Team Telefonica secured overall victory in Leg 2 with a strong second place but there was joy too for Groupama sailing team yesterday as they notched their first win of the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12, snatching top spot ahead of their rivals in the dying moments of the sprint into Abu Dhabi.
French challengers Groupama closed the gap with Telefonica to two lengths within 20 nautical miles of the finish during the fast-paced 98nm drag race from the Sharjah coastline, before clinching the lead with slick manoeuvres at the final mark rounding.
Despite racing with a cracked hull, which the crew attempted to fix before racing resumed, Franck Cammas’s men surged to victory in a 20-knot northwest breeze and big swell, finishing just 52 seconds ahead of Telefonica.
“We were very fast today,’’ Cammas said.
“This morning we were a little worried about the repair. Now, I think we were so fast we will leave it.”
Groupama scored six points to add to the 12 they scored for finishing fourth in Stage 1 of the leg that was split in two stages because of the increasing threat of pirates.
The French team remain third on the overall leaderboard with 42 points and Telefonica hold pole position with 66 points.
Telefonica’s skipper Iker Martinez remained buoyant despite defeat and commended Groupama for their hard-fought victory.
“We can’t be disappointed, we still have an advantage overall,’’ he said.
“We sailed well, Groupama sailed very well and at the end they sailed better than us.
“All we can say is congratulations to Groupama... we are happy for them.”
Camper finished in third place to pick up four points, followed by Puma Ocean Racing who scored three points.
Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing nabbed two points for finishing fifth at their home port – the race’s first Middle Eastern stopover.
Camper are third overall on 58 points. Skipper Chris Nicholson said his team were unsatisfied by their result, before describing Stage 2 as the “longest short race I’ve ever done.’’
“It was a disappointing result,’’ he said.
“In this race we don’t really feel like we’ve hit our straps yet. Courses like today’s don’t really seem to suit us but we know we have strengths in other areas and we know we’ll come good when we get those conditions.”