Yachting: Movistar takes lead in Volvo Ocean Race

CAPE TOWN - Movistar took a slender lead nearly 30 hours into the 6100 nautical mile second leg of the Volvo Ocean Race between Cape Town and Melbourne on Tuesday after a tight start on the previous day.

At 11.15am today Movistar, skippered by Dutchman Bouwe Bekking, was 23 miles ahead of Team Ericsson under the captaincy of Briton Neal McDonald in the still light wind speeds.

Bekking and his navigator Andrew Cape chose a northern direction where they appear to have found the best of the wind conditions although all the boats are eagerly awaiting the strong westerly wind channel that will push them to the east at greater speed.

After low winds upon departure where the speed dropped to near zero knots at times, the gusts have picked up and are expected to increase to 20 knots in the next 24 hours.

Overall leader ABN AMRO ONE, skippered by New Zealander Mike Sanderson was 26 miles behind Movistar, and Pirates of the Caribbean under the leadership of Paul Cayard a further mile back.

With only 37 miles covering the whole fleet from front to back, there is very little to choose with the daunting trek through the Southern Ocean to come.

All the boats came through the night unscathed, although Movistar and Pirates both lost radar brackets off the mast, which required some minor repair work.

- REUTERS, HERALD ONLINE STAFF