VOR / They arrived in Lisbonne ! (images)

VOR / Abu Dhabi win Leg 7, Groupama take the lead (video)

Abu Dhabi, who finished at 21:23:54 UTC, received 30 points for victory, with Groupama netting 25 after their finish at 21:29:21. PUMA took 20 points, Telefonica 15 and CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand with 10 – after the two had a scintillating neck-and-neck battle to the finish line. Team Sanya finished sixth and picked up five points

VOR / Winner in Lisbonne, Ian Walker :"One of the most amazing experiences of my career" (images)

Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing shrugged off seven months of frustration to secure their first leg victory on Thursday, narrowly crossing the Lisbon finish line ahead of Groupama sailing team who are on the verge of claiming the overall race lead.

Credit : I.Roman/VOR

VOR / Ian Walker :"it’s really, really close"; arrival tonight

The overall race lead is hanging in the balance as Groupama sailing team battle longstanding Leg 7 leaders Abu Dhabi for a crucial victory with just over 100 miles remaining in what has been the closest leg of the 2011-12 edition yet.

Credit : N.Dana/Abu Dhabi/VOR

VOR / Ian Walker :"We’re still in the lead so it’s not all that bad" (video)

Leg 7 of the Volvo Ocean Race looked set to come to a thrilling climax in the final 36 hours of the transatlantic passage to Lisbon as the fleet began to compress in a high pressure ridge off Portugal on Wednesday.

Video / CAMPER avoids collision with a whale on the final push into Lisbon

Logbook / Mike Sanderson has worked hard to pick up this new pressure system

Fact… The moon’s diameter is the same size as Australia is, east to west. Though the super moon has long since passed, the little sliver of the moon that remains has certainly given us some stellar evenings and tonight is no exception. Although with a building breeze there is little time to admire its beauty and more time to get down to business. 

Credit :A.Soriano / Team Sanya/VOR

VOR / Ian Walker :"We will give up a lot of our once 90 mile lead to the chasing pack"

Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing’s Leg 7 lead was being steadily eroded on Monday, as the chasing pack lined up along an easterly moving cold front bringing strong winds.

Video / Chris Nicholson and Camper crew try to get through high pressure

VOR / Franck Cammas :"Now isn't the time to risk it all"

Abu Dhabi were building a big lead on Leg 7 of the Volvo Ocean Race on Sunday after beating the fleet to a low pressure system that packs the power to catapult them to within a couple of hundred miles of the finish.

Credit : H.Hooper/Camper/VOR

Video / Franck Cammas and Groupama 4 back in contact with the head of the fleet

VOR / Taking the lead, Ian Walker : "It’s been a great 24 hours for Azzam"

"It’s been a great 24 hours for Azzam. A big dilemma between sailing for the predicted right hand shift and going left to get in the Gulf Stream created a big split in the fleet and lots of opportunity. This is exactly what we need as we can get away from the other boats and try to find something tactically. Jules did a nice job as we initially tried to play the current but on finding it wasn’t as forecasted we decided to take the shift instead.

Credit : N.Dana/Abu Dhabi/VOR

Video / Ken Read and Puma try to outrun a front

VOR / Incredible comeback for Camper, Chris Nicholson :"It all makes for a very unstable leaderboard"

CAMPER pulled off an incredible mid-leg comeback on Friday shooting from last place into the lead in less than 48 hours, while overall race leaders Telefónica slipped down the rankings after being snared in light winds.

Credit : N.Dana/Abu Dhabi/VOR

VOR / Ian Walker (Abu Dhabi) : "Our move to the north paid good dividends"

"It has been a very good 36 hours for the team on Azzam. Our move to the north paid good dividends and for a while we were in sight of Telefonica and took third place in the standings from Puma. Sadly Telefonica have again demonstrated their pace to us by sailing away from four miles in front of us to 22 miles in the last 24 hours. Once again we will have to be patient and hope that an opening happens later in the leg for us to get back at them.

Credit : N.Dana/Abu Dhabi/VOR

Vidéo / Ken Read and Puma battle for position up the Atlantic coast

VOR / Still leading, Groupama 4 is having to keep an eye on Telefonica

After clocking up 1,000 miles since the start in Miami, the fleet has bunched up to within sixty miles of each other offshore of Bermuda. Still leading, Groupama 4 is having to keep an eye on Telefonica, to leeward, Puma astern and Camper to windward... However, the main focus is on being the first to hook onto the front, which is just ahead of their bow.

Credit : Y.Riou/Groupama/VOR

Video / Chris Nicholson and CAMPER are working hard to stay with the pack ahead

Video / Franck Cammas and Groupama, still leading, try to contain a comeback by the chasing pack

VOR / Chris Nicholson (Camper) :"At one point we lost 25 nm in one sched"

A semblance of normality returned to the fleet on Tuesday after 24 hours of chaotic action for the teams as they fought to second guess the volatile tropical storm Alberto.

Credit : H.Hooper/Camper/VOR