Yachting: Camper loses ground to leaders

Camper, Emirates Team New Zealand's entry in the Volvo Ocean Race, has lost ground on the leaders in the Doldrums.

Camper remains in third place behind Puma and Telefonica but the latest update has them trailing Puma by 149 miles.

Skipper Chris Nicholson said the last 24 hours had presented the range of typical Doldrum conditions.

"We've had everything from thunder and lightning to torrential rain, blistering sun and 5 knots to 25 knots of wind,'' he said.

"We seem to be through the worst of it now and have come out pretty well, but unfortunately not quite as well as the guys in front.

"There's still 3500 miles left in this race and our focus is on chipping away at the leaders and wearing them down so that we can get back in the fight.''

The next turning mark is Fernando de Noronha, an island off the Brazilian coast.

Once Fernando is rounded the fleet is traditionally able to pick up the south east trade winds and accelerate towards the finish line off Cape Town.