Telefonica consolidates lead in sprint to Sharjah

Team Telefonica bounced back from their fifth place finish in the In-Port race to set a scorching pace as the five-strong fleet in the Volvo Ocean Race left behind a memorable stopover in Abu Dhabi yesterday. The Spanish team, overall leaders after two legs, did very well to get into the groove immediately after the start around an intricate 40-minute inshore course and midway through had consolidated their lead as the fleet sailed to the finish of the first stage in Leg 3. The 106 nautical mile Stage 1 race to Sharjah carries 20 per cent of the overall Leg 3 points, with six points up for grabs for first place. After completing the sprint, the fleet will be loaded aboard a secure cargo ship for transit through pirate-infested waters to an undisclosed safe haven port for the start of Stage 2 of Leg 3 to Sanya in China. Mubarak Hamad Al Muhairi, Director General, Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) handed over the race baton to Vice Mayor of Sanya, Huang Shaowen. Sanya is the next destination in the race. Friday's six-point win for Ian Walker's Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing sees the home team in fifth place overall, but now just six points adrift of Ken Read's fourth-placed PUMA Ocean Racing who finished fourth on Friday. Groupama and Camper took the second and third while Telefonica finished fifth in the five-boat In-Port race. However, it was a fine fight-back by Telefonica, whose skipper Iker Martínez said before the start, "Last night, we had our normal team debrief and it wasn't any longer than normal. We've put it behind us." "In this race, there is no time to dwell too long on the bad days and today as ever, we'll be trying to win the race," he said.