Volvo Ocean Race

Franck Cammas’ Groupama sailing team hit a floating object before their mainsheet snapped in a night of drama for all the teams as they summon every last ounce of energy for the final battle to the finish line.

PAUL TODD/Volvo Ocean Race Nick Dana/Abu Dhabi Ocean… Hamish Hooper/CAMPER… Diego Fructuoso/Team…

More than 24 hours of constant tacking up the Vietnamese coast dodging fishing boats and floating debris has taken a major toll on the crews but with just over 300 miles left to sail there’s no time to rest.

With winds fluctuating between 15 and 25 knots the crews have been forced to carry out relentless sail changes in rough seas which, combined with the shifting of sails and equipment with each tack, has left them utterly exhausted.

To make matters worse, at 0700 UTC just 55 nautical miles separated the top five boats, pushing each team to the absolute limit as they sprint for positions and points.

Yann Riou, Groupama’s media crew member, described the “scares” on board the second-placed French boat: “One or two panics, first with an impact with an non-identified floating object last night, which touched the keel first and then the windward rudder… No apparent damage.

“And then, more importantly, the main sail sheet broke. It was fully loaded at that time – i.e. three tonnes. Thankfully we managed to repair it in 10 minutes. We lost some miles but above all it was a big scare.”

Amazingly Groupama's quick fix kept them in touch with leaders Telefónica and at 0700 UTC they trailed the frontrunners by 18nm.

Fifth-placed Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing also narrowly avoided disaster, just managing to duck past an unlit steel pillar buoy.

“We missed it by a metre and for sure it would have made a big mess of our bow,” skipper Ian Walker said. “It doesn’t bear thinking about the damage either of the incidents could have made to our boat. I guess a miss is as big as a mile but these incidents serve to remind us of some of the unknown risks that lie out there.”

Desperate for a leg win, Chris Nicholson’s CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand in third have been pulling out all the stops to reel in Groupama, all the time wary of the advances of fourth-placed PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG and Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing in fifth.

“There are a lot of heavy, red eyes around this morning having barely been shut,” said CAMPER MCM Hamish Hooper. “But that’s just how hard all of the guys are pushing this last stretch of the leg, and how hungry they are to get as far up the leaderboard as possible, there is certainly no lack of desire to win on board CAMPER."

Their progress was slowed however when they picked up a fishing net on their keel overnight.

"Once rid of the net this morning the next sked revealed we had unfortunately lost vital miles on the two boats ahead of us, but still just managing to hold off our trailing boats," Hooper added.

After reconnecting with the fleet after initially punching east into the South China Sea, PUMA Ocean Racing were this morning just 10 miles shy of CAMPER as they punched north in brutal seas.

“Conditions on board are still rough though, and we continue to slam into each successive wave with a shudder like that of you car through a big winter’s pothole; there is absolutely no give,” MCM Amory Ross said. “We’re still in urgent need of sleep, too, but everyone’s resigned to the fact that it’ll have to wait until the hotel.

“Even in the low visibility, Camper occasionally pops into sight off the bow, and we know Abu Dhabi is lurking somewhere close behind our stern, so the strategy from here seems simple: don’t give up too much leverage and play each shift like it’s the last. The racecourse has become small enough that any gain is an important one—regardless of its size—and it promises to be a busy 36 hours of hard work fighting for every length of distance on the competition. Anything can happen.”

Team Sanya closed the gap on the fleet by another 10 nm between 0400 and 0700 UTC to bring them within 150 miles of Telefónica.

Latest predictions put the first arrivals into Sanya at approximately 0700 UTC (1500 local time).