While the all women team aboard Team SCA and led by Sam Davies may have struggled on the two offshore legs of the Volvo Ocean Race, their performance around the cans for the in port racing is another story. Having finished third in racing in Cape Town, the all girl team won today’s race in Abu Dhabi.

Sadly for them, there are no points for the in port racing, the results only come into play in the event of a draw in the overall rankings, something that currently looks more likely than would have previously been expected. Today’s result pushes them up into third overall in the in port rankings.

The second piece of news on the VOR front was of the formal announcement that Chris Nicholson’s Team Vestas will be repairing their boat and returning to the race. The boat will be shipped to Persico in Italy where the original hull moulds were produced for the repairs to take place. The team anticipates that it will be able to return to the racing by the start of the penultimate Leg 8 from Lisbon, ‘anything earlier than that would be the icing on the cake,’ said a team spokesperson.

Here is the official words from Team SCA on their in port victory:

With Olympians Carolijn Brouwer (NED) on the helm and Sally Barkow (USA) calling tactics, the team led the fleet from the start line.

In the searing heat of the afternoon, Team SCA led the five other Volvo Ocean Race teams over the start line and shortly after tacked to the starboard side of the course. This was the call that proved to be the key to their success.

The Swedish-flagged boat found a good breeze in the light and fickle winds and left the rest of the fleet behind. At the first mark they already had a lead of some 100 meters ahead of Team Brunel, while at the second, with the wind staying stable between 5-8 knots, they had doubled this to 200 meters.

“It’s an awesome feeling,” comments Carolijn Brouwer, “we had the practice race a couple of days ago and won that but it was great to go out and do it all again exactly the same, with the same result.

“Everyone onboard did such a great job, we didn’t come off the start line too well but we made up for it. Our coach said to us this morning “just do the same as you did in the practice race” and we literally did – we tacked in the same spot, we jibed in the same spot, and we finished in the same spot.

“We have always been moving around a little bit and figuring out the best positions onboard and I think that has worked well for us but its just everyone having their input and gelling together which makes a difference.”

Fellow crew member Annie Lush agrees: “It is great to get a race win, get that winning flag and to prove that winning the practice race was not a fluke and we can do this – now we just have to embrace this feeling of leading the fleet and try to sustain it for the next 24 days!”

This win in Abu Dhabi, puts the all-female team third on the leaderboard for the InPort Race series and the result is a huge morale booster for tomorrow’s start of the 4600-mile Leg 3 from Abu Dhabi to Sanya, China.

Abu Dhabi In-Port Race result:

1 Team SCA (Sweden),

2 Team Brunel (Netherlands)

3 Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing

4 Dongfeng Race Team (China)

5 Team Alvimedica (Turkey/USA)

6 MAPFRE (Spain)