All of the six boats reported that they were forced to stop in the previous 24 hours to clear seaweed off their keels as they made their way east of the Caribbean islands towards the sixth leg destination of Newport, Rhode Island, U.S.
The 5,010-nautical mile (nm) stage could hardly be more closely contested with just 2.7nm separating the first three led by Dongfeng Race Team (China).
Even last placed Team SCA were only 65.5 nm off the Chinese team's pace and in with an outside chance of a top three podium place with a little more than 1,400 nm still to sail to Newport.
For most sailors, however, the tension of a very tight leg was outweighed by the sheer frustration of the Sargasso seaweed clumps that were constantly snagging the boats.
Overall race leader Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing's skipper Ian Walker (Britain) summed up the general mood: "This seaweed is a joke. If I had wanted to do gardening, I would not have signed up for the Volvo Ocean Race. It's non-stop foil cleaning."
Meanwhile, the all-female Team SCA were battling with the separate threat of flying fish as they sped through the Atlantic.
British sailor Abby Ehler explained: "As we were hurtling along at breakneck speeds, water cascading across the decks, flying fish were firing themselves at us from all directions, looking like silver bullets as their scales reflected in the moonlight."
Flying fish are a well known hazard in the race and the crews don hard hats to avoid injury from them. The boats are due to arrive in Newport on May 7 after 17 days of sailing from Itajai, Brazil. They will then have 10 days in dock for maintenance before setting off for the final transatlantic crossing to Lisbon, Portugal.
There are then two further legs taking in France, the Netherlands and Sweden before the race concludes in Gothenburg on June 27 after nine months at sea.
(Editing by John O'Brien)
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