#VOR - Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag retain the lead in Leg 4 of the Volvo Ocean Race despite a dramatic man overboard scenario on Sunday (14 January).

Crew member Alex Gough was washed overboard by a wave during a sail change, near midday local time on Sunday afternoon, in winds of 15-20 knots.

The team swung into recovery mode, and Gough was back on board within seven minutes, unharmed. Scallywag resumed racing immediately.

“He went out on the outrigger, I was driving, and we went off a big sea and it picked him up threw him off, like a horse,” skipper David Witt said.

“The main thing is, we got him back on board. He’s safe. But I think it’s shown everyone how hard it is to see the guy in the water. Even on a sunny day, 18 knots of wind… You wouldn’t want to be doing this in 20 knots in the dark.”

Gough wasn’t wearing a harness or a lifejacket. Witt says he should have been tethered, or at minimum have told the helmsman what he was doing, before he went outside the lifelines on the outrigger.

“I was pretty stupid, but luckily the guys were on to it. They turned around bloody quickly,” Gough said. “I’m good. I’m fine. It was a bit scary… But off we go again.”

The manoeuvre cost the team some miles, but they had a few to spare, and still lead the fleet on the fast charge westward towards Hong Kong, now just over 2,000 nautical miles away.

Dongfeng Race Team and Team AkzoNobel continue to take a northerly option in comparison to the rest of the fleet, but to this point, are not seeing significantly different weather conditions.

MAPFRE has worked well to push out some 30 miles ahead of Turn the Tide on Plastic and Team Brunel but remains at least 150 miles directly behind Scallywag and with some work to do to reel in the leaders as the fleet winds and weaves through the islands, islets and atolls of Micronesia.

Leg 4 Position Report, Sunday 14 January (Day 13) at 1pm Irish time:

1. Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag — DTF 2,206.78 nautical miles
2. Team AkzoNobel +13.02 nautical miles
3. Dongfeng Race Team +27.95
4. Vestas 11th Hour Racing +49.40
5. MAPFRE +145.88
6. Team Brunel +174.57
7. Turn the Tide on Plastic +182.96

#VOR - The Volvo Ocean Race fleet was gearing up to jump on the highway to Hong Kong on Friday (12 January) after returning to the Northern Hemisphere for the first time since mid-November.

All seven teams have now crossed the Equator, and at 1pm Irish time/UTC were positioned right on the cusp of the trade winds that will fire them towards the finish line.

Once they hook onto the prevailing easterly breeze, they can expect steady winds of up to 20 knots – a stark contrast to the tortuous and fluky conditions faced in the Doldrums over the last five days.

It will also spell an end to the constant gybing to avoid clouds that the Doldrums has demanded, replaced with simple and fast straight-line sailing.

Until then, though, the teams are having to contend with squalls and lulls that continue to shuffle the leaderboard.

“Conditions have been really tricky,” said Carolijn Brouwer, crew member on Dongfeng. “The wind picked up from four to 11 knots so we started shifting all the weight back in the boat. As soon as we’d finished the wind dropped again and we had to move it all back. It’s a real dance we have to do.”

At lunchtime Dongfeng, the furthest east team, were in seventh place but Brouwer said they were confident onboard that their position would prove a strong one once they reach the trades — and by 2.30pm they had jumped up to fourth.

“In our last sched it didn’t look too good for us, we’re in last place, but from where we are and what we expect the weather to do that’s not entirely how we see it,” she added. “We’ve been aiming to get as far north as possible. The first boat to hook into the north-easterly trade winds will get richer, and that’s been our objective. We’re happy to the most easterly boat.”

Itching to rise through the rankings and secure a podium position returning to their home port, Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag have gone for the opposite approach, staking their money on a course around 50 nautical miles west of the fleet, effectively cutting the corner on the left hand turn towards Hong Kong.

Scallywag skipper Dave Witt has spoken candidly about his team’s desire to arrive home ahead of their rivals – and after trailing for the majority of the leg, he and navigator Libby Greenhalgh chose today to make their move.

As the most westerly boat in the fleet, and therefore closer in distance to the finish line, they shot to the top of the leg rankings and they were among the quickest boats in the fleet at 1pm, with only Team AzkoNobel topping their speed this afternoon.

