Another victory for Groupama 4 in leg 8 of the Volvo Ocean Race

Volvo Ocean Race leg 8 leaders Groupama on their final approach to Lorient © Paul Todd / Volvo Ocean Race

Volvo Ocean Race leg 8 leaders Groupama on their final approach to Lorient © Paul Todd / Volvo Ocean Race

Volvo Ocean Race leg 8 leaders Groupama on their final approach to Lorient © Paul Todd / Volvo Ocean Race

Home glory for Groupama following Telefónica's cruel twist of fate

Groupama completed a heroic comeback victory on Leg 8 of the Volvo Ocean Race on Friday, strengthening their grip on the overall standings and realising a dream homecoming to Lorient – while Telefónica were left to reflect on what might have been after a cruel twist of fate.

Just two days ago Groupama were back in fourth struggling to catch up after spending more than two hours trying to free their jammed mainsail, with bowman Brad Marsh having to climb the 31-metre mast three times in storm conditions.

But once again Franck Cammas’ crew showed off their blistering pace, hauling back their rivals to climb up to second going into the final 24 hours -- and when Telefónica saw their hopes dashed by a second broken rudder 12 hours from the finish they were left unchallenged in terms of pace.

The win sees them take a maximum 30 points to move on to a total of 219, bolstering their position at the top of the overall leaderboard with just one leg and two in-port races left.

Groupama couldn’t have picked a better place to notch up their second offshore leg win than their home port of Lorient -- and in return, an army of French fans turned out to give them a hero’s welcome.

"It's a very good feeling for me and for the crew," Cammas said. "It was a short leg but it was very hard. Last night was very complicated and we took a lot of risks but finally they paid off. "This was a dream we had 10 months ago and we're realising that dream now. We still have one leg to go and it's important to do well, but tonight we can have a good night."

As Groupama revelled in victory, CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand crossed the line to take second place, with PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG on course for third.

The reality of seeing his Leg 8 dreams dashed was sinking in for Telefónica skipper Iker Martínez. "The mood on board is as good as it can be in circumstances like these, as we have just seen any chance of us winning this round the world regatta slip away," he said. "It's like two years work just disappearing into thin air in a matter of minutes - what a mess. Now I'll be happy if we all get to shore without any further problems."

Wild conditions continued to dominate in the final sprint for the finish line, as seen in this incredible video from on board CAMPER. The video is downloadable from our Broadcast Room at volvooceanrace.synapticdigital.com/.

Despite being the shortest of the legs so far at under 2,000 nautical miles, Leg 8 from Lisbon, Portugal, to Lorient, France, threw up numerous challenges.

The fleet had to negotiate the light, tricky winds of the Azores High as they approached the waypoint of São Miguel, while in the latter stages winds got up to more than 40 knots in a violent North Atlantic storm.

Just 48 hours from the finish, Groupama faced a potentially dangerous situation as they tried to reduce sail area in preparation for gale-force winds.

The sail got jammed at the top of the mast leaving Marsh to carry out some mid-sea heroics, climbing to the top of the mast three times in winds of well over 20 knots and rough seas.

After two hours of repairs, Marsh’s skills kept the French team in the race and they only lost out 20 miles to the fleet.

Leg 8 also produced record-breaking 24-hour runs, with CAMPER setting the top distance of the race so far of 565 miles.

Stay tuned to the action with the live tracker at www.volvooceanrace.com and live photos at www.livestream.com/volvooceanrace

Position Report at 11:48:23 UTC:

Another victory for Groupama 4 (from Groupama Sailing Team)

On crossing the finish line moored off Lorient this Friday lunchtime (11h 31' 02 hours UTC), Franck Cammas and his men secured their second leg victory after their win in Auckland. This result also further boosts Groupama 4's position at the top of the overall standing.

The scenario was on a par with the challenge because both Groupama and Telefonica suffered damage, there was a big storm to contend with on the final night and an extremely close four-way battle since the start in Lisbon last Sunday. Despite a technical issue with her mainsail on Wednesday evening (trapped car), which caused her to lose around ten miles, the French boat managed to catch up with the head of the fleet and then overtake the Americans and the New Zealanders through sheer speed.

The rudder damage suffered by the Spanish boat on Thursday evening proved damning for Telefonica, especially once her second rudder gave up the ghost midway through last night, following a gybe towards Lorient. Though this left the way clear for Groupama 4 to snatch the lead, she was still under pressure from Camper and Puma with the wind picking up to over 40 knots on the edge of this disturbed system. However, Franck Cammas and his men asserted themselves in a breeze, which was gradually easing as they approached Les Coureaux de Groix: at 11h 31' 02 UTC, Groupama 4 took victory in the eighth leg of the Volvo Ocean Race in front of a massive crowd gathered at the Pointe du Talut headland and around the port which harbours Lorient's old submarine base.

Update from the Helm (by Ken Read, Skipper, PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG)

Barring a disaster of epic proportions we are going to be third on this leg to Lorient. On the podium again. Becoming a familiar theme. But it isn't good enough at this stage. We have bled more points to the race leader on the second-to-last leg and we’re not very pleased about it. But, we have no one to blame but ourselves.

Sailing in the ocean can be rewarding and frustrating and typically the two emotions can happen within minutes of each other. We raced this leg in what has been a familiar theme for us. Keep it close and keep sailing smart and hopefully someone makes a mistake. It looks like in the case of Telefónica this strategy worked but with CAMPER and Groupama it certainly didn't.

Groupama is fast. It’s that simple. CAMPER is fast as well, especially upwind and downwind. CAMPER caught a bit of a break after the long reach out to the Azores, having the fleet park up to let the guys who had fallen behind on the reach reel in the leaders. Don't let them back in the game because they will make you pay for it. When it got windy we made a couple of mistakes and they pounced. We aren't very happy with ourselves.

So where do we go from here? Despite being less than pleased we have moved into second overall for the race, but we have lost valuable points to the race leader Groupama. Time is of the essence. We have to start gaining ground now, and the In-Port Race in Lorient becomes that much more critical. We aren't mathematically out of it, but we have certainly made it hard on ourselves. As has everyone but that bloody green boat.

- Kenny