Comeback kings Camper threaten Volvo leaders

Camper staged a remarkable mid-leg comeback on Friday to revive their hopes of winning leg seven from Miami to Lisbon and moving into the overall lead in the Volvo Ocean Race. The Spanish boat, which is crewed by members of Team New Zealand, looked in real trouble on Wednesday when they were forced to abandon their position in the south and take a major hit, that relegated them to the back of the fleet. Remarkably, within 48 hours, they were back in a three-way tie for the leg lead, slugging it out with Abu Dhabi and Puma at the front of the pack as the two favourites for the race struggled. Telefonica of Spain and their French rivals Groupama, first and second on the overall leaderboard, find themselves in a similar position to Camper's predicament on Wednesday, after each failed to reach a burst of wind in time to keep them sailing in a straight line to Lisbon. Reluctantly, they were forced to trade in their positions for a big loss and start the long trek north to join the main group of boats. At 1600 GMT on Friday, Telefonica were around 40 nautical miles to the south of leaders Camper, who will take over at the top of the overall leaderboard if they can finish three places above Telefonica and two ahead of Groupama. Puma, in fourth place overall and the only other team challenging for the overall prize, are well placed near the front of the fleet and with the position furthest to the north, with hopes of reaching the next major weather system first. Latest estimates put the teams arriving into Lisbon on May 31, with the race as a whole due to finish in Galway, Ireland in July, eight months and 40,000 nautical miles since the fleet left Alicante in Spain in November. Overall standings: 1 Telefonica (ESP) 165 points, 2 Groupama (FRA) 158, 3 Camper (ESP/NZL) 152, 4 Puma (USA) 151, 5 Abu Dhabi (UAE) 74, 6 Team Sanya (CHN) 27.