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| Photo: Diego Fructuoso |
Telefónica were back challenging for the lead in the closing stages of Leg 8 after replacing a broken rudder in storm conditions within 500 miles of the finish.
Iker Martínez’s team had a slim lead over their rivals when one of their rudders broke, forcing them to slow the boat to less than five knots for around an hour.
Despite slipping to third place behind Groupama sailing team and PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG, Telefónica were back up to speed this afternoon and in the hunt for a fourth leg win.
Earlier in the day Telefónica set a new 24-hour distance record for their run of 564 nautical miles, only for CAMPER to go back ahead of them with a distance just fractionally greater later in the day.
An official statement from Telefónica read: “Despite beating the speed record for this edition of the Volvo Ocean Race for the fourth time this afternoon, notching up a 24-hour run of 564 nautical miles, Telefónica was forced to slow down considerably during approximately an hour due to a broken rudder.
“Working mid-storm with wind speeds topping 25 knots, the Spanish boat's crew worked to fix the situation by using the spare rudder.
“Although the boat's power took a 90 per cent dive, from aboard Telefónica there have been assurances that they will be aiming for the maximum possible speeds as they head for Lorient, aiming not to drop back on the way to the finish.”
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