Dongfeng Race Team, with young Australian crewman Jack Bouttell on board, claimed a key landmark in the 41-year history of the Volvo Ocean Race on Tuesday, emphatically winning the third leg in their home port of Sanya to take the overall lead with six stages to go.
No Chinese team had won a leg in the race despite two previous entries - Green Dragon in 2008-09 and Team Sanya in 2011-12 - but Frenchman Charles Caudrelier's crew put paid to that.
"It's the most stressful leg I've ever done in my life," said a relieved Caudrelier, minutes after crossing the line. "But the result is fantastic!"
After finishing narrow runners-up to Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ian Walker/GBR) and Team Brunel (Bouwe Bekking/NED) respectively in legs one and two, Dongfeng took a firm grip of the 4670-nautical mile stage from Abu Dhabi to China virtually from the start on January 3.
At one stage, entering the treacherous Malacca Strait, they stretched their advantage over the fleet to more than 106 nautical miles but the fleet never gave up their chase and, along the wind-shielded Vietnamese coast, Caudrelier found his lead cut to less than 10 nautical miles.
But the 40-year-old and his crew of experienced French sailors, mixed with rookie Chinese and Australian Bouttell, stuck with their tactics to slowly stretch their lead once more as they entered the final day's sailing.
An infuriating lack of wind in the South China Sea kept the tension up into early Tuesday morning and the fleet led by Walker's Azzam again closed the gap a little.
At 0731 (local time) Dongfeng crossed the finish line in Sanya just after daybreak, 45 nautical miles clear of second-placed Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing with Team Alvimedica (Charlie Enright/USA) 13.5 nautical miles further behind.
They are expected to scrap all the way to the finish with MAPFRE (Xabi Fernandez/ESP) and Team Brunel hot on their heels.
Those boats are expected to finish close together later on Tuesday with Team SCA (Sam Davies/GBR) due to complete the leg later into the evening.
The 2014-15 Volvo Ocean Race began on October 4 from Alicante in Spain. The fourth leg is from Sanya to Auckland, with a New Zealand stopover scheduled from February 27-March 15.
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