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Estimates put the Spanish team across the finishing line during the early hours of the morning

The 24 hours of racing mark on this final leg of the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-2012 has been hit and Spain's "Telefónica" is sticking with the fleet frontrunners in a veritable greyhound dash whose podium formation will only be decided at the finishing line in Galway (Ireland). At 14:00 UTC the crew headed up by Iker Martínez was just 0.7 miles from provisional leader American entry "Puma".

The Spanish team has been making their objective and their potential clear since the starting horn sounded yesterday at 11:02 UTC. "It's the last leg and we want to give all we've got and show what we're made of", explained Diego Fructuoso from on board.

During the first few miles of racing, with the fleet passing the isle of Belle-Île en Mer and an exclusion zone set out by the organisers, "Telefónica" moved into the top spot in the fleet. There also wasn't a bigger gap than four nautical miles between the top four entries. That meant that the position chart danced around during an exhausting night where sleep wasn't an option. "Night came and the wind picked up and the sun went down. Conditions were a lot tougher although during the course of today the breeze is likely to drop. All of the yachts are very close together and I hope it goes well for us" said the team's MCM from Cartagena, Spain.

At 14:00 UTC "Telefónica" got into an arm wrestle with "Puma" who moved into the provisional lead with just 150 miles to go to the finishing line. Not even a nautical mile lies between the Americans and the Spaniards with Iker Martínez and his guys getting a good performance out of their boat, sailing at 12 knot speeds. Third place is currently in the hands of "Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand" who are 1.3 miles from Ken Read and his guys. The ninth leg is proving to be a ferocious North Atlantic battle.    

Prepared for the finish

"Telefónica" were set to pass Fastnet Rock this morning, a key point on the course where strong winds and big swell test the fleet. The podium for the leg may even depend on how each of the crews deal with this.

If calculations are correct and with under 150 miles to Galway (Ireland), everything points at "Telefónica" crossing the finishing line of the ninth leg of the Volvo Ocean Race in the early hours of the morning of Tuesday 3rd July.  

With the finish at Galway imminent, on board the boat the Spanish team know that "we have to sail and do what we know how to do as best we can. We have a good boat, a great crew and let's see if we get some luck and everything goes well and we can win the leg. The sense on board right now is of concentration. We know it's a very short leg and there's not much time for anything, just to sail as well as possible. We're concentrated, sailing as fast as we can and doing all we can to get to Galway in the best possible position.  All we need to do is give every last drop for the time left until we reach Galway. From now until Monday night or the early hours of Tuesday morning at full speed", concluded Diego Fructuoso.

PROVISIONAL RANKINGS LEG 9

LORIENT (FRANCE) - GALWAY (IRELAND): 550 miles

Day 2 – 14:00 UTC - 2nd July 2012

1. Puma Ocean Racing by Berg (Ken Read), 113.3 miles to finish

2. Team Telefónica (Iker Martínez), +0.7 miles

3. Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand (Chris Nicholson), +1.3 miles

4. Groupama sailing team (Franck Cammas), +1.5 miles

5. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ian Walker), +11.3 miles

6. Team Sanya (Mike Sanderson), +11.6 miles