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“Telefónica” sets off on Sunday for China to complete the second and final stage of the third leg of the Volvo Ocean Race

As they wait for the heavy ship transferring the Volvo Ocean Race fleet from the Emirate of Sharjah to the safe haven port, the “Telefónica” crew have made their way there from Abu Dhabi and arrived this morning. They will finally resume racing on Sunday at 08:00 UTC, to undertake the second and final stage of the third leg of this round the world regatta.

It will be made up of some 3,000 nautical miles across the Indian Ocean, passing through the Gulf of Bengala and the Strait of Malacca, Singapore to then climb the coast of Vietnam towards China and the city of Sanya. 80% of the total points for the leg are in play, which means 24 points for the winners, 20 for second place, 16 for third...etc.

Start: 08:00 UTC Sunday

The cargo ship that left Sharjah with “Telefónica” and the other four Volvo Open 70s on board will reach her destination early tomorrow morning; the safe haven port in the Indian Ocean. Once there, it will be time to carry out exactly the same process as on the 27^th of December, but the other way around, with the crew and two members of the shore crew unloading ESP-1 off the ship.

On Sunday morning at 08:00UTC (13:00 local time) the entire fleet (with Team Sanya also joining them, having completed Leg 2) will begin the second stage of the third leg. Since this is the start of a stage of the leg and not the leg itself there will be no live TV coverage.

Iker Martínez: “The real leg starts here for us: 80% of the points and more importantly, a lot of miles until we get to China.”

With this stage of the leg just around the corner, Iker Martínez is relieved: “Finally we can get all of this out of the way. We've got ourselves a master's in improvising, and loading and unloading yachts onto ships but now we can focus on getting back to sailing on the 22nd and being back on the boat together to fight for the race, which is why we are all here: to sail and to race against the others.”

The “Telefónica” skipper admits that the hardest thing over the past few months “was without doubt dealing with the changes in schedule. It's very hard to focus on the race when you're being sent here and there...planes, cargo ships, and risky situations for the yachts themselves.”

Now it's time to put all of this behind them and to focus on the matter in hand: the important part of the leg. There are more than 3,000 miles ahead with light breeze to deal with as well as showery and unstable areas that will require multiple sail changes. There will be zones of intense shipping traffic such as the area around Singapore and the Strait of Malacca, a funnel where it's very likely that the fleet will find themselves tightly bunched together. They may come across fishermen's nets that may become entangled with the yachts, slowing them down, and above all there's going to be a lot of upwind slog.

With weather predictions cast, the question about which design from this edition will perform the best is being asked. Xabi Fernández won't go as far as to say who'll win, “but I will tell you in China, as it'll be a bit easier then!,” he jokes. On a more serious note he says: “I really hope, and bearing in mind what we've seen up to now that we can be competitive at the highest standard. I'm sure that 'Puma' and 'Groupama', which are both very similar entries, will do very well and I think that 'Camper' will also do just as well with upwind conditions and little breeze. 'Abu Dhabi' also won the In-Port in Alicante with light breeze... I think that all five of us are going to be very, very even out there.”

PROVISIONAL OVERALL STANDINGS. Volvo Ocean Race 2011-2012.

1. Team Telefónica (Iker Martínez), 71 points

2. Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand (Chris Nicholson), 64
 points

3. Groupama Sailing Team (Franck Cammas), 51
points

4. Puma powered by BERG (Ken Read), 36
points

5. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ian Walker), 31 points

6. Team Sanya (Mike Sanderson), 11 points