French crew trims Spaniard's Ocean Race edge

France's Groupama cut Spanish yacht Telefonica's edge in the Volvo Ocean Race to only seven points on Saturday after a major error by the leaders cost them any hope of winning the Miami in-port race. Telefonica were on the heels of the front-runners when they hit one of the rounding marks on the 8.2-nautical-mile course, forcing them to complete a penalty turn and consigning them to last place. Abu Dhabi took full advantage to seal a victory, their third in the in-port series, with Groupama second and the American-skippered Puma closing out the podium places in third. With just three legs and three in-port races left in the eight-month global event, Telefonica are clinging on to their place at the top of the leaderboard with 165 points with Groupama the closest challengers on 158 followed by Camper, the Spanish boat crewed by Team New Zealand, on 152 and Puma on 151. It was a second successive costly error in an in-port race from Telefonica, which dropped from first to last in Itajai, Brazil, when they went the wrong way around one of the marker buoys. "It didn't go according to plan," said Telefonica's British watch captain Neal McDonald. "The first bit did, but then it went downhill. "It's so easy to lose places with all these good guys behind you. You only have to make one slip up and one boat goes by, then another boat goes by and then you're in last place. It's tough. Heartbreaking." Overall standings: 1. Telefonica (ESP) 165 points, 2. Groupama (FRA) 158, 3. Camper (ESP/NZL) 152, 4. Puma (USA) 151, 5. Abu Dhabi 74, 6. Team Sanya (CHN) 27