Projections suggest that the move could see them end up neck-and-neck with the other teams when the fleet converges in the coming days.

The return to the Northern Hemisphere also triggered the return of King Neptune, as more ‘pollywogs’ – sailors crossing the Equator for the first time – were inducted into his court.

Twenty-one sailors and six OBRs faced the traditional inauguration ritual during Leg 2 from Lisbon to Cape Town.

On Leg 4, those in Neptune’s line of sight included Team Brunel’s Sam Newton, Hannah Diamond on Vestas 11th Hour Racing, Bleddyn Mon and Bernardo Freitas on Turn the Tide on Plastic and Trystan Seal on Scallywag.

With Kyle Langford playing the role of Neptune, Newton was covered with days-old food leftovers before having chunks shaved out of his hair.

But with just under 3,000 miles of Leg 4 still to go, Newton has plenty of time to grow his hair back before arriving Hong Kong.

Leg 4 Position Report, Friday 12 January (Day 11) at 2.36pm Irish time:

1. Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag — DTF 2,955.58 nautical miles
2. Vestas 11th Hour Racing +15.8 nautical miles
3. Team Brunel +29.4
4. Dongfeng Race Team +29.7
5. Team AkzoNobel +30
6. MAPFRE +40.9
7. Turn the Tide on Plastic +41.7

#VOR - As Leg 4 of the Volvo Ocean Race neared its halfway point on Tuesday (9 January), any memories of the freezing cold Southern Ocean had long been banished.

With every mile that the fleet climbs further north through the South Pacific, so the temperature of both the air and water rise too. Gone are the days of wearing countless layers of weather-proof clothing in a desperate attempt to stay warm and dry.

Instead, seven days into the 6,000-mile leg from Melbourne to Hong Kong, the Volvo Ocean Race sailors are battling extreme heat as they close in on the Equator.

The lack of breeze in the Doldrums only compounds the problem, slowing their progress through one of the most notorious climate zones for sailors.

Usually lighter airs give sailors a chance to rest ahead of the next big blow, but there’s no respite from the heat – it’s hotter down below than it is on deck.

“It’s probably a really nice, comfortable 50 degrees celsius downstairs and about 47.8 degrees up on deck,” said Vestas 11th Hour Racing’s Phil Harmer with a wry smile. “The sea temperature is 32 degrees – it’s just a pleasure. Even the off-watch guys don’t want to be down below.”

Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag’s Ben Piggott, the youngest sailor in the fleet at just 21 years old, added: “It’s refreshing being able to sit up on deck and not wear five layers of clothes but at the same time it’s so frustrating because we’re just not going anywhere.”

The blistering speeds of the opening few days of the leg might too be a distant memory but the racing continues to heat up.

At 1pm Irish time/UTC, Dee Caffari’s Turn the Tide on Plastic — with crew Annalise Murphy and reporter Brian Carlin representing Ireland onboard — topped the Leg 4 leaderboard as the most westerly boat in the fleet, with the Vestas squad, Team AkzoNobel, Dongfeng Race Team and MAPFRE all lined up alongside them across a 15-mile gap.

It’s so close at the front that most boats are in sight of one another after 3,000 miles of intense ocean racing. Team Brunel were just 11 miles directly behind Turn the Tide, while Scallywag was some 30 miles back.

Although Hong Kong lies some 3,000 miles to the north west of the fleet, the short-term goal is to get north as quickly as possible to reach the trade winds. Once into this stable breeze the teams will be able to swing their bows left, open up the throttles and start knocking off the miles to the Leg 4 finish.

But this respite is still some 36 hours away.

Leg 4 Position Report, Tuesday 9 January (Day 8) at 1pm Irish time:

1. Turn the Tide on Plastic — DTF 3,294.84 nautical miles
2. Vestas 11th Hour Racing +4.24 nautical miles
3. Team Brunel +5.58
4. Team AkzoNobel +6.93
5. Dongfeng Race Team +10.13
6. MAPFRE +10.14
7. Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag +30.10

#VOR - The new week started with a reshuffle of the Leg 4 leaderboard as the seven-strong Volvo Ocean Race fleet eased into the Doldrums for the second time so far this race.

After six days at sea, racing is so tight between the top five teams that the smallest of gains or losses can propel them up the rankings or send them plummeting down the positions.

