Yachting: Team NZ chip away as cold blast nears

Mike Pammenter gets set to go up for a rig check before Camper hits the strong winds forecast. Photo / VOR

Team New Zealand have made further small gains on day 16 of the Volvo Ocean Race, but are fast running out of race track to catch the leaders.

The Camper crew's last opportunity may come in the next 24 hours as they try to take advantage of a strong southerly front.

The fleet are expecting a cold front to pick up in the next few days, which should deliver robust sailing conditions with winds of more than 30 knots.

Emirates Team New Zealand remain in third place two thirds of the way in to the first leg from Alicante to Cape Town.

While late last night they were still 123 nautical miles behind race leader Telefonica, Camper were in good heart after gaining 50 miles in the space of 24 hours.

The frontal system will rocket Camper south and into cold latitudes that will bring fast and tough racing.

It is in this area that the 24-hour speed record for monohulls has been broken in the last two editions of the Volvo Ocean Race.

Skipper Chris Nicholson said Team New Zealand are sticking to their game plan of chipping away at the race leaders, not being gung-ho, and taking every mile of advantage that they can get.

"We've had a good 24 hours and if we can ride this front in one piece and take full advantage of the boat speeds it offers then that puts us in a good position to take even more ground off Telefonica and Puma," he said.

"If you're doing 25 knots or more and the guys in front of you have had to slow down for whatever reason then you can close the gap pretty quickly.

"So from our point of view the next few days offer more opportunities than we've seen in a while."

Emirates Team New Zealand have retained their overall lead in the America's Cup World Series, despite a mixed performance at the San Diego leg of the tour.

After three events, combined match and fleet racing points put Dean Barker's team one point ahead of Oracle 4, skippered by Jimmy Spithill.

After being soundly beaten by Spithill in the semifinals of the match-racing stage of the regatta, Team New Zealand remained in touch with Oracle for a second place finish in the winner-takes-all final fleet race.