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Latest News Links Volvo - Telefonica take leg 3 . . . Volvo - Puma rejoins fleet as Telefonica extend their lead . . . Volvo - Telefonica leads into storm . . . Volvo - Groupama take lead into China Sea . . . Volvo - Sanya in fight-back after shocking 24 hours . . . Volvo - 1,000 nautical mile port tack drag race . . . Volvo - Slow boat to China for Volvo fleet . . . Volvo - Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing continue their winning streak . . . Volvo - Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing win Etihad Airways In-Port Race . . . Volvo - Groupama take the sprint to Abu Dahbi leg . . . Volvo - Offloading Volvo fleet ready for dash to Abu Dhabi . . . Volvo - Coldplay perform on New Years Eve in Abu Dhabi . . . Back to latest Sailing News reports here . . . Telefonica take leg 3 . . . Telefonica became the first team since Steinlager 2 in 1989-90 to win the first three legs of the Volvo Ocean Race when they held off the challenge of Groupama sailing team to arrive first into the Chinese port of Sanya on Saturday. Team Telefónica, skippered by co-World Sailor of the Year Iker Martínez, finished at 03:58:22 UTC to complete the stage from the Maldives in 12 days and take 24 points. Groupama came in at 05:45:25 UTC to clinch second place.  Telefonica´s latest victory was remarkable given the damage they suffered to their code zero sail just hours after the start in the Maldives, a setback that pushed them into last place. After completing a repair job overseen by Jordi Calafat, Telefonica made the strategic decision, along with Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand, to take a hitch to the north. Showing a loss on the leaderboard, Martínez said, “We know that the lost miles to the finish will be important, but we’re hoping that it will be better for us when we arrive at the Malacca Strait in two days’ time”. How right he was. Sailing conditions for this drag race to Pulau We at the northern end of Sumatra were about perfect, with warm air, warm seas and clear nights lit by countless stars. By day four, the code zero was hoisted and Telefonica rose up the order by seven miles to fourth place. They then overtook Groupama 4 to move into third place, within a mile of CAMPER in second. Setting up for the entrance to the Malacca Strait, Telefonica took another hitch north which swapped the order again, but the leverage gained in the high lane was looking sweeter by the hour. On day five, January 26, she snatched second place and the crew’s attention turned to their final victim, CAMPER. By 1900 UTC that day, sailing two knots faster than any other boat in the fleet, Telefonica was in the lead. On day eight, Telefonica’s lead was reduced to 0.4 nm from Groupama 4 and 1.1 nm from PUMA. The pressure was on, but Olympic gold medallist Martínez kept a cool head and by that evening they were leading the fleet to the open waters of the South China Sea. Dodging the small archipelago off the eastern coast of Malaysia, Telefónica led the race through gales to the relative safety of the coast of Vietnam. On Day 12, the fiercest battle of the leg took place as the fleet beat up the coast. Tack after tack, Telefonica held off Groupama and extended her lead to win the leg, not only claiming a third victory but making history too. With three points in the bag from their performance in Stage 1 of the leg – a one-day sprint from Abu Dhabi to Sharjah – Telefónica sealed overall victory in Leg 3. The result also sees them strengthen their position at the top of the overall standings. Groupama have a total of 24 points from the leg. In third place were Camper and at 07:00 hrs this morning Puma was due to finish in fourth with Abu Dahbi in fifth. Sany was over 300 nm back in sixth. Puma rejoins fleet as Telefonica extend their lead . . . Puma (Ken Read/USA) has re-joined the fleet after a brief, but miserable sojourn to the east, while leaders of the pack, Team Telefónica, have again extended their lead over second-placed Groupama sailing team (Franck Cammas/FRA). At 04:00 UTC tonight, Telefónica led Groupama by 23 nautical miles (nm). At 04:00 UTC tonight, Camper third place was under threat from Read and his men as their comeback gained momentum with just over 400 nm left to run until the finish in Sanya on Saturday. Camper led Mar Mostro by just over four and a half miles, while Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing were less than four miles astern. Meanwhile, Team Sanya (Mike Sanderson/NZL) in sixth place, was still 76 nm south of the coast of Vietnam, and 161 nm adrift from Telefonica. Telefonica leads into storm . . . After three days of dodging container ships, unlit fishing boats and all manner of objects floating in the sea, Team Telefonica navigator Andrew Cape couldn’t hide his relief at being clear of the Malacca Strait – but said the danger is not over yet. “I can't put into words how relieved I am to get out of the strait,” Cape told volvooceanrace.com. “It's a nightmare and I'm really, really relieved that nothing went wrong and even happier that we managed to start in first