Thousands of fans lined the dock to deliver a raucous late night welcome to Team Sanya, the first sole Chinese entry in the Volvo Ocean Race, as they sailed into their home port on Sunday.
Firecrackers sounded as the exhausted team, including the first Chinese sailor to compete in the race Teng "Tiger" Jiang He, stepped ashore for hugs, kisses and cheers from friends, family and well-wishers at Sanya Serenity Marina.
CAMPER skipper Chris Nicholson could afford to be positive after his team clawed their way back from fifth to third in the latter stages of Leg 3 – but the Australian admitted there is still work to be done if the team is to start converting podium places into victories.
CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand crossed the Sanya finish line at 07:28:24 UTC to take third place and a combined total of 18 points for the leg from Abu Dhabi to Sanya.
The six boat Volvo Ocean Race fleet remained locked in a sweltering hot struggle for supremacy overnight as they continued their relentless progress towards the first turning point of the second stage of Leg 3 off the northern tip of Sumatra.
At 0400 UTC Ken Read’s PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG had maintained their lead at the head of the fleet, 1.7 nautical miles (nm) ahead of Chris Nicholson’s second placed CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand who had been steadily giving up their previous northerly positioning on the leading boat.
For the next 1,000 nautical miles, the Volvo Open 70 fleet will predominantly be on port tack in a drag race that is taking the fleet across the southern tip of Sri Lanka and into the Bay of Bengal towards the waypoint at Pulau We and the entrance of the Malacca Strait, nine miles off the northernmost tip of Sumatra.
They may have been deprived of a visit to Neptune’s court during Leg 1 but there was no escaping the King of the Seas for the four Team Sanya crew members as they raced to the safe haven.
Four of the seven crew on board Sanya were hauled before King Neptune as part of the traditional ceremony to mark the crossing of the Equator.
A small snapshot exit poll conducted at Cape Town International Airport by the Western Cape government has yielded overwhelmingly positive results, says Western Cape Tourism MEC, Alan Winde.
The poll was conducted on January 11 to measure foreign visitors’ perceptions and experiences of the Western Cape. Although only 25 people from 14 countries were interviewed, the Western Cape scored an overall holiday experience rating of 8,5 out of 10.
In the Volvo Ocean Race even the tiniest of advantages can spell success on the race course – and having a chance to work on their boats in port gave Abu Dhabi and PUMA the edge they needed for glory the in Leg 3 Stage 1 sprint, according to their skippers.
On the eve of the Etihad Airways In-Port Race the Volvo Ocean Race skippers share their thoughts on the upcoming challenges.
Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing skipper Ian Walker:
Abu Dhabi’s Nick Dana, Yann Riou of Groupama and CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand’s Hamish Hooper have been short-listed for the prestigious Inmarsat Media Crew Member Award for Leg 2 of the Volvo Ocean Race.
"They are literally our eyes and ears on the ocean and all do a fantastic job” - Jon Bramley, Volvo Ocean Race Communications Director
The winner of the prize will be revealed later tonight at the overall prize-giving ceremony in the Race Village in Abu Dhabi.
After triumphing over their latest setback, Team Sanya are set to rejoin the Volvo Ocean Race on Saturday in what skipper Mike Sanderson says will be a “great day” for the team.
Having carried out tests on their new rig, damaged while they were leading the fleet on day nine of Leg 2, the Sanya crew are set to leave Madagascar at first light and race to the safe haven port in the Indian Ocean to complete the first stage of the leg.
