Team AkzoNobel claims a hard-fought victory

Team AkzoNobel claims a hard-fought victory in the opening Volvo Ocean Race In Port Race on Hong Kong Harbour

[Saturday, January 27, 2018]: Team AkzoNobel won the first of two in port races scheduled during the Volvo Ocean Race stopover in Hong Kong, China, after a race-long close-quarters battle today against the Chinese crew of Dongfeng Race Team.

With Danish match racer Nicolai Sehested at the helm team AkzoNobel opted for a port tack start to take advantage of the wind-and-current-favoured right-hand side of the race course for the first leg of the four-lap course on Hong Kong Harbour.

After reaching the first windward gate marks in second place close behind Dongfeng, a smartly executed gybe soon after rounding the right hand turning mark saw team AkzoNobel take advantage of more wind to overtake the Chinese yacht and claim the race lead.

From that point on team AkzoNobel was in complete control and able to block every move the chasing Chinese crew made to try to regain the lead.

“It was a really good race for us,” said helmsman Nicolai Sehested. “We didn’t make many mistakes even though it was a tricky racecourse with plenty of minefields.

“We had a close moment at one point with Dongfeng and Mapfre but luckily we got out of that unscathed and managed to escape once we had the lead. After that we kept it clean and were able to take the win.”

Today’s race was the first of two Volvo Ocean Race In Port Series heats scheduled in Hong Kong. The results of today’s one-hour race will be combined with those from tomorrow’s 26-mile Hong Kong Around the Island Race to determine the final in port race points for the Hong Kong stopover.

"Winning was on our minds from the start," said team AkzoNobel skipper Simeon Tienpont (NED).

"We planned to sail our own race because it is tricky enough here with the wind shifts and the tides. Everything came together today - Nicolai did a great job on the helm as did Chris [Nicholson (AUS)] on the tactics and Jules Salter [Salter (GBR)] on the navigation."

The victory is the team's first in this campaign and comes on the back of a third place in Leg 4 from Melbourne, Australia to Hong Kong. It moves the team up to third place in the overall In Port Race Series after four races.

The start of tomorrow's Volvo Ocean Race Hong Kong Round the Island Race is scheduled for 1100 in Hong Kong (0300 UTC/0400 CET). With lighter winds forecast the race is expected to take two to three hours to complete.

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