Sports | Saturday 6 June, 2015 2:17 pm |

Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (ADOR) – the emirate’s race leading entry in the Volvo Ocean Race (VOR) – will start Leg 8 from Portugal this Sunday with a chance to build up a commanding lead in the overall standings by the time the Abu Dhabi yacht arrives in Lorient, France.

The Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi)-backed team holds a six-point advantage in the overall standings over Team Brunel and Dongfeng Race Team who are tied on points in second and third places respectively.

If ADOR beats both these teams by a margin of two points or more on Leg 8, it would only need to complete the final leg from Lorient to Gothenburg in Sweden to claim overall victory.

Dongfeng dropped from second to third behind Brunel on Thursday when it was given a one-point penalty by an international jury for sailing in a race exclusion zone on the previous leg from the USA to Portugal.

But despite the favourable points situation, ADOR skipper Ian Walker, played down any talk of claiming overall victory on Leg 8.

“We are well positioned going into the final two legs, but the race is far from over,” said the double Olympic silver medallist. “Our first priority now is to make sure we finish Leg 8 and try to stay close to Brunel and Dongfeng. We will look at the points again in Lorient.”

Compared to the epic, open-ocean legs, Leg 8 is a relative minnow at only 650 miles. Nevertheless the course will see the fleet race the length of Portugal’s west coast from Lisbon before taking on the notoriously storm-ridden waters of the Bay of Biscay as the racing yachts approach Lorient on France’s rugged and rock-strewn Brittany coast. “There are plenty of other challenges for us on the way to Lorient – it looks like headwinds all the way and the tides along the Portuguese and Brittany coasts are not for the faint-hearted,” Walker added.

ADOR navigator Simon Fisher said having two close rivals made Leg 8 a great deal more tactically challenging.

“It’s more complex now with two teams to think about,” Fisher said. “Our strategy will be to stay close to them both to minimise the risk. If they go separate ways at some point then we will have to choose which one to follow based on who we think is right.”

In the 2011-12 edition, Biscay delivered some of the strongest winds and the fastest sailing of the race and according to ADOR bowman and helmsman Justin Slattery the shortest leg of the race is not to be taken lightly.

“Although it’s under a thousand miles, this route can throw up plenty of challenges and we are going to have to be on top of our game to get the result we want,” he said. “Last time was stormy and there was lots of damage among the fleet. This time we could have strong headwinds across Biscay and that will mean boat-breaking conditions. Seamanship could have a big say on this leg.”

The fleet is expected to complete Leg 8 in around three and a half days with the leaders expected in Lorient on or before June 11. ADOR fans can follow the team online at volvooceanrace.com/live. For regular Tweets from on board reporter Matt Knighton on Azzam follow @AzzamLive on Twitter.