Volvo Ocean Race Leg 4: Scallywag looks to bring it home

Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag skipper David Witt will have breathed a sigh of relief this morning as his team crossed the 200-miles to go barrier. 
With that, Stealth Mode was switched off for all of the teams and he could see he had retained a 50-mile lead over Vestas 11th Hour Racing, surely a safe margin given the distance left to the finish. 

With the bow pointed at the finish line, it's now up to the team to bring it home, where a spectacular celebration will be planned for the home team if they can take the win in the first ever Volvo Ocean Race finish in Hong Kong. Putting in the best 24 hour run over the past day has certainly helped.

"Surely it's all smooth sailing from here on out! Keep fighting, Scallywags, you're almost home!" the posted on its Facebook page to mark the milestone.

"We've had a bit of everything this leg," skipper David Witt said, reflecting on the the leg. "I'm really proud of this team. 'Never give up' is a phrase that gets used a lot in sport, but I think this team typifies the true meaning of that phrase."

Witt says it will be a major achievement to bring a win home.

"For Hong Kong, it will be Hong Kong sailing on the map. For our team owner, it justifies his support. We've had a lot of ups and downs but he's been rock solid. For me personally, I would give up every world championship I've ever won to pull this off. This would be the highlight of my career."

At 0830, Scallywag had 160 miles to run and a 50 mile lead. Their ETA is between 1630 and 1830 UTC - just after midnight in Hong Kong. 

Further back, there is a battle for second place between Vestas 11th Hour Racing and Dongfeng Race Team. They have picked slightly different lanes to the finish line, with Dongfeng approximately 20 miles to the north. But time isn't their side, as a 20 mile margin may be too much with only 200 miles of runway to the finish. 

We'll have full live coverage of the finish on volvooceanrace.com as well as our social media channels.