Puma Ocean Racing held a lead of more than two nautical miles in the Volvo Ocean Race yesterday, but Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand, in second place, were confident they could still cash in on their more northerly position.
The only question was when to make their move. "We're only talking small changes, but there's quite a battle being waged here to hold on to the lead," said Chris Nicholson, the Camper skipper.
"It's just a neck and neck race to the east at the moment. We have some leverage. It's just a tricky situation for us when to use it."
The six teams, separated by about 20 miles, worked hard to squeeze out tiny advantages. Still, the 3,051 mile leg to Sanya, China is likely to see far greater changes when the fleet gets into the Malacca Strait and beyond.
"There's going to be enormous gains and losses, but this is where the game's at at the moment," Nicholson said.
Apart from Puma, the main concern for Nicholson will be the sight of Team Telefonica making the biggest gains as they recover from the sail damage they suffered on Sunday. Telefonica, who lead the overall standings by seven points from Camper, were 16.3 miles behind the leaders but pushing hard for the most northerly position.
Iker Martínez, the skipper, said his team were looking for long-term gains rather than a short-term advantage. "We know that the lost miles to the finish will be important but we're hoping that it will be better for us when we arrive at the Malacca Strait within the next two days," he said.