place and finish there. There’s serious relief all round. It’s good to be out.” The main tactical hurdle on the final phase of the leg revolves around the strong current that sweeps down the coast of Vietnam and winds offshore blowing up to 35 knots. Whether the teams choose to hug the coast staying out of the strongest tide and biggest seas but sacrificing better winds, or gamble against the current and sea state in favour of higher wind speeds, could hold the key to success – or failure. Gales are forecast for up to 125 nm off the Vietnam coast and the leaders are heading directly towards the area where, according to weather experts, conditions will become rough to extreme, with short period waves of around two - four metres in height. Telefonica leads by 6 nm from Groupama at 07:00 hrs Wednesday morning. These two have a 30 nm lead over the chasing pack, lead by Camper with Abu Dahbi anothe 30 nm adrift tand then Pume a further 20 nm back. Team Sanya are 250 nm behind the leader. Groupama take lead into China Sea . . . At around 16:05 UTC Monday, Team Telefónica, the leg and overall Volvo race leaders, passed the Horshburg Lighthouse marking the end of the straits section of the leg with a lead of around less than 20 minutes over second placed Groupama sailing team. The Volvo fleet face more than 1000 nautical miles of tough upwind sailing to the Leg 3 finish in Sanya, China. And at 06:00 hrs this morning Groupama was the new leader, 4 nm ahead of Telefonica and Puma, with Camper and Abu Dahbi dropping back another 40 nm. Race meteorologist Gonzalo Infante said the fleet was now likely to experience a northeasterly monsoon wind of about 10-15 knots until they round an archipelago including Rigan, Nunsa and Selia islands this morning. Infante predicted the going would get tough as the teams trek north towards the Vietnam coast with a building monsoon surge generating strong winds and a four to five metre swell. “It is very going to be very rough racing with gale force winds predicted and a very rough sea state building,’’ he said. “The sailors will have to try to slow their boats down to try not to break anything. Anything can happen here.” Sanya in fight-back after shocking 24 hours . . . Telefonica and Camper continue to vie for leadership of Leg 3 of the Volvo Ocean Race, with Puma and Groupama five miles back but still a force, and Abu Dahbi, 20 miles adrift trying to keep with the pace setters, while Sanya having been dropped by 60 miles tries desperately to get back into the race. After hitting the front yesterday, Iker Martínez’s Team Telefonica rounded Pulau We island narrowly ahead to lead the fleet into one of the world's busiest and most hazardous shipping routes. Telefónica and Camper traded tacks constantly on the 25 nautical mile section against the wind to Pulau We, all the time stalked by Puma just a few miles behind. Biggest loser has been the race’s first sole Chinese entry who fell foul of a series of squalls that left them becalmed on several occasions while their rivals continued to punch towards the Malacca Strait. Now fighting-back they are 50 miles off the leader. Sanya skipper Mike Sanderson: “We have had a shocking 24 hours from a racing standpoint,” Sanderson explained. “We got raked over by a series of black clouds; one in particular saw us lose more then 20 miles to the fleet. A cloud travelled upwind against the trades and grabbed us, parked us up for a while and then had us sailing downwind for as long as two hours while we tried to make the most of it." “When back in the breeze finally we got nailed twice by some more normal far smaller clouds, one a loss of six miles and one of five. So that’s been our day.” Despite the distance between Sanya and the frontrunners almost doubling from just over 30nm to 60nm at the 13:00 UTC position report, Sanderson said his crew could stage a comeback with clever sailing through the Malacca Strait, the narrow body of water between Malaysia and Sumatra that is notoriously difficult to navigate. 1,000 nautical mile port tack drag race . . . For the next 1,000 nautical miles, the Volvo Open 70 fleet will predominantly be on port tack in a drag race that is taking the fleet across the southern tip of Sri Lanka and into the Bay of Bengal towards the waypoint at Pulau We and the entrance of the Malacca Strait, nine miles off the northernmost tip of Sumatra. The landmass of Sri Lanka is continuing to produce a slight wind shadow, which has slowed the fleet, but once clear of the island and out across the Bay of Bengal, about 125 miles to east of the fleet, the breeze will pick up and the charge towards the barn door will begin in earnest. There is little in the way of tactics that can be deployed at this stage of the game to gain an edge and the racing continues to be largely a drag race where boat handling and sail choice are the deciding components. However, late this afternoon Mike Sanderson's Team Sanya made a tactical decision to ditch the south, take a hitch to the north, and get back in the mix. Sanderson had little to lose in crossing behind the fleet and clawing his way up for half an hour or so before tacking