Abu Dhabi: Overall leaders Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing positioned themselves ominously at the head of the fleet midway through Leg 6 of the Volvo Ocean Race on Wednesday as the six boats continued to jostle for position.

At the beginning of the week, the Emirati crew, who have a seven-point lead at the top after five of the nine stages, were concerned they were losing touch with the pacesetters as they fell some 20 nautical miles off the lead to the west of the main pack.

Slowly but surely, however, they have edged their way back up the leaderboard and finally overhauled Team Brunel at the top early on Wednesday afternoon UAE time, albeit by the thinnest of margins (0.5nm) from the Dutch boat.

There are still just under half the overall race points to race for and more than 2,500nm left in a 5,010nm leg from Itajaí, Brazil, to Newport, Rhode Island, US, where the boats are expected to arrive around May 7.

But the mood on Azzam is, understandably, sky high and there is a clear confidence in the way navigator Simon Fisher is routing the boat through the Atlantic towards the Caribbean islands.

Certainly, skipper Ian Walker is really enjoying the cat-and-mouse sailing as the latest blog from on-board reporter, Matt Knighton, illustrated. “Ian loves how this is playing out. No breakaways to the south or north — everyone is holding together,” Knighton wrote.

“With the thousands of miles left on the track, he’s patient to wait. It’s a boat speed and angles game once again and he’s keen to play.

“It’s now about managing the top-three teams and keeping the boat in one piece — another reason we’re thankful for the shape of our sails after five legs.”

While others’ sails are beginning to look distinctly battered, Walker has been proud of the conservative way he has managed his sail wardrobe — a strategy which could pay handsome dividends as the race enters the home straight in Europe in a few weeks’ time.

The leg and the race, however, are a long way from being decided and all of the six crews will still consider themselves very much in the hunt, especially with a major gybe to carry out towards US once they have passed north of the Virgin Islands over the weekend.

Dongfeng Race Team, who are second overall, are only 1.2nm off Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing’s lead with Mapfre 1.7nm astern of them.

Team SCA lost ground as they steered from furthest east to west of the pack, while Team Alvimedica also lost a few miles to the rest as they tucked into the centre of the peloton from a leeward position.