Volvo Ocean Race – Galway : The consecration

Groupama 4 wins the Volvo Ocean Race !

 Franck Cammas and his men are already the outright champions of the eleventh edition of the Volvo Ocean Race: by finishing second in the final leg between Lorient and Galway behind the New Zealanders, Groupama 4 has racked up a sufficient lead to be assured of first place in the overall standing, whatever the result during the last In-Port race on Saturday. This is the first French success since victory went to Lionel Péan and his crew in 1985-86!

As ever, there was still everything to play for on this ninth and penultimate race between Brittany and Ireland! And as ever, or almost, the expected scenario of a long straight course in a stable breeze wasn’t quite how things panned out in the end. Indeed, as is frequently the case, it was over the final miles that everything changed. And, as is rarely the case, and for the first time since 1986, a French boat has come to the fore in what is the longest and most gruelling of oceanic races after 40,000 miles at sea and nearly nine months on from the race start in Alicante back in November… By finishing just astern of the New Zealanders in Galway on this final offshore leg, Franck Cammas and his men can at last wrap their hands around the Holy Grail of offshore racing, a Volvo Ocean Race win, before Saturday’s In-Port race has even played out.