CAMPER First to Reach Galway

CAMPER saved their best till last in their debut Volvo Ocean Race campaign, storming to the leg win they so desired in Galway in the early hours of Tuesday.

Chris Nicholson's team finished at 00:42:13 UTC scoring the maximum 30 points to take them to a total of 226 -- almost certainly enough to give them second place overall ahead of PUMA Ocean Racing Powered by BERG.

With just one more scoring opportunity to come, the final in-port race on Saturday, CAMPER just need to cross the finish line to get the point they need to be certain of the runners-up spot behind Groupama sailing team. 

A flotilla of hundreds of spectators made for a warm welcome when the red boat led the procession across the finish line under the cover of darkness, while more than 10,000 fans awaited their arrival on the dock.

"This place is awesome," said Nicholson. "It’s 2.30 in the morning and there’s a massive fleet of spectator boats. How cool?

“I’m more happy for the rest of the team to be honest with you. I look at what everyone does day in day out and I think this is the sailing team’s way of saying thank you."

Nicholson put the team's success, after several near misses, down to tactics and set-up for the final leg.

“We went quite light with our weight on board – we had everything geared up for port tack. There were a couple of tactical calls this afternoon which had a big part to play. We tried not to think about it but we knew the whole race depended on those decisions."

CAMPER along with PUMA, Telefónica and Groupama each held the lead at different stages of the 550 nautical mile race, but having fallen to fourth at the rounding of the iconic Fastnet Rock the team made a decisive move launching their “golden ticket”, their massive A4 spinnaker.

The team climbed through the top order before reclaiming the lead when the fleet faced a critical gybe east that set the course for the Galway finish that allowed them to edge ahead of former leg leader PUMA.

The team fought hard to fend off several challenges and claim their long awaited first leg victory.

"Some of the sail changes we did on the last night were in full-on conditions," said the Australian skipper. "Every team did them but we did them and nailed them.”