This was certainly the case on Monday (8 January) as Vestas 11th Hour Racing became the new Leg 4 leaders while Dongfeng Race Team, the table-toppers for the first five days of racing, found themselves in fourth.

Earlier Monday it was MAPFRE who occupied the top spot but at 1pm Irish time/UTC the Spanish team had slid to fifth, while Turn the Tide on Plastic, with Annalise Murphy and onboard reporter Brian Carlin on deck, had rocketed into second.

In reality the top five are neck and neck, just six miles splitting them in terms of distance to finish, and reason for the reordering is down to each team’s lateral positioning.

As the most westerly boat in the fleet, Vestas 11th Hour Racing are now closer to the next waypoint than any other team. But whether this is the strongest position tactically remains to be seen.

Dongfeng are the furthest east of the fleet, with MAPFRE, Turn the Tide on Plastic and Team AkzoNobel inside them.

With the current forecast the fleet is facing several hundred miles of light winds through the Doldrums, characterised by clouds, thunder storms and squalls that can hit without warning.

The most direct route to Hong Kong would see them sail a more north-westerly course, but for all seven teams the key to success lies in how soon they can escape the clutches of the Doldrums.

That means heading north as quickly as possible to get to the north-easterly trade winds and the better, more stable breeze they promise.

The next 36 hours will arguably be among the most vital of the 6,000-mile stage – and could ultimately determine the Leg 4 podium despite there still being more than 3,000 miles left to sail.

The enormity of the situation has not been lost on the sailors.

“We've just had a post sunset total race reset,” said AkzoNobel’s Luke Molloy. “Vestas, MAPFRE, Dongfeng and Azko are all bunched together with TTOP not far behind.

“The moment is intense, it could be the making or breaking of the race over the next hour.”

Vestas 11th Hour Racing crew member Tom Johnson added: “Everyone’s had their chance at leading in this front pack. You’ve just got to make the right tactical call, get the right cloud, take the shift and it’s all up for grabs.”

While the battle raged for first place, Team Brunel in sixth, around 20 miles south of the leading group, had other things than just racing to contend with when they bore the brunt of a particularly violent electric storm.

“The stable breeze instantly changed and before we knew it we were becalmed,” skipper Bouwe Bekking said. “Then a huge lightning strike hit, so close the sparks were flying off the mast and runners.

“Rome [Kirby], who was driving, was lying flat on the deck, just from the shock of the massive sound as well.”

None of the sailors were injured, and miraculously their boat electronics survived intact too.

Whether the nerves of the sailors across the fleet survive as well over the coming days is an open question.

Leg 4 Position Report, Monday 8 January (Day 7) at 1pm Irish time:

1. Vestas 11th Hour Racing — DTF 3,362.02 nautical miles
2. Turn the Tide on Plastic +1.96 nautical miles
3. Team AkzoNobel +3.47
4. Dongfeng Race Team +5.75
5. MAPFRE +6.09
6. Team Brunel +9.58
7. Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag +33.07

#VOR - Four boats are within just over six miles as the leaders approach the Solomon Islands, the easternmost point of which is a mark of the race course for Leg 4 of the Volvo Ocean Race.

Dongfeng continues to lead over Team AkzoNobel, MAPFRE and Vestas 11th Hour Racing, who are all within just six miles of each other as of 1pm Irish time/UTC today (Sunday 7 January), with Turn the Tide on Plastic only trailing the leading pack by nine nautical miles.

In fact, the entire fleet has compressed significantly over the past 24 hours as the leaders raced into less stable conditions, allowing the backmarkers to close the gap.

Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag, for example, who trailed by 90 miles at 1pm Irish time yesterday, had halved that deficit by Sunday afternoon.

Now only 45 miles separates first from last, and the unstable weather is expected to continue.

“It’s going to be slowish progress, but we’ve had a good run so far,” said Rob Greenhalgh from on board MAPFRE. “It’s going to be a bit of a drag race with a few clouds to contend with.”

The weather is very unpredictable. In the squalls, winds can be up to 25 knots. In the lulls, there can be as little as 5 knots.

“Today was all about cloud activity and making the best of the wind it delivered,” wrote Dee Caffari, skipper of Turn the Tide on Plastic — with Annalise Murphy on board — which is sitting in fifth place, and positioned nearly 30 miles to the east of the leading group.

