Yachting: Team NZ's early gain lost in doldrums

The doldrums offered surprisingly little resistance to the Volvo Ocean Race fleet on day 10, with the four boats expected to breeze through the notorious windless zone in under 24 hours.

Known as the intertropical convergence zone, the doldrums are one of the trickiest areas of the world to navigate, and it is not unusual for boats to be parked up for days drifting from one windless hole to another.

But this time around the region posed little problem for race leaders Puma and Team Telefonica, which remain locked in a tight battle at the front of the fleet as they approach the halfway point of leg one from Alicante to Cape Town.

VOLVO OCEAN RACE TRACKER

Third-placed Emirates Team New Zealand also had a good run early on, gaining over 50 nautical miles on the leading pack. But by late last night the ground they had made up had almost dissipated, their deficit back out to 135 nautical miles after their speed slowed to 5.8 knots.

Despite slowing later in the day, Camper was expected to pass through the equator into the Southern Hemisphere overnight.

As Camper neared the equator, nerves were rising among the first-timers on board, Hamish Hooper and Adam Minoprio, who face the traditional initiation ceremony into King Neptune's realm when they cross for the first time.