"We've been pushing ourselves and the boat to the very limit in an effort to pull in the boats out front.
"We just can't wait to cross the line, get ashore and have some cold beers, burgers and a hot shower - it's going to be great.
"After a good night's sleep, we've then got plenty of things to review, debrief on and see where we could do better but that's for tomorrow."
Thousands of people lined the dock and packed the race village to welcome Telefonica into Sanya, the first stopover in the Chinese port in the race's 38-year history.
Telefonica had their challenges in the leg, especially as they damaged their headsail hours after starting the leg and were in last, but read the conditions well and relied on good boat speed. They took a more northerly course on the drag race east across the Bay of Bengal to snatch the led and then held off Groupama, who at one point were within one mile of the leaders, to win.
"That was a toughie," navigator Andrew Cape said. "I certainly won't get used to it to winning, it won't last forever. We're taking it one leg at a time. It's a good win, we're very happy.
"Right from the top of Sumatra, it's been really difficult. There were so many hazards and you can't take your eye off the ball for one second because that's when bad things happen.
"It was a very taxing leg, a lot harder than I expected. Everyone is ecstatic. We're all happy to be here and very relieved."