Members’ News
She was soon part of the crew and part of a new initiative to make women an integral part of the Volvo Ocean Race, one of the world’ s most extreme and prestigious sailing events. The move is also aimed at attracting more female fans to a sport whose base of support remains predominantly male.
The around-the-world race, formerly known as the Whitbread, was first held in 1973, but this is the first time the rules allow a team to race with a larger crew if it sails with a mixed-gender crew instead of an all-male one.
Vestas 11th Hour Racing have won Leg 1 of the Volvo Ocean Race, crossing the finish line in the River Tagus in Lisbon, Portugal on Saturday afternoon.
It ' s a tremendous victory for American skipper Charlie Enright and his team, who earn 8 points for their efforts( including a one point ' bonus ' for winning the leg).
It wasn ' t easy. The wind shut down on the final approach, and an early morning lead of 34-nautical miles over secondplaced MAPFRE was whittled down to 10-miles, with the finish in sight, but the current in the river even pushing the leaders back out to sea in some of the lulls.
But the crew on the Vestas boat held their nerve, tacking first up and then down, zigzagging towards the line, into agonisingly light headwinds. Well done Stacey! Here’ s to Race 2.
Leg 1 – Results – Saturday 28 October( Day 7)- 14:09 UTC
1. Vestas 11th Hour Racing-- FINISHED-- 14:08.45 UTC 2. MAPFRE + 9.3 nm 3. Dongfeng Race Team + 20.3 4. team AkzoNobel + 24.1 5. Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag + 44.2 6. Team Brunel + 66.4 7. Turn the Tide on Plastic + 67.3