Telefónica extend lead in Malacca minefield

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28 Jan 2012

Telefónica extend lead in Malacca minefield

Nick Dana/Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing

Team Telefónica have extended their lead as a “minefield” of clouds have forced the fleet to span across 90 nautical miles in the treacherous Strait of Malacca overnight.

At the halfway point of Leg 3 Stage 2 the Spanish team have staged a comeback similar to that in Leg 2 to solidify their lead, jumping from a measly 0.1 nm lead over their closest rival to almost five nm in 24 hours.

Under the cover of darkness PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG manoeuvred into second place, edging CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand into third place, more than10 nm in their wake.

Groupama sailing team are more than 20 nm behind Telefónica in fourth position, Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing are double the distance, trailing by just over 40 nm in fifth position and Team Sanya have lost major ground in sixth place, more than 90 nm behind.

Average speeds have ground to around eight knots in the fickle easterly wind that is barely mustering 10 knots against strong tidal forces.