Hard work starts again for Camper

TEAM NEW ZEALAND’S roundthe-world crew sailed out of Auckland with smiles on their faces yesterday but a worried brow wasn’t too far away.

Less than 24 hours after convincingly winning the in-port race on the Waitemata Harbour they had their big red sled Camper back on the same waters starting the daunting leg to Brazil, a 7065 nautical mile dash across the monstrous seas of the Southern Ocean.

They were also facing an early reminder of that as they left Auckland, rounded Coromandel Peninsular and headed to East Cape with east winds as high as 40 knots and a building northeast swell to contend with.

Camper was right in the mix as the six-boat fleet shrugged off a massive spectator fleet.

Camper had made the most of the short stopover in Auckland, commandingly – and crucially – winning the in-port race in Auckland on Saturday.

Skipper Chris Nicholson said victory in that hour-long jaunt was one to be savoured.

It was their first win of the campaign and came with the pressure of operating in their own backyard and on a boat that has been criticised over its performances through the four long legs to date.

But he added there was really no time to celebrate with what lay ahead.

‘‘With such a tight turnaround, we won’t get to think about this race until we are in Brazil,’’ Nicholson said.

‘‘I’m just glad we have done it and proven to ourselves what we can do.

‘‘That was a fairytale race for us and what a time to do with all this support and pressure.

‘‘That’s a bit special, being able to deliver it under pressure.’’

But he knows the pressure goes up enormously now.

‘‘This is such a massive leg. It’s a big turnaround after a nice win like that.

‘‘And it’s tricky because it’s such a different mindset. But we all know what we are in for.’’

Camper collected the maximum six points for the win on Saturday.

That’s small on the overall scale but it tightened the top of the points table nicely, especially with leader Telefonica collecting just one point for a last-place finish on Waitemata Harbour.