11/30/2011 03:04 pm

Telefónica clinches Volvo Ocean Race Leg 1 victory after three weeks at sea

The first of the nine legs at the Volvo Ocean Race has a winner. 21 days, 5 hours, 14 minutes and 25 seconds after they left Alicante, Spain on November 5, Team Telefónica sailed into Table Bay in Cape Town, South Africa on Saturday.

The Spanish team Telefónica sailed a near-perfect race and now has a total of 31 points at the top of the scoreboard. CAMPER, which followed Telefónica into Cape Town on Sunday, came in second, and has 29 points. Groupama, the final boat, sailed through the finish line on Tuesday evening, adding 20 points for a total of 22.

The first leg was marked by heartbreaking withdrawals for half of the competitors, as first Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (ADOR), then Team Sanya and finally PUMA were all forced out of the race by breakages. Abu Dhabi broke its mast within six hours after starting the race, with Sanya suffering hull damage on the same night. PUMA was in second place, closing the gap with Telefónica when its own mast broke into three pieces on day 17 of the race.

ADOR and Sanya team members were in Cape Town to greet the winners while working to get their boats ready to sail in a few short weeks. Meanwhile, PUMA’s crew is enjoying the hospitality of the tiny island of Tristan de Cunha while its freighter is en route with equipments planning to bring them to South Africa.

Though it was a disastrous first leg for those three boats, all teams still stand a chance to win the race. ADOR will enter the next phase of the competition with six points, PUMA has five and Sanya has the three points it earned in-port at Alicante.

All three of the withdrawn teams hope to make it in time for the next event, the in-port race at Cape Town on December 10 with the next open ocean leg to Abu Dhabi starting the following day.

Keep watching for future race updates here and get a behind-the-scenes look at the action by becoming a fan of Ocean Race Backstage by DHL.

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