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Seven months and 45,000 miles later and the Volvo Ocean Race has made its return to Europe and has done so with a new leader. “Telefónica” has given away the lead, which the team had been holding onto since November, although the top spot is only three points away. We take an in-depth look at the seventh leg and look ahead to the two legs and three in-shores coming up with Iker Martínez-

“I think we are all at a very similar level and I think we've all got a chance”. Those were the skipper's words just before setting off from Miami, and Lisbon proved that he was right. How did he and his crew take on this seventh leg?

Before we began racing on this leg we were well aware that things could just as easily go well as they could badly. We set off in an exceptionally good fashion and that was followed by a period of time when things didn't go as well as we'd have liked them to...

As we set off from Miami we were where we thought we'd be: at the top, or near enough that we'd still have a chance of getting to the last leg and still being in the running, and that was our aim and that was our objective from day one.

You had an unexpected visitor on this leg: a certain 'hurricane Alberto'... What were conditions like on board?

It wasn't the sort of hurricane you see on TV or the kind that people usually think of. We had some very strong winds, but nothing too strong. The situation was that we wanted to make the most of the low pressure to get the most out of a change in wind direction and to sail a faster route, but then the low pressure shifted to the east very quickly and instead of getting anything out of it we were trapped by it. It was like hitting a wall, which we all came up against and we we forced to sail some slow courses for these boats. We ended up in a weather situation wasn't ideal and which no one likes very much.

What was the real situation once you were out of there?

We came out of it well: the boat hadn't suffered much and everyone was in good shape. We began a more downwind course and we maintained a pretty serious battle with “Groupama” to try to get back in the lead of the leg. In fact it went pretty well for us because by day four we were back leading the leg with “Puma” fairly nearby, “Abu Dhabi” about 20 miles away and the rest of the fleet a bit further back. The leg was reaching almost the halfway point and everything looked good...

Then, halfway through the leg, something happened that you guys weren't very happy about... A sudden shift in the direction of the breeze put you in a delicate position. How did this affect you?

The route that we'd all chosen and which had looked like the ideal route proved not to be. There was soon only very light air and the weather was changing rapidly, with the boats behind us able to choose a different routing when we couldn't, because we didn't have their breeze. When we were finally able to change route they had already pushed past us.

Is this a common occurrence in a regatta like this?

This is a one in a hundred or a one in a thousand occurrence. Cyclists always ride on the coat-tails of each other because it's better to stay behind. In a regatta it is almost always better to be up at the front and that's why we fight so hard right from the first minute. However, on this occasion the boats behind had an advantage and they made the most of it and managed to make their way around us with more breeze, more speed and to get ahead. But there was still a lot of leg to go and we still knew that we could try to get ahead.

As you approached the final 200 miles to Lisbon you had to make your way across a light patch. From on board the yacht Xabi Fernández said that this would be a crucial moment in terms of the final leg result...

The final part of the leg was key. We'd passed the Azores and we had to get across the light patch and position ourselves in a good place. All of the boats at that point had an option at taking the leg and it was a question of seeing who would be able to negotiate the light patch best. We were the boat furthest south. We had to sail some slower and more luffed courses beforehand, which can sometimes take it out of you, but we though that it was important to be in that zone and we made our way across where we wanted to. After the case, we saw that we'd made a slower exit. We pushed back up to speed and we thought that we'd be able to make a fight for the leg and then we found ourselves hitting another light patch, becalmed for two hours. That really held us up against the boats to the north who didn't get a second calm after they exited the first and were able to get more and more breeze and to push a distance away.

We have heard that until almost the finish you had no idea who was leading...

On all of these legs when we're at 100 miles from the finish we usually get reports in every hour. We didn't get those this time and just had the three-hourly data. As we were arriving at the finish we didn't know what position we were in, or if “Camper” was behind or in front of us, or even “Puma”.  Just before Lisbon we took a slightly longer route, but thinking that we'd avoid a light patch near the city and it worked quite well for us. When we were almost at the mouth of the river Tajo we saw a boat ahead that had very little breeze but we couldn't make out which boat it was. We began changing sails and manoeuvring and we were soon parallel. That was when we realised it was “Camper” and we presumed that “Puma” would be ahead.

Is that where the fight for fourth place began?

Yes, it was during the final three or four hours that our fight to gain another place began. Then we saw that “Puma” was two miles or so ahead, so it was even feasible for us to try to cut down the gap and catch up with them, although they had more breeze and managed to enter the river without a hitch whilst the light patch and the counter-currents caught up with us. That's when we realised that all we could do was to fight off “Camper” to try to make fourth and to minimise any loss of points with “Groupama”.

What was it like to cross the finishing line?

We were happy because we'd made fourth and that translated into five very important points. Personally I was happy because everybody had put everything they had into the fight to try to make it a good leg and in the end we had managed to push up an extra position at the last minute when anything could have happened. However, there was also not such a good feeling aboard the boat as we'd come in fourth, which meant that “Groupama” would move into the lead by three points. Of course, losing the lead isn't a good thing, but what we all really want is to be ahead at the end of this regatta. This can still turn around and we can get back up there. We need to give all we've got to get ahead when we reach Galway.

How is “Telefónica” taking on the final two legs with the new overall standings looking like they do, with a margin of just 12 points between the top three entries?

I think that any of the top four entries right now could become the regatta winner. It's going to be a much closer battle now and the legs will be shorter, so boat on boat battles will be inevitable. We need to keep pushing as hard as we can and the end of a regatta is always important. We've always been good at finishing off competitions. We have to make the most of everything we get and push forward. Nobody can say what will happen and we have to fight to get there.