Australian sailor Sophie Ciszek and the MAPFRE team hold a slender points lead as the Volvo Ocean Race heads to Melbourne for the first time in over a decade.
The Spanish-based team led Vestas 11th Hour Racing by a single point when the fleet left Cape Town on Sunday.
The seven-boat fleet will dock in Melbourne after completing the demanding 6,500 nautical mile third leg of the race.
"We're doing so well, so obviously there's momentum there ... that gives us a lot of confidence," Ciszek said.
"Taking part in this race is special, but being able to do it and sail into your home port is absolutely amazing.
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"But this is a tough leg and it's going to be pretty rough.
"This leg with double points is super-important ... so there's a bit of pressure there.
"But hopefully we can keep doing what we have been and win it."
Ciszek, 32, joined the 10-sailor MAPFRE crew - led by Basque skipper Xabi Fernandez - in July this year after competing with the all-female Team SCA in the last Ocean Race in 2014-15.
She has also previously raced on notable yachts including Wild Thing, Brindabella and Shockwave in four Sydney-Hobart Races.
The lead boat is expected to arrive at Docklands some time on the 26th or 27th of December, where a sailing festival will be held until the next leg - to Hong Kong - starts on January 2.
This year's race is the 13th edition of the open ocean race that was first run in 1973.
It started from the Spanish city of Alicante on October 22 and will finish at The Hague in June.
At 45,000nm, this will be the longest course in the history of the race.
In a bid to make the race a true test of sailing skill all seven competing boats are the same. The Volvo Ocean 65s are just over 22m long and weigh approximately 12,500 kg.
