ITAJAI, Brazil (AP) — After 20 days of sailing through some of the toughest conditions imaginable, Puma won the Volvo Ocean Race’s fifth stage by just 12 minutes on Friday.
Puma collected 30 vital points, holding off overall race leader Telefonica, which chased all the way up the South American coast to the Brazilian port of Itajai despite earlier having to stop for 17 hours to fix a damaged hull.
An epic leg that left the fleet battered and broken was decided by the ice-cool nerve of 50-year-old American skipper Ken Read.
With the dramatic “match race” being watched by thousands of fans on shore, Read repeatedly blocked the route of Telefonica, which had caught up with the leaders after trailing by more than 400 nautical miles following the pit-stop in Cape Horn.
