The third leg of the Volvo Ocean Race starts on 26 December from Sydney and takes in the the classic Sydney-Hobart Race. After a pit stop in Hobart, VOR crews will have a rolling restart to the finish in Auckland where the points are awarded.
Although the first part of the leg to Hobart is relatively short, it will be tough and crews are preparing themselves for rough conditions. Gurra Krantz skipper of Team SEB says: “It will certainly be a different leg to what we are used to. The Sydney to Hobart is well known for its strong winds and will be crucial to plan the tactics all the way to Auckland. The most important issue will be to keep the damages on the boat low all the 630 miles to Hobart and to be part of the leader group once there.”
The Sydney-Hobart offshore race, almost always features strong headwinds and rough seas on the stretch south from Sydney to the Tasmanian capital. At the Opera House start, the eight Volvo Ocean Race boats will be starting on a separate line ahead of the main fleet.
Once in Hobart, the boats will have a three-and-a-half-hours long pit stop, before restarting at their own 3,5-hours-mark, in a rolling start. The leg 3-points will be awarded at the Auckland finishing line of the leg, with 3 January being the estimated date of arrival. The boats are estimated to be in Hobart on 29 December.
Total points (after two legs out of nine)
1. Illbruck, Germany 16 pts
2. News Corp, Australia 12 pts
3. Amer One, Italy/Finland 11 pts
4. SEB, Sweden 10 pts
5. Assa Abloy, Sweden 7 pts
6. Djuice, Norway 7 pts
7. Tyco, Bermuda 6 pts
8. Amer Too, Italy/Finland 3 pts
Crew lists Leg 3
Amer Sports One
AIREY Phil (New Zealand)
BEKKING Bouwe (Netherlands)
BROCK Jeff (Canada)
CELON Claudio (Italy)
DALTON Grant (New Zealand)
LOOF Fredrik (Sweden)
NICHOLSON Chris (Australia)
NILSON Roger (Sweden)
PENDLETON Peter (USA)
RIBES RUBIO Pepe (Spain)
RIZZI Stefano (Italy)
SMITH Dee (USA)
Off Keith Kilpatrick
On Fredrik Loof
Amer Sports Too
DROUGGE Anna (Sweden)
FERRIS Sharon (New Zealand)
HENDERSON Keryn (New Zealand)
MCDONALD Lisa (USA)
PETTIBONE Katie (USA)
PURDY Melissa (USA)
SEAGER Abigail (United Kingdom)
SUCKLING Bridget (New Zealand)
VAN HOEVE Willemien (Netherlands)
WARDLEY Elizabeth (Australia)
WESTMACOTT Emma (Australia)
WHITE Genevieve (Australia)
ZUIDERBAAN Klaartje (Netherlands)
Off Carolijn Brouwer
On Melissa Purdy
Assa Abloy
ALTADILL Guillermo (Spain)
CARRINGTON Jason (United Kingdom)
GAVIGNET Sidney (France)
JOUBERT Mike (South Africa)
LARSON Chris (USA)
MASON Richard (New Zealand)
MAZARS Jules (France)
MCDONALD Neal (United Kingdom)
NYLOF Klas (Sweden)
OLSSON Magnus (Sweden)
RUDIGER Mark (USA)
WILSON Stu (New Zealand)
On Guillermo Altadill
Chris Larson
Off Roberto Bermudez de Castro
Herve Jan
djuice dragons
BERNOT Jean-Yves (France)
BLANCHFIELD David (Australia)
DORIEAN Peter (Australia)
FROSTAD Knut (Norway)
GRUVER Steve (USA)
GUTTORMSEN Espen (Norway)
NOSSITER Anthony (Australia)
ROAAS Arve (Norway)
VINCENT Jacques (France)
WACKENHUTH Jonas (Sweden)
WESTERGAARD Stig (Denmark)
WILLIAMS Erle (New Zealand)
Off Terry Hutchinson
Mikael Lundh
On Erle Williams
David Blanchfield
illbruck Challenge
BANNATYNE Stuart (New Zealand)
BETTANY Stu (New Zealand)
CHRISTENSEN Mark (New Zealand)
CLARKE Richard (Canada)
DAVIES Ray (New Zealand)
DRENNAN Noel (Ireland)
GALE Jamie (New Zealand)
HALCROW Ross (New Zealand)
KOLB Tony (Germany)
KOSTECKI John (USA)
De RIDDER Dirk (Netherlands)
VILA Juan (Spain)
NO CHANGES
Team News Corp
COTTON Steve (Australia)