The Mapfre has certified its victory in the General of the Zero Stage in the early hours of this Wednesday (August 16) and has marked the way forward when two months remain for the official departure of the Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18

The Zero Stage has confirmed that the teams with more experience in the race and with more preparation time are at a very similar level. The others know they have more work ahead of them, but their progress after starting late has been encouraging. This first contact with the competition has consisted of four tests: a return around Wight Island (with record included), the Rolex Fastnet Race, a sprint from Plymouth to Saint- Malo and an ocean sleeve from Saint- Malo to Lisbon. Although the points are not going to count for the Volvo Ocean Race itself, the Zero Stage has been an excellent way to test hundreds of factors before the start of the race, as highlighted by the Mapfre pattern, Xabi Fernández. "The Zero Stage has been very interesting, we have trained a lot during the winter and I think we have seen that we sailed very well. It's been the first time we had Joan Vila as a navigator and he's worked frankly well with the team.", he said.

The next great goal is 53 days away: it will be the prologue stage between Lisbon and Alicante, which is now the time for the teams to complete their training, their commitments to the sponsors and do the security courses. In a couple of months, they all have an appointment in Alicante, with 45,000 miles of navigation ahead and the certainty that everything can happen in the greatest challenge for a team in professional sport. Thus was the final general classification of the Zero Stage:

1. Mapphre 29 points
2. Dongfeng Race Team 24
3. Team Brunel 23
4. team AkzoNobel 22
5. Vestas 11th Hour Racing 20
6. Turn the Tide on Plastic 13
7. Sun Hung Kai Scallywag 9

13 / 08 / 2017: Follow the most absolute domain of Mapfre in the "Zero Stage"

The seven sailboats that make up the current fleet of the Volvo Ocean Race have already completed the first part of the fourth test of the Zero Stage, a 25-mile sprint in which they have reached a maximum speed of 10 knots due to the loose winds that have forced the test to be divided into two parts.

The Mapfre has maintained the excellent performance it is showing in this first phase of the Volvo Ocean Race training. The Spanish team fought a duel with the 11th Hour Vestas from the starting line, where they were imposed for less than half a mile at the end. After going neutralized to Chaussé de Sein, the second part will start this Monday morning in a step-by-step manner depending on the time made in the first. They will begin with light southern winds that will fade quickly and then come back from the west.

The Spanish team is in a tight duel with the 11th Racing Vestas and will first be on the second part of the last test, which starts this Monday at 11: 00

The fleet will negotiate the passage of a cold front on Tuesday morning and the new wind will lead you to a race of resistance to Cape Finisterre, the northwestern tip of Spain. After negotiating the narrow channel between Cape Finisterre and the maritime traffic exclusion zone, they will have a quite simple route along the Portuguese coast. There are no strategies here that are valid, only pure speed before pulling the hand brake on the Tajo River to the centre of Lisbon. The general classification of the Zero Stage in the absence of this fourth stage is:

1. Mapphre 23 points
2. Team Brunel 20
3. Dongfeng Race Team 19
4. Team AkzoNobel 15
5. Vestas 11th Hour Racing 12
6. Turn the Tide on Plastic 9
7. Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag 7

12 / 08 / 2017: Exhibition of the Mapfre at the third test of the Zero Stage in Saint Malo

The Mapfre continues to show strength at the Zero Stage of the Volvo Ocean Race... the sensations that Xabi Fernández and his crew are giving are being excellent at this stage of the process... the Spaniards had a seven-mile advantage over the second when they crossed the finish line at 0829 UTC near Saint- Malo, although they had the race won long before. The Brunel team led the chasing group, followed by Dongfeng Race Team and Vestas 11th Hour Racing; that was exactly the same order that the fleet had at the key moment when the race was decided.

The Mapfre arrived in Saint Malo at 8: 29 with an advantage of about seven miles over the Dutch Team Brunel

When the fleet began the third test of the Zero Stage in Plymouth, the Mapfre was launched to the south with the 11th Hour Racing Vestas and the Turn the Tide in Plastic, while the others chose a route along the coast that required a tiring sequence of transfered. When the fleet rejoined, the southern option had been the good one and both Brunel and Dongfeng Race Team changed sides and chose the southern option with Mapfre and Vestas 11th Hour Racing.

The fleet then had to deal with a barrier of light winds that blocked the route. The calms were narrower in the south and the four ships that had wagered for this option went down in speed but continued to move, while Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag went back with the tide, completely in calm. At 1700 UTC, the fleet was still grouped. Two hours later, Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag had barely moved, but MAPHRE, the first to reach the new wind, was halfway through the Lyme Bay and crossed at 16 knots.

After passing through the Needles (a milestone we already know well, having appeared on both the Around the Island and the Rolex Fastnet) and one on the Channel of the Mancha, the excitement was waiting in the tidal acceleration area by the French coast. As if they were on a mechanical walkway from the airport, the speeds of each ship jumped from 13 knots to 19 knots on a periquet. From there, the Mapfre no longer had rivals and completed the approximately 250 miles of the tour in 18 hours, 29 minutes and 50 seconds.