Contrasting strategies by Team Sanya and the French boat Groupama have put them in the lead of the Volvo Ocean Race as the fleet works its way towards Abu Dhabi.
With Groupama having already broken away on a southerly track, Sanya Lan also left the fold yesterday, heading north towards Madagascar and an emerging tropical storm system.
The other teams - Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, Puma Ocean Racing, Camper/Emirates Team New Zealand and Team Telefonica - were bunched in the middle, making faltering progress in search of the Indian Ocean trade winds.
Team Sanya's position put them closer to the virtual waypoint used in the distance-to-finish calculation. Having also made progress to the north, Groupama leapt up to second place.
Team Sanya passed close to Azzam, the Abu Dhabi boat, heading in virtually the opposite directions.
"I'm sure there are some puzzled people on that boat," the Sanya Lan skipper Mike Sanderson said. The Abu Dhabi navigator Jules Salter said Team Sanya's move towards the tropical storm was risky but with significant potential upside. "If it comes off right they'll probably end up two or three hundred miles ahead," he said.
* Agency