Yachting: Skipper vows to do better next leg

Chris Nicholson. Photo / Hamish Hooper-CAMPER ETNZ

Camper skipper Chris Nicholson is promising a more consistent showing on the second leg of the Volvo Ocean Race, after expressing disappointment over an early tactical blunder.

Team New Zealand's entry was the second boat to reach Cape Town yesterday after the gruelling 6500-nautical-mile opening leg from Alicante, Spain, finishing more than 16 hours behind Telefonica.

But after a costly error early in the race, the team were perhaps fortunate to salvage a respectable second-place finish and snare the valuable points that come with it.

The Kiwi team led the fleet through the early stages of the race into the Atlantic but initially opted to head towards the African coast, rather than taking the more conventional westerly route.

The weather projections soon confirmed that would be the wrong move and they were forced to cut their losses and head west.

That meant Team New Zealand dropped from first to fourth in one hit and had to play a game of catch-up from there on.

They moved to third when Groupama, who continued down the coastal route, ran out of puff midway through the leg, before advancing to second place when Puma suffered catastrophic damage on day 17.

While happy with the points and the performance of the boat and crew, Nicholson was still far from satisfied.

"We are here in second and that's a good result so we are happy with the points and the position, but we were all expecting to do better," he said.

"We have had 20 days of playing catch-up from an early mistake but we just weren't able to catch up. We were not on the front foot with the leaders and that's where we should be - we need to do better and we will."

Nicholson described the final 24 hours of the gruelling 6500-mile sprint from Alicante to Cape Town as some of the toughest conditions he had seen.

Camper faced winds gusting over 35 knots and mountainous seas that forced the crew to severely reef down and throttle back. But once daylight broke, they were able to build up speed again and cross the finish to take 25 points to add to their four points earned for a third-place finish in the Alicante in-port race.

Telefonica, last in Alicante, now lead the race with 31 points, while Groupama will move to third with 22 should they finish the leg - they are expected to arrive in Cape Town today.

Three boats - Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, Puma and Team Sanya - failed to finish the leg after suffering damage.

The Camper crew will now have several days off to relax and catch up with loved ones while the boat will be pulled out of the water for a full inspection before the Cape Town in-port race on December 10.