SAILING. VOR2012, Leg 6 Day 18 – American skipper Ken Read led his PUMA team to a second consecutive leg win on Wednesday, arriving on home soil in Miami triumphant following an epic 17-day match race with closest rivals CAMPER to confirm they are back in contention for overall victory.

PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG, skippered by Ken Read from the USA, take first place, on leg 6 from Itajai, Brazil, to Miami, USA, during the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12. (Photo credit © IAN ROMAN/Volvo Ocean Race)

Since the heartbreak of the first leg, in which their yacht Mar Mostro dismasted, PUMA have been on the up – and after scoring their first offshore success in Leg 5 from Auckland to Itajaí, Brazil, they made it two in two with glory in Leg 6.

After coming off best in an intense battle for first place with CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand, who at one point closed the gap to less than a mile, Read said his team were back in the fight for the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12 trophy.

"That was about as stressful as it can get, believe me," Read said. "It was touch and go, and the guys on CAMPER sailed very well, but I couldn't be more proud of our team -- they did an unbelievably great job."

PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG crossed the finish line at 18:14:00 UTC, 17 days after leaving from Itajaí, Brazil, with CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand around an hour behind PUMA and on course to take second.

PUMA dominated the 4,800 nautical mile leg from the start, only surrendering the lead on two occasion to CAMPER and for no more than 48 hours.

A fast start to the leg in fresh conditions saw PUMA lead out of Itajaí and into several days of fast sailing up the Brazilian coast.

As winds eased the fleet split into three groups, with CAMPER and Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing closest to the shore enjoying two days at the head of the pack, while Team Telefónica and Groupama sailing team opted to head east in search of better breeze. PUMA split the difference and it paid as they got a jump on their rivals that would lay the foundations for their eventual win.

CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand, skippered by Chris Nicholson from Australia, towards the finish line on leg 6 from Itajai, Brazil, to Miami, USA, during the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12. (Photo credit © IAN ROMAN/Volvo Ocean Race)

With the south-east trade winds providing near-perfect conditions for the Volvo Open 70s, a drag race began up to the Equator and through the Doldrums, which presented little problem for the fleet. But 10 days into racing, PUMA were nearly undone by storm clouds which stalled the leaders, allowing CAMPER and Telefónica to reel them in to just six miles.

Into the Caribbean Sea they enjoyed fast sailing once more until they hit tricky weather systems that once again saw the leading boats compress. Despite coming under fire from CAMPER right up until the very last minute, faultless sailing saw PUMA defend their lead to claim the win.

It’s the fourth time in six legs that PUMA have finished on the podium, and they pick up an invaluable 30 points for the leg win to take their overall tally to 147.

CAMPER will be awarded 25 points for second place, their best result in the offshore series since Leg 2 from Cape Town to Abu Dhabi when they finished second behind Team Telefónica.

CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand, skippered by Chris Nicholson from Australia, speed towards the finish line, on leg 6 from Itajai, Brazil, to Miami, USA, during the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12. (Photo credit © IAN ROMAN/Volvo Ocean Race)

"It's been a long leg and PUMA have sailed very nicely, they have defended very well, but I think we have attacked well too," CAMPER skipper Chris Nicholson said as his team closed in on the finish line. "I'm pretty happy with how it's gone. We're in better shape now for the next leg."

Both teams will close the gap on overall leaders Telefónica, who were still scrapping it out for the final podium position with Groupama sailing team.

The current ETA for the arrival of Groupama and Telefónica is 0300 UTC, with fifth-placed Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing expected to arrive at 0800 UTC.

Volvo Ocean Race
www.volvooceanrace.com
May 9, 2012 - 1830 UTC

ABU DHABI CLOSE OUT FIFTH IN MIAMI AFTER SUFFERING FOR SPEED ON LEG 6

Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing this morning closed out fifth place on Leg 6 from Itajaí, Brazil to the USA, arriving under a moonlit sky just before dawn in Miami, Florida.

Abu Dhabi crossed the Leg 6 finish line at 08:57:37 UTC on Thursday after 17 days, 15 hours and 57 minutes and 37 seconds of racing.

Skipper Ian Walker said a general lack of speed had led to the fifth place result, seven hours and 51 minutes behind fourth placed Team Telefónica.

Yesterday afternoon, American skipper Ken Read brought PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG into Miami in first place -- their second consecutive leg win of the race -- ahead of second placed CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand, skippered by Chris Nicholson.

Franck Cammas’ Groupama sailing team took third, after edging overall race leaders Team Telefónica, skippered by Iker Martínez, into fourth.

Walker said the Abu Dhabi crew were disappointed to be last into Miami after previously losing out to Groupama sailing team in a nip and tuck battle for fourth on the approach to the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Walker admitted that a lack of raw boat speed had made it difficult for Abu Dhabi to be competitive, but said the whole crew had never let their heads drop at any point during the leg.

“This is not what any one of us is here for, but we know how tough this fleet is and we just don’t seem to have the legs at the moment to hang with the other boats and that’s making life very difficult for us,’’ Walker said.

“I’m proud of the guys, how everyone has dug in and kept fighting till the end and after 16, 17 days sailing we’re just a handful of hours behind Telefónica and Groupama.”

Walker said being unable to keep up with the other boats had put continual pressure on navigator Jules Salter and himself to find ways to get the team back in contention.

“It’s just been a tale of bleeding miles,’’ he said. “The fleet spent a lot of time in similar wind, sailing the trade winds, sailing a very similar strategy and for whatever reason we weren’t sailing as fast as the other boats.

“Day in, day out, those miles add up. It puts a lot of pressure on Jules and myself to try and pull a rabbit out of a hat and find something extra and make up for that.

“It puts a lot of pressure on us just to stay in touch with everyone let alone to try and make any gains.”

Walker said the need for speed had forced the crew to take two risks: packing a minimal amount of food in a bid to save weight -- which resulted in some very hungry crewmen; and making some ‘roll-the-dice’ moves in the Caribbean.

“As the leg went on we took more and more risk to try and get a bit of leverage to try and get back to Groupama,” Walker said. “That didn’t work out for us in the end.

“The only other option was to just follow in their wake and just lose more miles, so that makes it a very difficult place for us.

“I think anybody following the race would see we have a speed issue and it’s an issue that we see pretty much on all points of sail, some more than others. It’s not to say we didn’t make any mistakes, but I’m sure all the boats out there made mistakes at some point during the leg."

Abu Dhabi score 10 points for fifth place, taking their overall tally to 68.

The Leg 6 results have thrown the leaderboard wide open and left the top four teams within 17 points of leaders Team Telefónica.

With three more offshore legs and four more in-port races to be sailed before the race finishes in Galway in Ireland this July, the top four all still have a credible chance of lifting the overall trophy.

Volvo Ocean Race
www.volvooceanrace.com
May 10, 2012 - 1030 UTC