Volvo Ocean Race set for thrilling finish as Burling's Brunel claim penultimate leg

Peter Burling and Blair Tuke have spent their sailing careers working together to achieve results.

Olympic gold medal - check. America's Cup winners - check.

Now, the pair find themselves in the unfamiliar position of trying to beat the other in the hope of winning a title.

Both Kiwi sailors have the chance to claim sailing's triple crown on the final leg of the Volvo Ocean Race, after Burling's Team Brunel won the penultimate leg on Friday morning (NZ time). To claim the rare feat, sailors must win Olympic gold, the America's Cup and the Volvo Ocean race in the same cycle.

Brunel beat Tuke's MAPFRE into Gothenburg, Sweden, on the 10th leg of the race to level the scores ahead of the sprint finish.

Fellow Kiwi Daryl Wislang could spoil the party for both triple crown hopefuls, however, with his DongFeng Race Team also in the hunt.

DongFeng finished fourth into Gothenburg to sit one point behind Brunel and MAPFRE on the ladder. However, DongFeng's lead the field for total elapsed time which should see them handed a bonus point at the end of the final leg.

DongFeng's time of just over 118 days was about 20 hours better than the next best team in Brunel, with the extra point all but locked away.

It's going to be an important point in the scheme of things, as it essentially means all three boats sit level.

The final leg is an all out sprint to the finish line. The fleet depart Gothenburg for the Hague in the Netherlands late next week on a route that covers just 700 nautical miles (1296km), making it the shortest leg of the race by 600nm.

While Tuke and Burling go into the leg looking to claim the treble, Wislang goes into it looking to claim his second-straight Volvo Ocean Race crown. In the 2014-15 edition of the race, the Kiwi sailed onboard Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing's Azzam, which won the event by five points.

Standings after leg 10 of the Volvo Ocean Race
1. MAPFRE (Blair Tuke, Louis Sinclair) - 65
2. Team Brunel (Peter Burling) - 65
3. DongFeng Race Team (Daryl Wislang, Stu Bannatyne) - 64*
4. AkzoNobel (Brad Farrand, Justin Ferris) - 53
5. Vestas 11th Hour Racing (Tony Mutter) - 38
6. Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag (no Kiwis) - 30
7. Turn the tide on Plastic (Bianca Cook) - 29

* - DongFeng Race Team will have a point added for best elapsed time at the end of the next leg.