Win sees battered Groupama close in on leaders Telefonica

The crew of French yacht Groupama began urgent repairs to their battered boat yesterday, buoyed by moving into second place overall in the Volvo Ocean Race with their dramatic win in the Auckland leg.

Skippered by Franck Cammas, Groupama shattered the perfect record over the first three legs of pace-setters Telefonica by clinching victory on the tough fourth leg across the South China Sea and Pacific Ocean from China to Auckland.

But the win came at a price as waves up to eight metres high in the Pacific smashed a hole in Groupama’s bow which was discovered as the boat neared the finish late Saturday.

Groupama have begun making permanent repairs to have the boat ready before racing resumes next Saturday.

The US yacht Puma crossed the line in second place after winning their dogfight with Telefonica with less than an hour to spare.

The result saw Groupama overtake the Spain-New Zealand entry Camper in the standings and cut Telefonica’s advantage to just 18 points.

Spanish entry Telefonica pipped Camper into third by 90 seconds, a paper-thin advantage after more than 20 days of sailing. Abu Dhabi took fifth ahead of China’s Team Sanya.

Competitive action resumes with the Auckland in-port race and the following day the fleet departs for the fifth leg to Itajai in Brazil.

The yachts are due to arrive in the South American port on April 4 after covering a distance of 6,500 nautical miles around Cape Horn and into the Southern Ocean.

The nine-month, 39,000-nautical mile race visits 10 ports, four oceans and five continents before reaching its climax in Galway, Ireland in early July.

Overall standings
1. Telefonica (Spain) 121 pts; 2. Groupama (France) 103; 3. Camper (Spain/New Zealand) 98; 4. Puma (USA) 78; 5. Abu Dhabi (UAE) 53; 6. Team Sanya (China) 22.