VOR: MAPFRE leads the fleet out of Auckland's Waitemata Harbour with Dongfeng close behind

AUCKLAND – Screengrab taken a few minutes ago from the livestream of today's start of Leg 7 of the Volvo Ocean Race from New Zealand to Brazil, as the lead boats pass a good crowd of spectators on North Head on their way out of Waitemata Harbour into the Hauraki Gulf. Nice spectator fleet, too, on a warm, breezy late-summer afternoon in the "City of Sails." The breeze is expected to build through the afternoon and beyond as the yachts turn southeast along New Zealand's east coast and head into the boisterous Southern Ocean bound for South America's Cape Horn. Details on the VOR website here.

STEINLAGER 2, the late, great Sir Peter Blake's iconic winner of the 1989-90 race, came out to bid farewell to the 2017-18. Photo courtesy of VOR Media.