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Telefonica’s gaffe lets rival pull closer

The Columbian
Published: May 18, 2012, 5:00pm

MIAMI (AP) — Spain’s Iker Martinez made his second costly error in the Volvo Ocean Race in-port series on Saturday, allowing his closest rival, France’s Groupama, to close the gap in the standings.

Martinez’s Telefonica crew leads Groupama by only seven points, with just 14 points separating the top four boats.

Martinez, an Olympic champion in 2004 and silver medalist in 2008, slumped from first to last in the previous in-port race in Brazil after rounding the wrong buoy. In Saturday’s 8.2-nautiacle mile race off South Beach, he picked up a time error for bumping into a buoy.

The rest of the fleet took quick advantage to leave him 312 minutes behind by the end.

Abu Dhabi won the race, followed by Groupama. U.S.-based Puma overcame a desperate start in which they drifted in shifting wind to edge Camper of Spain/New Zealand for third.

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