Spanish hat-trick matches 22-year-old record
Spain's Iker Martinez tightened his grip on the Volvo Ocean Race on Saturday after becoming the first skipper since sailing great Peter Blake 22 years ago to win the first three legs in a row.
Telefonica's comfortable victory for the leg between Abu Dhabi and the southern Chinese port of Sanya left them 15 points clear of the fleet with seven stages still to negotiate in the nine-month, 39 000 nautical mile offshore race.
Their success looked extremely unlikely two weeks ago after a major sail ripped just after the boat left Maldivian capital Male.
Telefonica were forced to slow down while they made the onboard repairs but the Spanish boat's superior speed and tactics through the treacherous Malacca Strait separating the Indian and Pacific Oceans again proved too good for the opposition.
Martinez, who was voted sailor of the year with crewmate Xabi Fernandez for 2011, said he had not realised he had matched the achievement of Blake, who went on to win the 1989-90 edition with Steinlager 2.
"I didn't know that but for sure we're feeling great," he told Reuters. "We're very happy, it's a dream, you always dream to start a race like this. I just hope everything is going to keep going smooth."
Martinez, 34, an Olympic gold medallist in Athens in 2004 and a silver medal winner four years later in Beijing, said sailing in the Malacca Strait had been the toughest of his long career.
"It was by far the most dangerous leg I've ever done in a boat," Martinez added. "Malacca Strait in a sailing boat and racing is not the right way to do it.
"That was putting ourselves in a lot of difficult situations that's why we are so happy. Now we start feeling more relaxed."
Australian navigator Andrew Cape added: "That was a toughie. Right from the top of Sumatra it's been really difficult. There were so many hazards and you can't take your eye off the ball for one second because that's when bad things happen."
Camper (Spain/New Zealand) finished third in the leg for 80 points overall in second with Groupama (France), runner-up for the leg, on 75.
The race is scheduled to finish in Galway, Ireland, on July 8.