Leg three of the Volvo Ocean Race and there was a third different winner with the Charles Caudrelier-skippered Dongfeng Race Team claiming honours into her homeport of Sanya in China.

Dongfeng Race Team is currently on the home straight to take line honours in the Volvo Ocean Race's third leg to Sanya.

The lure of stronger winds and making miles more efficiently to the finish has led the Volvo Ocean Race boats to tack north over the last 24 hours.

Mercifully for the Volvo Ocean Race six, conditions picked up for the latter part of their journey down the remainder of the Strait of Malacca and turning the corner into Singapore Strait.

If ever there was an example of 'the elastic band' effect in offshore yacht racing, then it is the fate of Dongfeng Race Team's over the last 48 hours.

The Strait of Malacca has always held a reputation for being treacherous, but rather than piracy on this occasion Dongfeng Race Team has been robbed of the wind as it makes its way down the channel

Having ticked 'Bay of Bengal' off their list, the Volvo Ocean Race boats have now entered the Strait of Malacca between the Malay Peninsula and the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

The Volvo Ocean Race boats have been making slow progress east across the Bay of Bengal.

The light patch on Monday night that caused the boats to flounder in the lee of Sri Lanka, has left the Volvo Ocean Race in the odd situation of having a run-away leader in Charles Caudrelier's wor

The Volvo Ocean Race six have spent the weekend closing on the southern tip of India, passing overnight between there and the Maldives, to their west.