All five boats present at the Abu Dhabi stopover of the Volvo Ocean Race were put through their paces on Tuesday in light winds.
Telefonica, which leads the nine-leg race after two legs, spent more than five hours practising the sail changes and manoeuvres necessary for the actual in-port race on Friday, in winds varying between six and eight knots but sometimes dwindling to three.
Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing edged away at 2.30pm to leave the dock empty, with all five teams anticipating a practice race slated for Wednesday, a Pro-Am Race for Thursday, the in-port race for Friday and departure on Leg 3 toward Sanya, China, on Saturday.
Well away, down in the Indian Ocean, Team Sanya maintained progress toward the undisclosed port the Volvo Ocean Race implemented out of piracy concerns.
Team Sanya had halted Leg 2 on December 20 for rigging repairs in Madagascar. If it can complete the path to the undisclosed port, it will collect four points for a sixth-place finish in that stage of the leg.
Team Sanya, the last entry into the six-boat race, and the only entry using a second-generation Volvo Open 70 boat, occupies sixth overall on four points, 15 behind fifth-place Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing.
When the boats depart on Saturday, they will begin with a sprint, an inverse of the sprint they held last Wednesday, with six points going to the winner.
From there, the boats will go on to a ship which will transport them to the undisclosed port, from which they will proceed to Sanya, China, the winner of that two to three-week leg receiving 24 points.