“There is a lot more of this kind of activity ahead looking at the satellite pictures and some of the clouds are looking very active,” Caffari added. “Whichever boat comes out of the clouds ahead first will do very well, however the light airs area of the doldrums is looking large at the moment.”

The routing software suggests the boats will ‘round’ the island of San Cristobal closely, leaving it close to port, before continuing north through the lightest winds of the doldrums. The next 48 hours will be very challenging.

“We’re going to have to be on our toes now,” said Simon Fisher, navigator on Vestas 11th Hour Racing. “We’re expecting big changes to come in the next 24 hours.”

Leg 4 Position Report, Sunday 7 January (Day 6) at 1pm Irish time:

1. Dongfeng Race Team — DTF 3,584.94 nautical miles
2. Team AkzoNobel +1.56 nautical miles
3. MAPFRE +2.83
4. Vestas 11th Hour Racing +6.35
5. Turn the Tide on Plastic +15.14
6. Team Brunel +31.95
7. Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag +44.88

#VOR - Dongfeng Race Team and Team AkzoNobel claimed the first bragging rights of Leg 4 of the Volvo Ocean Race, three days into the sprint to Hong Kong, as their bid to punch further offshore paid dividends.

Both teams, plus Turn the Tide on Plastic, opted to head out to sea on Wednesday (3 January) in search of a boost from a northerly current, leaving the remaining four crews hugging the Australian coastline.

Twenty-four hours on and Dongfeng and AkzoNobel have built up a healthy 34-nautical-mile buffer at the head of the fleet, while Dee Caffari’s Turn the Tide on Plastic — with Ireland’s own Annalise Murphy back on deck — occupies the third spot.

Although it’s still early in the 6,000-mile stage from Melbourne to Hong Kong, these small gains have given the top teams a welcome boost.

“Now there is a big gap between us and MAPFRE and Vestas 11th Hour Racing,” said Franck Cammas, stepping onboard Dongfeng for Leg 4 as navigator to replace the injured Pascal Bidegorry.

“We were happy with our choices yesterday. We thought about the risk before the start, and this is the routing we wanted. We followed our plan, and it’s good for our confidence.”

Spirits were equally high on Team AkzoNobel, especially given the challenge they faced in Leg 3 when a bad gybe saw a section of their mast track ripped out.

Simeon Tienpont’s crew were just 2.2 miles behind Dongfeng, and almost three knots quicker, at the 1300 UTC position update with the fleet drawing level with Brisbane.

“I feel really good that we’re able to compete with the likes of Dongfeng and MAPFRE, and actually faster at times,” said AkzoNobel’s Chris Nicholson. “The question now remains if we can maintain it over the distance. They’ve proved that they can consistently go at this level day in and day out.

"That’s something that we’ve yet been able to maintain. They've proven themselves to be a solid package all around. I think we can but we're yet to push ourselves that hard for that long.”

And Dee Caffari, skipper of Turn the Tide on Plastic, tweeted: “Two good position reports make for a happy crew.”

While boat speeds were still up around the 20-knot mark today, the forecast suggests the wind will become lighter in the coming days – bad news for the leaders but a chance to catch up for the chasing pack.

The key for those inshore will be the moment at which they gybe back onto port and reposition themselves better in the west to pick up better breeze.

“At the beginning we were not expecting to lose much but things haven’t gone our way the last 24 hours,” admitted Xabi Fernández, skipper of fifth-placed MAPFRE, some 37 miles off the pacesetters.

“But one thing is for sure, we keep fighting every wave and we know we will have opportunities to come back in this leg. There is so much left and it is so tricky.”

Leg 4 Position Report, Thursday 4 January (Day 3) at 1pm Irish time:

1. Dongfeng Race Team — DTF 4,620.94 nautical miles
2. Team AkzoNobel +2.17 nautical miles
3. Turn the Tide on Plastic +34.21
4. Vestas 11th Hour Racing +37.07
5. MAPFRE +37.32
6. Team Brunel +56.79
7. Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag +67.58

#VOR - Overall Volvo Ocean Race leader MAPFRE was at the head of the fleet off the starting line as the boats raced up Melbourne’s Port Phillip Bay immediately after the start for Leg 4 to Hong Kong earlier today (Tuesday 2 January).

