Azzam hot on Dongfeng’s heels as Sanya draws closer in Volvo Ocean Race

Dongfeng Race Team's hopes of becoming the first Chinese entry to win a leg in the Volvo Ocean Race were hanging by a thread Sunday.

The team have been leading through most of the 4,760-nautical mile third leg, from Abu Dhabi to their home port of Sanya, in the nine-month round-the-world race that is generally considered the sport’s toughest offshore challenge.

“This has been the most physically demanding part of the leg, I’m a bit stressed,” Dongfeng skipper Charles Caudrelier, 40, said in a message from the boat.

Over the past 24 hours, the crew have seen an advantage, which at one stage was more than 100nm, whittled away to just 9.6nm by the 9.40am UTC (1.40pm UAE) progress report as the boats sailed away from the Vietnam coast in the South China Sea.

Leading the pursuit were Leg 1 winners Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing with three other boats – Team Alvimedica, Mapfre and second stage victors Team Brunel – no more than 16nm further adrift.

Matt Knighton, the Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing onboard reporter, described the team's tactical mentality off the coast of Vietnam in his team blog:

“The amount of fishing activity last night off the coast of Vietnam made it feel as if we were surrounded by a bright white halo on the horizon.

“Even before the start of this leg we had the heard horror stories of sailing along the Vietnamese shore. A combination of tacks thrown in every 30 minutes with unlit obstacles, shallow shoals, and fishing fleets made it a less than ideal for a yacht race.

“A shift in the wind and we all of a sudden were headed – stuck in a bay where the wind was dying and with Alvimedica closing to 4nm away we knew we needed to get offshore fast. Running between trips to the nav station and the helm Ian insisted that even if we had to sail through the fishing fleet and sail further we’d manage better outside the other teams.

“The bright lights of squid boats passed within a boat length as we did 11 kts speeding past them. Fishermen were lighting up our sails with their searchlights to see what the massive silhouette was that was sailing through their backyard.

“13 tacks later dawn is breaking and as it is the amount of clarity on the water is refreshing. Our tactical gamble offshore paid off: we’re upwind of the others and laying down the miles towards Sanya.”

In the back, the all-women’s crew of Team SCA were 41.1nm behind the main pack but catching the pack fast in stronger winds.

The leaders have just under 350nm still to sail to Sanya in Hainan Island, on the southernmost point of China.

They are expected to end the latest stage, which started in Abu Dhabi on January 3 and has taken them through the Arabian Gulf, the Bay of Bengal, the Malacca Strait and the South China Sea, late on Monday night.

Victory for Dongfeng would not only break China’s duck in the 41-year-old event, which started life as the Whitbread Round the World Race, but put the team top of the overall standings after three of nine legs.

Three Chinese teams have entered the race, which is held every three years, including Dongfeng in the current 12th edition.

Azzam hot on Dongfeng’s heels as Sanya draws closer in Volvo Ocean Race

By afternoon on Sunday, Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing had closed within 10 nautical miles of leaders Dongfeng Race Team in the third leg, after Dongfeng led by over 100nm at one point.