Volvo Prologue – MAPFRE leads into Med

Skipper Xabi Fernández’s MAPFRE crew is leading after passing through the Strait of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean Sea on Tuesday afternoon.

MAPFRE has a slender 3.7 nm lead on Team Brunel, who were themselves 36 miles ahead of third-placed Turn the Tide on Plastic.

Dee Caffari’s team went from zeroes to heroes overnight Monday, in large part by making a late break to the coast earlier in the day.

Although too late to catch MAPFRE and Team Brunel, they sailed past the four boats parked further offshore.

The strong headwinds the fleet experience in the Strait will give way to light 5 to 10 knot northeasterlies in the Alboran Sea on Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning.

This will push the ETA for the leaders into the early hours on Thursday morning, with the rest of the fleet arriving throughout the day, a public holiday in Alicante.

Volvo Ocean Race Prologue Leg – Positions – 19:00 UTC, 10 October
1. MAPFRE; distance to finish = 218 nautical mile
2. Team Brunel; + 3.7 nautical miles
3. Turn the Tide on Plastic; + 39 miles
4. Dongfeng Race Team; +48 miles
5. Team AkzoNobel; +49 miles
6. Vestas 11th Hour Racing; +51 miles
7. Team Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag; +51.5 miles