Camper suffer Volvo race setback as sail rips

Camper's hopes of glory in leg four of the Volvo Ocean Race were dealt a blow Wednesday when one of their sails ripped in two, as their rivals threatened to topple the race's 24-hour distance record. The New Zealand team had hoped to sail into their home port of Auckland as winners of the 5,200 nautical mile leg from Sanya, China, but are fighting to remain in contention after slipping from second to fourth in the leg rankings. Forced to use a smaller, less powerful replacement sail, Camper lost more than 60 nautical miles to French team Groupama and saw their speed slip from more than 20 knots to 17. "On the last three position reports we have probably dropped six miles on average on each one," Camper's Australian skipper Chris Nicholson told AFP. "We just can't afford to have many more of them." Meanwhile, leg leaders Groupama, second-placed American crew Puma and fifth-placed Abu Dhabi sailed more than 500 nautical miles in 24 hours through the Pacific Ocean, averaging speeds of more than 20 knots. Puma sailed 522.14 nautical miles at an average speed of 21.7 knots in 24 hours, close to the current race record of 554 nautical miles set by Camper during the first leg. Groupama watch captain Thomas Coville said: "Conditions are really aggressive for the crew, especially for the driver. "We all have burning eyes at the moment from the salt. These conditions are for sure very extreme but it's a lot of fun going 25 knots." The Volvo Ocean Race fleet have more than 3,000 nautical miles to sail to the finish line of leg four and are expected to arrive in Auckland around March 9. The race set sail from Alicante, Spain, in November and finishes in Galway, Ireland, in July.