back onto port. When the fleet hardens up on to the wind again in the approach to Pulau We, the north will be the strong position. “We have a slight speed deficit on the new boats,” explained Sanderson today. His tactic is to stay in touch as best he can before the fleet reaches the Malacca Strait, where he hopes there will be a ‘restart’ of sorts. In fifth place Ian Walker's Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing are struggling to compete, or even to find the elusive fifth gear. According to Walker, the team has tried every possible sail configuration to try to match the performance of those around them, but is just not quite achieving it. It is frustrating for the British skipper although the team is enjoying sparring with overall leader Iker Martínez's Team Telefónica who by 19:00 UTC this evening had rolled over the black boat to take up fourth place. At 22:00 hrs Monday, the order is Puma, Camper, Gropupama and then Abu Dhabi, Sanya and Telefonica,. 14 nm from leader to last boat. Slow boat to China for Volvo fleet . . . The slow boat to China is underway, the Volvo hokey cokey - you put the first boat, the first boat out, in-out, in-out (ok enough, editor) . . . with the fleet once again safely loaded onto a ship in Sharjah, the trip to an unloading port in the Indian Ocean is underway.  Once this destination is reached safely the Volvo fleet will be unloaded and will then complete the long second stage of Leg 3 to the Chinese port of Sanya, estimated finish date is 4 February. Racing to join them are Team Sanya, recovering from rig damage on Leg 2 and a forced stop-over in Madagascar to fix the mast. After the Doldrums Sanya entered the 'stealth zone' last Saturday finally breaking clear on Monday. The expected start of the second stage is around January 23. Under race rules, Team Sanya will pick up four points for Leg 2 Stage 1, one point for Leg 2 Stage 2 and two points for the Etihad Airways In-Port Race, providing they arrive at the safe haven under racing conditions. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing continue their winning streak . . . Abu Dhabi skipper British Olympian Ian Walker stole the lead from Team Telefonica, who had held pole position over the fleet from the start of the 106 nautical mile race to Sharjah, to take victory by little more than one minute over Puma in a thrilling finish of the first stage of Leg 3, continuing their winning streak in home waters. The first Emirati team to ever compete in the race crossed the finish line at 16:29 UTC, scoring the maximum six points and boosting their points tally to 31.  Puma netted five points for second place, finishing just one minute and 16 seconds behind Abu Dhabi. Groupama sailing team earned four points for third, Telefónica placed fourth for three and Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand will receive two for fifth. Winning the sprint capped off a stellar week of racing for the locals, who leave their homeport as heroes having also won the Etihad Airways In-Port Race on Friday. Bidding farewell to the first Middle Eastern stopover in the race’s 38-year history was a bittersweet moment for the sailors, who shared many hugs and kisses with friends, family and fans. As with Leg 2 of the race, Leg 3 is split into two parts to prevent the boats from sailing through dangerous waters off the coast of Africa. The fleet will be loaded onto a ship in Sharjah and transported to a safe haven port in the Indian Ocean. Once the boats are unloaded, racing to Sanya will resume around January 23, and the first boats could reach Sanya by February 4. Volvo Ocean Race Leaderboard: 1. Team Telefonica 71 2. CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand 64 3. Groupama sailing team 51 4. PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG 36 5. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing 31 6. Team Sanya 4 Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing win Etihad Airways In-Port Race . . . Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing scored a commanding victory on home waters on Friday, taking top spot in the Etihad Airways In-Port Race to the delight of thousands of ecstatic fans at the Volvo Ocean Race's first Middle Eastern stopover. Abu Dhabi, skippered by Ian Walker, produced a faultless performance along the eight nautical mile course to win in a time of 57 minutes 51 seconds ahead of Groupama sailing team in second and Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand in third.  