Volvo Ocean Race - Camper secures In-Port Race podium position

by Lucy Harwood on 10 Jun 2012 Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12 Oeiras In-Port Race was held today, Saturday 9th June, in Lisbon. The spectacular course up the Rive Tagus and along the Lisbon waterfront saw a battle for the lead with four lead changes over the twelve nautical mile course.

Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand, keen to turn the page after the last leg, put in a strong performance exchanging the lead with the eventual In-Port race winner, Groupama, multiple times as the fleet raced down the Lisbon

'I bet that was exciting to watch, and it was to sail as well! We thought it was great today racing on a windward leeward racetrack and it is a natural amphitheatre here,' said Chris Nicholson, skipper of Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand after the Spanish/New Zealand team posted their sixth podium finish in the In-Port races during this edition of the Volvo Ocean Race.

'When you look back on the regatta clinically, then I think we had some great opportunities today. At that bottom mark we couldn’t quite manage to pull it off as we had a bit of a spinnaker collapse rounding the mark and we crossed Groupama by a metre or two downwind in 20 knots of wind. It was pretty cool.'

Despite exchanging leading positions several times with Camper as the fleet blasted down the Tagus River past Lisbon’s iconic 25th of April Bridge, Groupama rounded the first mark ahead and never looked back, holding onto the front spot for the remainder of the 11.6nm course.

Chris Nicholson’s Camper managed to hold back Ian Walker’s Abu Dhabi crew to record their fifth in-port race podium finish in eight races. The results see Puma move to within five points of Telefónica, with Camper 10 points behind them in fourth on the overall Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand website