Volvo Race: CAMPER storms towards Sanya

Tension is building in the Volvo Ocean Race fleet as it thrashes its way towards Sanya, China, and the end of the third leg of the round-the-world race.
 
With less than 400 nautical miles to the finish (best estimates are that the boats will start to arrive about midnight Saturday New Zealand time) the fleet is sailing upwind off the coast of Vietnam.
Crews have not had much sleep. Yachts were close in-shore to minimise the effect of a strong current, CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand navigator Will Oxley put it, “the boats to dodge, rocks, reefs and a lot of other stuff throughout the night.”
 
CAMPER tacked nine times during the night and every tack meant everyone – off-watch crew included - is on deck. Oxley  says it takes about 15 minutes to prepare to tack and then the boat has to be “restacked” – sails etc moved to the windward side leaving little time for rest.
 
After nearly 12 days at sea since Leg 3 restarted at the Maldives the fleet is still remarkably close following the big gains and losses in the narrow Malacca Strait only a few days ago.
 
At the most recent position report, Telefonica has 353.5 miles to run to Sanya, Groupama  363.8 and CAMPER 384.3. (Because the yachts are beating into the wind, distances may be a little distorted).

Puma, which tried to sail around the fleet by going east after rounding Singapore, is about five miles behind CAMPER, a victim of the breeze in the east being lighter than predicted and a shift that did not materialise.

- CAMPER Media