But it was a very close run affair, and four hours after the start, as the fleet battled a heavy sea state to clear the narrow entrance to the Bay, it was Vestas 11th Hour Racing leading the charge, with the Spanish boat close behind in second place and Team Brunel a tight third.

Leg 4 is a 6,000 nautical mile race up the east coast of Australia, into the Coral Sea and up north to Hong Kong, marking the first time the Volvo Ocean Race has visited the historic port.

“It’s going to be very tough, close racing,” says Phil Harmer, who is returning to Vestas 11th Hour Racing after an injury for his first race action. “There is going to be someone next to you the whole way.”

Shortly after the leg start, the wind increased from 10 to near 20 knots, with MAPFRE leading Vestas 11th Hour Racing, Team Brunel, Turn the Tide on Plastic — with Annalise Murphy back on deck for this leg — and Dongfeng Race Team out towards the right hand side.

Meanwhile, Team AkzoNobel and Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag split hard from the others towards the left. Early indications showed a slight advantage to MAPFRE, with skipper Xabi Fernández initially in a favourable position after tacking back towards the turning mark near Mornington.

But Scallywag — perhaps benefitting from the local knowledge of Australian skipper David Witt and new crew member Grant Wharington — and Vestas 11th Hour Racing had soon joined the battle for the lead.

The Scallywags fell back at the turning mark however, leaving Vestas 11 Hour Racing, MAPFRE and Team Brunel neck and neck at the front. Dongfeng, recovering well after completing a penalty turn on the start line, were in fourth place.

For Vestas 11th Hour Racing, it makes for an ideal start for new skipper Mark Towill, stepping into the role as a replacement on Leg 4 for Charlie Enright, who returned home to tend to a family medical emergency. For Towill and crew, the winners of Leg 1, this is an opportunity to put some pressure on race leader MAPFRE.

“This leg is very difficult and there will be a lot of options open,” Fernández said just before leading his team off the dock.

“We will be pushing the boat hard from the very beginning to move forward … The boat and crew is in good shape, we’ve had a good rest and we’re ready to go again.”

The fleet faced challenging conditions leaving the bay, with the strong incoming southerly wind opposing the outgoing tide and whipping up a short, steep seaway.

But after the exit into Bass Strait, the teams were able to turn left and head east, in fast reaching conditions for their first night at sea.

The ETA for Hong Kong will be more certain after the boats clear the Doldrums but is pencilled in for the weekend of 20-21 January.

Leg 4 Position Report, Tuesday 2 January (Day 1) at 7.20am Irish time:

1. Vestas 11th Hour Racing — DTF 5,532.6 nautical miles
2. MAPFRE +0.3 nautical miles
3. Team Brunel +0.7
4. Dongfeng Race Team +0.9
5. Turn the Tide on Plastic +1.4
6. Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag +2.6
7. Team AkzoNobel +3.9

#VOR - Earlier today (Friday 29 December) Dongfeng Race Team announced that Franck Cammas, skipper of 2011-12 Volvo Ocean Race winner Groupama, would stand in for injured navigator Pascal Bidegorry for Leg 4 of the current race.

“Franck is joining the crew because of Pascal’s injury, which is not good news for us because Pascal has been a key element of the team since the beginning,” said skipper Charles Caudrelier. “Franck was available and he was ready as a back-up – we had already spoken about his wish to participate if he could help.”

Cammas himself stated: “I am very motivated to do a leg of the Volvo Ocean Race and it is obviously with Dongfeng that I feel most at ease, culturally and in terms of the people on board.

“Being a crew member, instead of a skipper, is not the most natural situation for me but the team's performance comes first and we are in line with Charles on that,” he added. “Charles is a friend, we have our story together which allows us to communicate well with each other.”

Also on Friday, Team Brunel announced America’s Cup winning sailors Rome Kirby (USA) and Sam Newton (AUS) would join the team, in addition to race veteran and match race champion Sally Barkow (USA) who is replacing the injured Annie Lush, and the Danish sailor Jens Dolmer, who has sailed with skipper Bouwe Bekking on many of his campaigns.

