In a titanic final, the team patronized by Charles Caudrelier takes the title after winning the last stage in The Hague

The "Dongfeng Race Team" has proclaimed itself the winner of the Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18, the most equal edition in the 45 years of the race's history, after playing it to a card at the closing stage held between Gothenburg and The Hague... the French-Chinese boat when it was at a disadvantage with the Spanish boat, chose to sail on the ground and play with the strong currents in the area, even five knots... and its choice to the desperate one came to the thousand wonders, because in the end of the stage it literally flew, and not only made the 60 miles more comfortable, but not more than it ended with the 60 miles.

The "Dongfeng" first crossed the line of arrival at The Hague at 15: 22: 32 Sunday, being the second to reach 00.15.59 minutes the "AzkoNibel," third the "Mapfre" at 00.16.53. After them "Brunel," "Vestas," "Turn The Tide on Plastic" and "Scalwag." Victory of the ship flag in the Republic of China, a victory by a very narrow margin, in a World Tour that has been the most competitive in its 45 years of existence, and in which the Spanish ship has had to be content with silver, being the bronze for the "Brunel." The general classification will go into history as follows:

24 / 06 / 2018: "Dongfeng" exceeds "Mapfre" and then leads the Volvo 16 miles from The Hague

24 / 06 / 2018: spectacular Remonade of "Dongfeng" located 1.2 miles from "Mapfre"

24 / 06 / 2018: Technical tie 45 miles from the Hague... between "AkzoNobel," "Mapfre" and "Brunel"

23 / 06 / 2018: Volvo: "What night of that day..." now "AzkoNobel" in a sigh with "Mapfre"

What a night that day... and that is that the evening, the last of this edition of the Volvo is being so as not to forget in their lives, for the gladiators and gladiators of the sea... after thousands of miles, of hundreds of extreme situations by the seas all over the planet... are playing the victory for hundreds of meters... At the edge of 11: 00 in Spain, it is still the leader of "Mapfre" but the stage has changed... because "Dongfeng" is being unhanged and is already fifth... while "AkzoNobel" is still launched in search of the Spanish ship, and the Dutch "Brunel" is already very close to "Mapfre..." winds of 25 knots from the north-west to 290 miles from the arrival of The Hague... but eye within a 60-mile radius of the final zone of the stage the wind is just 5 / 6 knots... or here is much to be played...

23 / 06 / 2018: In the absence of 390 miles to The Hague, "Mapfre" takes over the Volvo

The Spanish ship did so when only 390 miles were left for the point and end of the Volvo Ocean Race in The Hague... it is now "Dongfeng" that pursues "Mapfre" 0.4 miles away... when the wind is six knots south and in Spain it is four in the afternoon. Among them is the story, because "Brunel" is fifth to 4.5 miles of Spanish.

23 / 06 / 2018: Volvo: "Dongfeng" and "Mapfre" separated 0.5 miles to 429 from The Hague

At 10: 00 on Saturday morning, everything remains the same in the round stage of the Volvo Ocean Race, which is running between Gothenburg and The Hague. When only 429 miles remain for the end of this edition of the World Round, the struggle between the first two remains millimeter: 0.5 miles between the leader "Dongfeng" and the second one classified, the Spanish ship "Mapfre." The winds are very loose from the north-west, just five knots, and this could benefit Iker Martínez's ship, which is fighting the unspeakable to get closer to the French-Chinese boat... has come a lot closer to the "Vestas" head... Americans are already 2.8 miles away and the third in discord, the "Brunel" that has managed to reduce the differences to just over 9 miles.

22 / 06 / 2018: The last stage of the Volvo... a match race between "Dongfeng" and "Mapfre" 1000 miles

When in Spain the wind is beginning to dusk in swan waters it is from the west of about 13 knots... between "Dongfeng" and "Mapfre" a few hundred meters... 0.58 nautical miles... the Chinese franc are half knot faster and The Hague is about 530 miles away... from heart attack!

The Dongfeng Race Team and "Mapfre" are fighting a battle to death for the leadership of stage 11 and the victory in the general of the Volvo Ocean Race as the fleet passes through the Danish city of Aarhus... when the ships have completed the first 24 hours of the last and decisive stage of the race, which takes them from Gothenburg to The Hague, the seven teams are separated for less than 20 miles.

After mounting the first beacon on the Norwegian coast during the night, the "Dongfeng" and the "Mapfre" were able to look for better wind than their rivals and achieved the first differences in the classification... in the second beacon of forced passage, located in Aarhus, on the eastern coast of Denmark, the two red ships were separated by only one mile away at 1200 UTC, while the "Team Brunel," the third team with which they shared the leader by being tied to points, marched in fourth position about 15 miles from the beacon.

2018-06-21: The Volvo decides to win in the Gothenburg stage - The Hague, with a triple tie in the lead

More impossible emotion in this Volvo closure

Xabi Fernández's "Mapfre" already sails to The Hague in the final stage of the Volvo Ocean Race with one single objective in mind: to become the first team in Spain's history to win the hardest team challenge in the world of sport.

To do this, the Spanish group must be ahead of Team Brunel and Dongfeng Race Team, the two teams with which it shares the leadership with the same points. For his part, Bouwe Bekking, Team Brunel's patron, was very confident.

On the departure of this Thursday, the Chinese flag Dongfeng Race Team was the one who took the lead making an excellent exit after finding a clean, barlovent lane, while the MAPHRE and the Brunel were entangled in sotavento. In fact, "Mapfre" passed the beacon by this pressure and had to go back to cross the line, which made him leave with a disadvantage.

The route of the eleventh stage will take the ships to the west of the islets that splash the entrance to Gothenburg before turning north to a beacon just off the coast of Norway. They then go down south to surround a buoy near the Danish city of Aarhus, to return north of Denmark before flying south to The Hague. There are numerous tactical options throughout the stage, with a part that promises strong winds at the beginning, and lighter conditions near the arrival of Sunday.

The ETA for the buoy of Aarhus is estimated for the afternoon of Friday, while the arrival in The Hague is expected for the afternoon of Sunday. Taking into account the beacons against Norway and Aarhus, the length of the stage could be close to 1,000 nautical miles.