The familiar home waters of Waitema Harbour did not let Camper boss Chris Nicholson and his colleagues down. They took every turn in their stride and never crossed the current. As a result, the New Zealand team, which has so far fallen short of expectations, claimed its first victory in this edition of the Volvo Ocean Race, which it intends to follow up. Preferably on the queen's stage to Itajaí in Brazil, which leads over 6,700 miles and around the dreaded Cape Horn and starts on Sunday at 14:00 local time (02:00 CET).
Second place went to Puma, who had led at the start but had to pay tribute to the Kiwis' knowledge of the terrain, followed by Groupama, who were also among the front runners at the start, and then the surprisingly strong Sanya, who were able to leave the struggling Abu Dhabi team and the somewhat sluggish Spaniards from Telefonica behind.
"Now we've flipped the switch," commented Nicholson on the victory, thanking the thousands of New Zealand fans who line the shore on such occasions to cheer on their heroes. While Telefonica skipper Iker Martinez spoke of "a bad race for us", Puma's skipper Ken Read and his colleague Franck Cammas from Groupama were quite satisfied. "It was fun," said Read, and Cammas thought third place was "not bad at all".
In-Port Race Auckland Replay
Tomorrow, however, is the end of the fun, as the wild Southern Ocean awaits with wave crests up to 20 metres high and a wind forecast of up to 60 knots. There is also the danger of encountering icebergs far to the south, which is why the teams are issued with night-vision goggles.
There is internal strife at Abu Dhabi after helmsman Justin Ferris voluntarily resigned in Auckland, allegedly due to continued lack of success. He is replaced by Australian Finn sailor Anthony Nossiter. On Puma, Kelvin Harrap has to miss out due to tendinitis. He will be replaced by the Finnish 49er Olympic champion from 2000, Thomas Johanson. And on Sanya, Ryan Houston, who is suffering from kidney inflammation, will be replaced by Martin Kirketerp from Denmark. He is the reigning 49er Olympic champion.
In-Port Race Auckland
- Camper, 6 points
- Puma, 5
- Groupama, 4
- Sanya, 3
- Abu Dhabi, 2
- Telefonica,1
Overall ranking
- Telefonica, 122 points
- Groupama, 107
- Camper, 104
- Puma, 83
- Abu Dhabi, 55
- Sanya, 25
More on the Event page and about the Live stream and the YouTube channel.
Current positions and distances in the Tracker.
