Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing completed a brilliant double triumph when they snatched victory with a late surge in the first stage of Leg 3 of the Volvo Ocean Race, which finished late on Saturday night at Sharjah.
After Team Telefonica had led for most of the 106 nautical mile-race from Abu Dhabi to Sharjah, the Ian Walker-led Abu Dhabi boat Azzam sailed ahead with about two miles left and then managed to stay ahead of a fast-finishing Puma to add six more points to their tally.
The sprint success came hot on the heels of the In-Port race win and, with 12 points won on home waters, Abu Dhabi now have 31 points and are still in fifth place. Puma finished second to garner five points, Groupama were third (four points) and Telefonica managed only three points for a fourth-place finish, with Camper finishing last in the five-boat race.
Like Leg 2 from Cape Town to Abu Dhabi, Leg 3 from Abu Dhabi to Sanya has been split into two stages.
Safe-haven port
The sprint section will now be followed by the second stage, which starts from a safe-haven port in the Indian Ocean in a bid to counter piracy in dangerous waters off the coast of Africa. It finishes in Sanya in China.
"I guess when Telefonica gybed and we saw how much we closed them down with about half an hour remaining in the race, we thought we are going fast here and it's possible we can get them," said Abu Dhabi skipper Walker, after winning from Puma in a time of one minute and 16 seconds. "Gradually we overhauled Telefonica and we became more concerned that Puma stayed behind us.
"Definitely, coming into Abu Dhabi in fifth was a real low point, the stopover was a real high and then who would have thought that we could get two firsts to round it off. I couldn't be happier."
Walker added: "But, in terms of points, of course, it's far more important that we do well on the next leg, so we're thrilled to have put on a good show for Abu Dhabi, thrilled that the stopover's been successful, but we're very mindful that we still have a lot of work to do."
Telefonica skipper Iker Martinez, whose boat is still the overall leader, said after the sprint: "We had a pretty quick leg. We started with the short course and, for more than three hours, we had 20 knots of boat speed. It was very quick.
"We had one sail in the water for a little bit, so we had to slow down to manage the situation. We lost some speed and the guys behind came up very fast and we lost our position.
Painful sight
"It was a little bit painful to see them going forward. These things happen sometimes."
While the boats are shipped to the safe-haven port, most of the crew will take a short holiday and then rejoin the boats for the second stage of Leg 3.
The Volvo Ocean Race will then continue to Sanya and then to Brazil and USA, before heading across the Atlantic Ocean to Portugal, France and Ireland for the finish in July this year.
Leaderboard
- 1. Team Telefonica -71 pts
- 2. CAMPER - 64
- 3. Groupama - 51
- 4. Puma Ocean Racing - 36
- 5. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing - 31
- 6. Team Sanya - 4
