Closely fought Dell Latitude Rugged Ocean Sprint sees just one second between two teams

The results are in for the Dell Latitude Rugged Ocean Sprint and what a sprint it was. Only three hours and 21 minutes separated all eleven teams and the winner has been announced.

Punta del Este was the fastest by just over one hour, a two-in-two victory in ocean sprints and another three points for the team. Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam grabbed two points for second place and there was hot competition for third, with just 1 second separating two teams. Visit Sanya, China scooped the remaining third place bonus point, snatching it from Dare To Lead in fourth.

Full results below :-

29:53:00 Punta del Este

30:54:11 Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam

31:06:40 Visit Sanya, China

31:06:41 Dare To Lead

31:12:00 Zhuhai

31:15:53 WTC Logistics

31:18:00 GoToBermuda

31:57:38 Imagine your Korea

32:16:39 Qingdao

32:33:00 Unicef

33:14:23 Seattle

Jeronimo Santos Gonzalez, Skipper of Punta del Este said of their victory in the sprint, “To achieve this all crew have had the eyes on the ball, their concentration on making the most of both the wind conditions and the boat performance. Every member of the crew performing their duties to the best of their abilities. Our motto on Punta del Este, when doing a manoeuvre, is; "do it fast", "do it now" and "do it right" (which is different from Nike's ad "just do it").”

Dare To Lead have been pragmatic about missing out on a point, by the narrowest of margins. Says Skipper Guy Waites, “after 31 hours of racing we finished fourth, a whole second behind Visit Sanya, China! Undeterred, we have continued our seemingly endless course south.”

On the rest of the race down to Punta del Este he continues, “It's a rhumb line procession, a drag race, all lined up like little ducks, each six hourly scheds a comparison of SOG (speed over ground), the gains and losses are minimal when you consider the distances between each boat.”

Life on the high side for Unicef

After an intense period of racing, all attention is paid to on deck, however it’s life below that is fueling energy levels of competitive sailors. Cooking on a consistent angle is a lesson in endurance for the galley chefs and it has not gone unnoticed by Skipper David ‘Wavy’ Immelman, of GoToBermuda. He says: “Even with the galley flying around at a 45 degree angle, the guys still make great bread every day and bake the occasional cake. Thanks Gerry Glover, even if it was lopsided because the oven did not gimble enough, it was still lovely.”

All eyes are firmly on the route south and the festivities Yacht Club Punta del Este has planned. The latest ETAs for the fleet currently predict the first boats could arrive on 12 October.

Missed all the action from King Neptune? Read the news on how the teams fared during the recent equator crossings.