The Team New Zealand boat Camper has clinched second place on the first leg of the Volvo Ocean race after skipper Chris Nicholson nursed his boat through heinous sea conditions into Table Bay in Cape Town after almost 22 days at sea.
Camper, were throttled back overnight by winds gusting 35 knots and mountainous seas, but once daylight broke, they regained their speed and screamed across the finish to take 25 points to add to their four points earned for a third-place finish in the Iberdrola In-Port Race in Alicante in late October.
They are now in second place overall on the Volvo Ocean Race leaderboard with 29 points - two behind Team Telefónica who were first into Cape Town on Saturday night.
Camper finished Leg 1 over 200 nautical miles and 16 hours behind the leaders.
The Groupama team are expected to finish on Tuesday, with third place set to take them up to third overall with 22 points.
Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (6 points), PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG (5) and Team Sanya (3) were all forced to retire from Leg 1.
