Saturday, March 10, 2012

Boat overcomes leak to win leg of Volvo Ocean Race

AAA??Mar. 10, 2012?8:55 AM ET
Boat overcomes leak to win leg of Volvo Ocean Race
AP

In this photograph provided by the Volvo Ocean Race, Groupama Sailing Team, skippered by Franck Cammas from France, sails past Takou Bay on the northern coast of New Zealand on the way to winning Leg 4 of the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12, from Sanya, China, to Auckland, New Zealand, on Saturday, March 10, 2012. (AP Photo/Ian Roman/Volvo Ocean Race)

In this photograph provided by the Volvo Ocean Race, Groupama Sailing Team, skippered by Franck Cammas from France, sails past Takou Bay on the northern coast of New Zealand on the way to winning Leg 4 of the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12, from Sanya, China, to Auckland, New Zealand, on Saturday, March 10, 2012. (AP Photo/Ian Roman/Volvo Ocean Race)

In this photo provided by the Volvo Ocean Race, Groupama Sailing Team, skippered by Franck Cammas from France, cross the finish line with downtown Auckland visible in the background to win Leg 4 of the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12, from Sanya, China, to Auckland, New Zealand, on Saturday, March 10, 2012. (AP Photo/Ian Roman/Volvo Ocean Race)

In this photograph provided by Volvo Ocean Race, PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG skipper Ken Read, left, from the USA salutes a media helicopter as they sail towards the finish of of Leg 4 of the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12, from Sanya, China, to Auckland, New Zealand, on Saturday, March 10, 2012. (AP Photo/Ian Roman/Volvo Ocean Race)

In this photograph provided by Volvo Ocean Race, PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG and by skippered Ken Read from the USA sail towards the finish of of Leg 4 of the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12, from Sanya, China, to Auckland, New Zealand, on Saturday, March 10, 2012. (AP Photo/Ian Roman/Volvo Ocean Race)

In this photograph provided by Volvo Ocean Race, PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG, skippered by Ken Read from the USA, sails past Takou Bay on the northern coast of New Zealand on the way to the finish of Leg 4 of the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12, from Sanya, China, to Auckland, New Zealand, on Saturday, March 10, 2012. (AP Photo/Ian Roman/Volvo Ocean Race)

(AP) ? Groupama has overcome a massive leak to win leg 4 of the Volvo Ocean Race on Saturday, taking the provisional overall lead.

The French boat had dominated the 5,220-nautical mile stage from Sanya, China, to Auckland, New Zealand. But their comfortable victory margin was challenged just eight hours from the finish of the 19-day leg as water started to leak into the bow.

The crew pumped out the water, which filled two-thirds of the bow and threatened to sink the boat before the source of the leak was found and sealed.

The 30 points gained for winning the leg took Groupama to 103 points overall and into the provisional lead before overall pace-setters Telefonica (101) and the rest of the fleet finish the leg.

Puma narrowly held second place in the leg ahead of Spanish boat Telefonica, which had won the first three legs of the event. Team New Zealand aboard Camper were also in contention for a top-three place with Abu Dhabi and Team Sanya bringing up the rear.

The nine-month, 39-nautical mile race visits 10 ports in as many countries, four oceans and five continents. It's scheduled to finish July 8 in Galway, Ireland.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-03-10-SAI-Volvo-Ocean-Race/id-03cccead0c284ca29f439a85b6bc1945

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