Sunday, March 11, 2012

Volvo Ocean Race Leg 4 Update

All boats have safely arrived in Auckland, New Zealand after 20 days and 5220 miles of racing. The boats started leg four in Sanya, China and sailed through the south China sea, into the Pacific Ocean and through the Solomon Islands and onto Auckland.

Franck Cammas and his Groupama crew were the first to arrive Saturday night. It was their first leg win of the race.  The big news was that the boat's bow section was damaged and was taking on water during the last hours as they crossed the finish line. 

The remaining boats were all locked in a battle for the remaining spots on the podium.  Puma, Telefonica and Camper, Abu Dahbi and Sanya battled through the night. The race for second was won by Ken Read and the Puma crew who were also welcomed by the huge spectator fleet in Auckland.

A real dogfight came down to the race for third. A difference of only 2 minutes separated the next two boats, Telefonica and Camper. Telefonica once again edged out Chris Nicholson and Team Camper to take third.

Abu Dhabi and Sanya finished out the leg in fifth and sixth places respectively.

Leg 5 is scheduled to start in a little over 5 days. That does not give the teams much time to rest up and make repairs.

Overall standings still have Telefonica in first with 121 points, Groupama with 103 points, Camper with 98 points, Puma with 78 points, Abu Dhabi with 53 points and Sanya with 22.

Check out all the action, videos and standings at the Volvo Ocean Ocean Race website.

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