After nearly 13 days at sea, Team New Zealand's Camper battled across the finish line at Sanya in China in third place on leg three of the Volvo Ocean Race.
Less than nine hours separated the top five teams, with Telefonica first in 12 days 19hr 58min 21sec. Groupama was second, 1hr 47min later, with Camper third a further 1hr 43min behind.
Telefonica has won the first three legs, the first boat to do so since Peter Blake's Steinlager 2 in 1989-1990.
The New Zealand crew consolidated their second place overall, but for skipper Chris Nicholson the 4600 nautical mile leg from Abu Dhabi was a case of missed opportunities.
Despite a spirited fightback, Camper couldn't recover vital miles lost in a tactical error in the Malacca Strait eight days into the leg.
A decision to stay inshore backfired when the wind disappeared, and Camper dropped from second to fifth as the majority of the fleet gybed back out into the main channel.
Nicholson said it had been an incredibly challenging leg.
"I think we showed a lot of character within the team to fight back to third," he said.
"To grab that position is good and it's a positive for us to finish on. However, there's still a lot of thought required about how we can start winning legs."
Camper had led the fleet on five separate occasions during the 12-day leg, and Nicholson said there was still plenty of time to convert that competitiveness into a win, with six more offshore legs and seven in-port races remaining.
"It's a very long race and we're staying in touch with the leader but the reality is that we're not performing well enough and need to deliver a more consistent showing."
Camper picked up 19 points in the truncated leg from Abu Dhabi to Sanya, and now sits on a total of 80 points, 15 astray of Telefonica and nine ahead of Groupama.
The fleet leaves Sanya on February 19 for the 5220 mile fourth leg to Auckland.
Home