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.