Volvo, Banque Populaire Update

Over the holiday weekend, two of the three boats remaining in Leg One of the Volvo Ocean Race made port in Cape Town, South Africa. Iker Martínez’ Telefónica cruised in on Saturday to take the leg win after 21d, 5h, 14m. Sixteen hours later, Chris Nicholson’s Camper followed suit. Franck Cammas’ Groupama 4 is still at sea, and facing both a stretch of light air and then a 35-knot beat to the finish.

Ken Read’s Puma has made landfall in Tristan da Cunha, where her crew awaits the freighter that will load the boat and transport her to Cape Town. In the meantime, the sailors have been playing golf on one of the world’s most exotic golf courses, enjoying local hospitality, and seeing a 275-resident town that few people ever get to visit.

Meanwhile, the 131-ft maxi trimaran Banque Populaire V has already crossed the equator, having only left Ushant on Tuesday morning. Loïck Peyron and his 13-man crew set a new reference time of 5d, 14h, 55m for that section of the Jules Verne trophy course. Although there is a long way to go, getting off to a start this good indicates that the Cammas’ ’round-the-world record is definitely in jeopardy.