Telefonica followed
up their leg-one win in the Volvo Ocean Race with a
commanding victory in Saturday’s in-port race, with Spanish
skipper Iker Martinez and Australian navigator Andrew Cape again
getting everything right.
Two weeks after cruising to the opening-stage win, Olympic
gold medallist Martinez was back in the winner’s paddock after
securing victory in near-perfect sailing conditions in the
shadow of Table Mountain.
Once again, Camper led by Australian skipper Chris
Nicholson, were forced to follow home in Martinez’s wake with
U.S.-led Puma third.
The turning point came midway through the race when Cape,
who put in a near-faultless leg-one performance picking a route
through hazardous conditions from Alicante to Cape Town,
correctly gauged changing wind directions with the ideal sail
combinations.
Telefonica now lead the overall standings on 37 points,
three clear of Camper (Spain/New Zealand), with France’s
Groupama 10 further adrift on 24 following a disappointing fifth
spot on Saturday.
The second leg of the ocean race, from Cape Town to Abu
Dhabi, begins on Sunday. In all, the race covers 39,000 nautical
miles (72,000 kms) and visits 10 countries. It is due to finish
in July in Galway, Ireland.
Three boats failed to finish the first leg but were back on
the start line on Saturday.
A storm overnight in the Mediterranean on day one left Abu
Dhabi without a mast and Sanya with a broken hull after hitting
debris. Two weeks later, Puma, led by U.S. skipper Ken Read,
also lost her mast following a rigging failure.
She was shipped to Cape Town at the beginning of the week to
have a new mast put in place, having spent several days awaiting
rescue from Tristan da Cunha.
“I told a fib beforehand,” Read told reporters. “I said we
would settle just to get round this course in one piece but as
you could see that wasn’t the truth. We were going out there to
win but we’ll take that podium place. It was a good return.”
((clare.fallon@thomsonreuters.com; +44 20 7542 7933; Reuters
Messaging: clare.fallon.reuters.com@reuters.net)
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