American skipper ten points clear after three ocean sprints
Brad Van Liew is very happy about his position! Image copyright Ainhoa Sanchez/onEdition.
by Sarah Hames
BRAD Van Liew has extended his lead at the top of the VELUX 5 OCEANS rankings after picking up maximum bonus points for the fastest passage between the ocean sprint three speed gates. During the sprint from Wellington to Punta del Este the American ocean racer sailed his yacht Le Pingouin between the gates, set at longitudes 135º W and 115º W, in two days, 14 hours and 48 minutes.
The VELUX 5 OCEANS is scored using a points system rather than elapsed time. Each of the five ocean sprints features a timed run between two gates set by the race management. The timed runs offer skippers a way to score extra points to add to the points awarded for final positions of each leg.
Combined with the 12 points he picked up for winning ocean sprint three, the three-point timed run victory gives Brad a maximum 15 points for the latest leg, putting him ten points clear at the top of the leaderboard on 45 points. Operon Racing skipper Zbigniew Gutkowski was second fastest between the speed gates picking up two bonus points and Derek Hatfield on Active House takes one point for the third fastest run.
During the timed run the skippers passed Point Nemo, the most remote spot in the world, more than 2,000 nautical miles from land in every direction. Named after Captain Nemo, a character in Jules Verne’s book Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Point Nemo is located at 48°S 52’ 31.748”, 123°W 23’ 33.069”.
Here’s how the leaderboard looks after three ocean sprints:
VELUX5OCEANS
