an excellent boat’s speed”.

Mayor aboard

Together with the “movistar” crew, there was a person who could live this exciting race. Telmo Martín, mayor of Sanxenxo, was invited to take part in the competition onboard the Spanish boat, and pointed out his experience: “It has been an unforgettable experience. This was the first time in my entire life I was sailing so fast. I was a little bit frighten when the boat was luffing after the gybe, but afterwards everything was just fun, especially taking into account the amazing speeds we reached. It has been a nice surprise to see how Bouwe Bekking had all under control, both sailing and giving instructions; and the crew’s coordination has also been striking”.

Next Monday, the second of January, “movistar” and the complete fleet of the Volvo Ocean Race will leave Cape Town to Melbourne in order to take part in the second leg. “Now, our aim is to get as much points as we could on the next leg”, concluded Pedro Campos.

 IN PORT RACE CLASSIFICATION
1º ABN AMRO 1(Holland)
2º MOVISTAR (Spain)
3º ABN AMRO 2 (Holland)
4º BRASIL 1 (Brazil)
5º PIRATAS DEL CARIBE (USA)
6º ERICSSON (Sweden)
7º ING REAL ESTATE BRUNE (Australia)

OVERALL POINTS
1º ABN AMRO 1 (Holland): 15 points
2º BRASIL 1 (Brazil):  12,5 points
3º ABN AMRO 2 (Holland): 12 points
4º ERICSSON (Sweden): 11,5 points
5º MOVISTAR (Spain): 6 points
6º ING REAL ESTATE (Australia): 5 points
7º PIRATAS DEL CARIBE (USA) 5 points