The foursome are replacing Louis Balcaen, Annie Lush, Alberto Bolzan and Peter Burling in a big crew swap, some of which was scheduled, and some of which was forced due to injury.

“It was always the plan that Burling and Balcaen went home after this leg,” Bekking said. “Burling has sailed everything from the start and also has some America’s Cup obligations in the coming weeks.

“That we had to replace Annie after her injury is obvious. We felt we need to give Alberto some extra recovery time after this heavy Southern Ocean leg too. This is sport at its highest level and you have to be 100% fit. Better to take rest now and return later in the race.

“Jens is one the most competitive team players I know and we have done a lot of campaigns together … and we are really happy with Sally Barkow stepping in for Annie.

“Rome, I know, but never sailed with him. On paper he really fits in our philosophy of engineering a new generation. The same is true for Sam Newton. His sailing resume tells you enough. I don’t have any doubts about their sailing qualities.”

Other crew changes are expected to be announced over the weekend with teams required to submit final crew lists 48 hours ahead of the start of Leg 4 from Melbourne to Hong Kong this coming Tuesday 2 January.

#VOR - All seven boats in the Volvo Ocean Race fleet have now finished in Melbourne, with Team AkzoNobel ghosting through Port Phillip Bay in near calm conditions to cross the line just before 10:30am local time on Thursday 28 December.

It was a frustrating end to a difficult leg that saw the team fall behind the rest of the fleet after damaging their mast track during a gybe in heavy weather Southern Ocean conditions.

In the time it took to jury-rig a repair, the team fell several hundred miles behind the leaders and into a less favourable weather pattern for the rest of the leg, resulting in the late finish.

“It was character-building,” said watch captain Chris Nicolson. “It teaches you that the smallest mistake can snowball and become a big, leg-defining, moment. You have to try your best and see how it rolls.

“It was good to see no one get bent out of shape or take it out on each other. We had a good mixture of comedy and jokes and seriousness right through to the finish today. I think it looks good for the future. But we can not do this again.”

Now the team needs to get the mast lifted out for a more permanent repair in the abbreviated Melbourne stopover. Leg 4 starts in just a few days, next Tuesday 2 January. Getting rest for the crew is also a priority.

“Happily the rest of the boat is in good shape,” said skipper Simeon Tienpont. “The rig is out of our hands, that will be up to the guys at The Boatyard and Southern Spars. We have a few small jobs on the boat and we’ll take a good rest.

“At one point a few days ago we realised we weren’t going to catch up so we put in a good watch system and made sure everyone got their rest and finished some other jobs on board. Everyone is healthy and rested. We’ll be fine.”

Leg 3 was a 6,500 nautical mile race through the daunting Southern Ocean from Cape Town to Melbourne and was won by overall race leaders MAPFRE, with Dongfeng Race Team in second place and Vestas 11th Hour Racing completing the podium.

Team Brunel, who finished in fourth place, set the Omega 24-hour speed record on Leg 3, notching up 538.1 nautical miles, for an average speed of 22.4 knots, in favourable conditions on the day before they finished.

Leg 3 Provisional Results, Thursday 27 December at 7am Irish time:

1. MAPFRE - Finished 24 December at 16:07.21 UTC (14 days, 4 hours, 7 minutes, 21 seconds)
2. Dongfeng Race Team - Finished 24 December at 20:10:16 UTC (14 days, 8 hours, 10 minutes, 16 seconds)
3. Vestas 11th Hour Racing - Finished 24 December at 21:52:11 UTC (14 days, 9 hours, 52 minutes, 11 seconds)
4. Team Brunel - Finished 24 December at 23:36:27 UTC (14 days, 11 hours, 36 minutes, 27 seconds)
5. Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag - Finished 26 December at 01:06:31 UTC (15 days, 13 hours, 6 minutes, 31 seconds)
6. Turn the Tide on Plastic - Finished 26 December at 03:52:50 UTC (15 days, 15 hours, 52 minutes, 50 seconds)
7. Team AkzoNobel - Finished 27 December at 23:24:45 UTC (17 days, 11 hours, 24 minutes, 45 seconds)

Current Leaderboard:

1. MAPFRE - FINISHED - 29 points (after Leg 3)
2. Dongfeng Race Team - FINISHED - 23 points (after Leg 3)
3. Vestas 11th Hour Racing - FINISHED - 23 points (after Leg 3)
4. Team Brunel - FINISHED - 14 points (after Leg 3)
5. Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag - FINISHED - 11 points (after Leg 3)
6. Team AkzoNobel - RACING - 9 points (after Leg 3)
7. Turn the Tide on Plastic - RACING - 6 points (after Leg 3)

#VOR - Fifth place in Leg 3 of the Volvo Ocean Race went to Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag, who managed to hold off Turn the Tide on Plastic for the second consecutive leg.