Walker, twice an Olympic silver medallist for Britain, was joined on board by HRH Prince Andrew and Sheikh Shakhboot bin Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan for what was a second victory in three in-port races following their success in Alicante. Walker said victory made up for the disappointment of arriving into Abu Dhabi at the end of Leg 2 in fifth place. “We so wanted to win the race so we were prepared to take risks,” said Walker, whose team picked up a maximum six points for their victory against the spectacular Abu Dhabi cityscape. “We knew if we could win it would be very special for everyone." A light southerly breeze of around seven knots greeted the teams as they took to the racetrack in the waters off the Abu Dhabi Destination Village. In an unusual downwind start, Puma led off the line but their dreams of a win were all but ended shortly after the start when Ken Read’s team had to take a penalty turn for an infringement involving Team Telefónica. Abu Dhabi snuck round the first mark ahead, chased by Groupama. The two teams exchanged the lead on the way to the second mark before Abu Dhabi emerged in front. Nothing was going to tear victory from Ian Walker’s hands as he and his crew sailed a perfect race, winning by 57 seconds. The more than 4,000 nautical mile Leg 3 race to Sanya will start on Saturday, with the first stage race from Abu Dhabi to a point off the Sharjah coast getting underway at 1400 local time, 1000 UTC/GMT. Early forecasts are tipping fresh north-west winds of 13 to 16 knots inshore, building to 18 to 22 kts offshore. Volvo In-Port race 1. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing 6 points 2. Groupama sailing team 5 3. CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand 4 4. PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG 3 5. Team Telefonica 2 Volvo Ocean Race Overall: 1. Team Telefonica 68 2. CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand 62 3. Groupama sailing team 47 4. PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG 31 5. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing 25 6. Team Sanya 4 Groupama take the sprint to Abu Dahbi leg . . . At the finish in Abu Dahbi it was Groupama first, Telefonica second, Camper, Puma and then Abu Dahbi Racing fifth. Telefonica led most of the way but Groupama got the jump on them on the final run into the line to win by 50 seconds.  Team Telefonica secured overall victory in Leg 2 with a strong second place in the sprint leg. Franck Cammas’ men n Groupama edged past Telefonica with just over 10 nautical miles to go to the Abu Dhabi finish line, claiming victory in the 98-nautical mile sprint from the northern United Arab Emirates by just 52 seconds to take a maximum six points. Their victory came despite the fact that six of their sailors had to carry out a repair job on hull damage sustained in the first part of the leg. Telefonica lead the overall standings with 66 points followed by CAMPER on 58 after they finished third in Wednesday’s sprint stage to clinch second place overall in Leg 2. Groupama remain in third overall on 42 points. Camper picked up the final podium position in Leg 2 Stage 2 to score four points finishing at 12h27’48” UTC, 50 seconds ahead of PumaA Ocean Racing powered by BERG. PUMA’s position to seals third place overall in Leg 2. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing were fifth, crossing the line at 12h32’21” UTC. Offloading Volvo fleet ready for dash to Abu Dhabi . . . The final sprint stage of Leg 2 is set to be one of the most exciting ever with the fleet set for a neck and neck 98 nautical mile dash, finishing in Abu Dhabi on the afternoon of January 4. Racing is scheduled to start at 06:00 UTC, with the boats expected to cross the finish line off the Abu Dhabi Corniche between 11:00 – 12:00 UTC Wenesday. The painstaking task of safely offloading the five Volvo Open 70s is planned for Tuesday, after which the crews must prepare their boats overnight for the dash to Abu Dhabi starting at 0600 UTC Wednesday. The main five-boat fleet will restart racing on January 4 with a 98 nautical mile sprint and an estimated arrival time at Abu Dhabi's Destination Village of around 1200 UTC. With six points on offer for the first boat to reach Abu Dhabi, the scene is set for an intense battle between the closely matched fleet. To add to the excitement, weather forecasts predict a strong Shamal desert wind which could mean challenging conditions for the crews. Coldplay perform on New Years Eve in Abu Dhabi . . . On January 4 the five-boat Volvo Ocean Race fleet will complete the second stage of Leg 2 from Cape Town, South Africa, with a high speed, adrenaline packed sprint into Abu Dhabi, arriving in the city around 1600 local time (1200 UTC). Meanwhile English mega band Coldplay put on a barnstorming New Year’s Eve performance on the Abu Dhabi waterfront on the opening night of the Volvo Ocean Race’s Destination Village – the centrepiece of the race’s two week stopover in the city. In a move that could further upset the race programme, Iran successfully test fired a medium-range surface-to-air missile on Sunday during navy war games taking place near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, a spokesman for the manoeuvres said, according to the official IRNA news agency. The missile's launch and the war games are meant to show Iran's military capabilities at a time that the United States and other Western nations are increasing pressure over Tehran's nuclear programme. The fact that they are taking place near the Strait of Hormuz has focused attention on Iran's threats in recent days that it could close the narrow channel at the entrance to the Gulf if more sanctions are imposed. 
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