Volvo Ocean Race: Who laughs last ...

At the halfway point of the 13th edition of the Volvo Ocean Race, it was down to business for the seven teams in the harbour race off Auckland. Around five months and some 26,000 nautical miles had already been completed by the teams before they met in New Zealand waters for the In-Port Race on Saturday. After the collision at the end of the fourth leg off Hong Kong, in which a Chinese fisherman died, the Vestas 11th Hour Racing team's blue yacht, which had been repaired under great pressure, also returned to the starting line. Only the wind was not ready for the beautiful show, and so there were repeated bizarre scenes during the race.

The good thing about summaries of doldrums races is that they don't seem quite as slow as the live broadcast. It's good to see once again how the later winners missed the start

This began at the start, which was won by Mapfre, while the competition got tangled up in a tangle and was pushed out of the start zone in slow motion by Team Brunel with the right of way. Charles Caudrelier's Dongfeng Race Team as well as Simeon Tienpont's Team AkzoNobel and Dee Caffari's Team Turn the Tide on Plastic had to make a new attempt and were only able to start the race after a long delay, while David Witt's Team Sun Hung Scallywag was initially able to set a good pace.

However, the stumble at the start did not harm Dongfeng and AkzoNobel. On the contrary: when the wind died towards the end of the first cross and the leading boats parked up, the chasing boats on both sides sailed around the drifting competition in a pretty arc and took the lead. AkzoNobel and Vestas 11th Hour Racing rounded the first turning mark just ahead of Dongfeng and Bouwe Bekking's Team Brunel. On the first downwind section of the course, which was shortened to two laps, AkzoNobel and Dongfeng took the lead and did not relinquish it until the finish, but swapped places in the final sprint. "That was a good team win," said a relieved Dongfeng skipper Charles Caudrelier at the finish, "it was extremely complicated, extremely difficult today." Third place was secured by Xabí Fernandez' Mapfre team, who thus defended their lead in the harbour race rankings ahead of Dongfeng and AkzoNobel. Vestas 11th Hour Racing sailed its comeback with skipper Charlie Enright to fourth place ahead of Team Brunel, Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag and Turn the Tide on Plastic.

For all those who want to know exactly what happened: the complete harbour race in replay

Intermediate result in-port race

1. Mapfre (37 points)
2. Donfeng Race Team (34 points)
3. Team AkzoNobel (27 points)
4. Team Brunel (26 points)
5. Vestas 11th Hour Racing (18 points)
6. Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag (15 points)
7. Turn the Tide on Plastic (11 Points)