Skipper David Witt steered Scallywag across the Melbourne finish line on a sunny St Stephen’s Day, just in time for lunch. Turn the Tide on Plastic was less than three hours behind, after over two weeks and 6,500 nautical miles of close, hard-fought racing.

“Aussies arriving home after a tough leg. 6th place - shame we couldn't catch those Scallys. We tried and it was close. Hopefully next time,” tweeted Turn the Tide on Plastic skipper Dee Caffari as her boat – which had Annalise Murphy on deck for the VOR's first two legs – approached the finish line.

Leg 3 of the Volvo Ocean Race represented a return to the roots of the race – a dip down to the Roaring Forties of the Southern Ocean, where storm systems circle Antarctica, unimpeded by land. The result is day after day of cold, strong winds and fearsome seas.

“The Southern Ocean always turns it on,” said Scallywag’s Luke Parkinson as the boat pulled up to the dock. “There are big waves and a lot of wind. This time we probably spent more time further south with day after day of big wind. It certainly can wear you down.

“When we turned left and headed up to Australia it was pretty special - a very good feeling. We’ve got to rest up now and be ready to leave in a few days.”

It’s an abbreviated stopover in Melbourne, with restrictions on how much work the crews are allowed to do on the boats, ahead of the start of Leg 4 to Hong Kong next Tuesday 2 January.

One boat remains at sea: Team AkzoNobel, who had just under 300 miles to go as of yesterday morning (Tuesday 26 December) and are expected in Melbourne in the early hours of Thursday 28 December, or some time this evening (Wednesday 27 December) Irish time.

But getting the boat into the dock at Melbourne presents a challenge in itself, as the 32-metre rigs of the Volvo Ocean 65s are three metres too tall to clear the harbour’s Bolte Bridge.

The solution? A temporary pontoon has been set up under the bridge to allow the teams to cant their boats at 36 degrees, just enough to squeeze under the bridge without putting too much stress on the rig.

The Spanish MAPFRE team won Leg 3 of the Volvo Ocean Race, arriving into Melbourne in time for Christmas. It was the second consecutive leg win for overall race leaders. Dongfeng Race Team and Vestas 11th Hour Racing completed the podium a few hours later.

Leg 3 Provisional Results, Wednesday 27 December at 10am Irish time:

1. MAPFRE - Finished 24 December at 16:07.21 UTC (14 days, 4 hours, 7 minutes, 21 seconds)
2. Dongfeng Race Team - Finished 24 December at 20:10:16 UTC (14 days, 8 hours, 10 minutes, 16 seconds)
3. Vestas 11th Hour Racing - Finished 24 December at 21:52:11 UTC (14 days, 9 hours, 52 minutes, 11 seconds)
4. Team Brunel - Finished 24 December at 23:36:27 UTC (14 days, 11 hours, 36 minutes, 27 seconds)
5. Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag - Finished 26 December at 01:06:31 UTC (15 days, 13 hours, 6 minutes, 31 seconds)
6. Turn the Tide on Plastic - Finished 26 December at 03:52:50 UTC (15 days, 15 hours, 52 minutes, 50 seconds)
7. Team AkzoNobel - RACING - ETA 27 December 17:00-19:00 UTC

Current Leaderboard:

• MAPFRE - FINISHED - 29 points (after Leg 3)
• Dongfeng Race Team - FINISHED - 23 points (after Leg 3)
• Vestas 11th Hour Racing - FINISHED - 23 points (after Leg 3)
• Team Brunel - FINISHED - 14 points (after Leg 3)
• Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag - FINISHED - 11 points (after Leg 3)
• Team AkzoNobel - RACING - 7 points (after Leg 2)
• Turn the Tide on Plastic - RACING - 6 points (after Leg 3)