What a day!

PUMA powered by Berg Propulsion took second place in Leg 4 of the Volvo Ocean Race, arriving in Auckland at 11:55.43.

As skipper Ken Read and his crew wearily climbed onto the stage for the official presentation, the watchers on the water and foreshore watched the climax of a great race for the line between Telefonica and CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand. Telefonica just held off CAMPER, crossing the line 93 seconds ahead - an incredibly small margin after more than 20 days of racing from Sanya.

Less than 40 minutes later, the crowds welcomed home Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing followed by Team Sanya.

"My God, I feel good to be in Auckland," said Read immediately after PUMA finished. "From day one of this Leg, ever since we sailed into the South China Sea, it's been tough. I know that's what we signed up for but man this is a challenging Leg."

"It was a really close race but we just ran out of runway at the end," said CAMPER skipper Chris Nicholson. "It was the toughest Leg so far. Now we're really tired and we're just looking forward to being home."

1. Groupama Finish time: 23:33.47 Sat 10 March (elapsed time 19d 15h 35m 54s)

2. PUMA powered by Berg Propulsion Finish time: 11:55.43 Sun 11 March (elapsed time 20d 3h 57m 50s)

3. Telefonica Finish time: 12:43.15 (elapsed time 20d 4h 45m 22s)

4. CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand Finish time: 12:44.48 (elapsed time 20d 4h 46m 55s)

5. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing Finish time: 13:18.28 (elapsed time 20d 5h 20m 35s)

6. Team Sanya Finish time: 13:53.36 (elapsed time 20d 5h 55m 43s)

The next generation

Eight teams of youth sailors have participated this weekend in the Auckland Stopover Volvo Ocean Race Academy.

The Academy worked closely with the New Zealand Optimist Association to bring the teams from Canterbury, Whakatere, Kohimarama, Napier and Murrays Bay into the Viaduct area for a three day training and racing series.

Each of the teams comprise four or five experienced youth sailors, including at least one girl, and their own coach. They represent one of each of the Volvo Ocean Race teams, an Auckland team and a Volvo Ocean Race team.

The Academy began Friday in the Volvo Pavilion with training and coaching sessions and runs through to today with a racing final series.

The goal of the Volvo Ocean Race Academy is to leave behind a trailing wake of new umpires and excited and professionally trained youth in each of the Stopover cities. Thus the training and coaching sessions, lead by Chris Atkins, an ISAF Clinic Instructor, will also be training seven adults to be umpires.

Katie Hearsum, the Academy Youth Sailing Coordinator, said she wants to ensure the kids leave with big smiles having learned some new sailing tactics and be better team racers. “Maybe someday some of these kids will participate in a Volvo Ocean Race themselves,” she says. “Currently, the rules of Volvo Ocean Race dictate that each boat must have at least three sailors under the age of 30 onboard. We believe it is important to nurture the future generations of sailing.”

The Volvo Ocean Race brings 21 Optimists for use in the Academy at each Stopover. The Optimist boat was selected for the Academy because of its common worldwide use and reputation for "growing" professional sailors.