Yachting: Camper loses lead to Sanya

Camper has lost first place in the second leg of the Volvo Ocean Race to Sanya but skipper Chris Nicholson is happy with the boat's position.

The Emirates Team New Zealand boat has worked its way out of a weather trough that has trapped the Volvo fleet for the past 72 hours and has attempted to cross the South Indian High [pressure system] as quickly as possible to get into the more consistent trade winds further north.

The fleet has pursued three different approaches to get up the Indian Ocean from Cape Town to Abu Dhabi in the strongest shape, with Camper followed by Puma, Telefonica and Team Abu Dhabi choosing to push east to get the best conditions, while Groupama has headed far south in an effort to avoid the high pressure system, and Sanya has elected to take a risky northerly route that takes them close into Madagascar.

Sanya is now about 5km ahead of Camper. Nicholson said the fluid weather situation was extremely challenging.

"Right now we seem to be in pretty good shape but at this point in time any one of the boats could strike it lucky and accelerate away from the rest of the fleet," he said.

"The reality is that the weather picture is so changeable that all of us are taking a bit of a gamble. It's just too early to say who that gamble is going to pay off for and who it isn't.

"However, we're comfortable with where we are at the moment and looking at the other guys I wouldn't want to swap with any of them. The next 24 hours will be key though and after that we should get a better idea of who has picked it right and who hasn't."