It gets tighter at the top in Volvo Ocean Race

Camper crew want victory as a Christmas gift.

The top two boats in the Volvo Ocean Race waged a fierce battle throughout Christmas Day, as Camper/Emirates Team New Zealand clung to a narrow lead over Team Telefonica in the race to Abu Dhabi.

"We've just got to keep the hammer down. There's plenty of racing left in this leg," said Chris Nicholson, the Camper skipper.

Camper, who had a lead of just under 24 nautical miles on Saturday, saw that advantage down to less than four nautical miles yesterday, with the prospect of the high-stakes fight continuing all the way to the finish line.

Team Telefonica have a three-point lead in the overall standings after finishing ahead of Camper in the first leg from Alicante to Cape Town and also the in-port race in Cape Town.

The five boats still sailing in Leg 2 from Cape Town to Abu Dhabi were nearing a secret safe haven in the Indian Ocean. Leg 2 will be completed with a sprint into Abu Dhabi, once the boats have been shipped from the safe haven to a point off the Sharjah coastline.

Groupama, who led for much of the leg only to slip back in the doldrums, also managed to claw some miles back from Camper yesterday, closing to within 59 nautical miles of the leaders.

"We've been manoeuvring, navigating, doing everything in our power to go as quick as we can to our final destination," skipper Franck Cammas said.

Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, in fifth place, had a hectic start to Christmas Day. While the boats at the front were moving at speeds around nine knots, Ian Walker's crew were averaging more than twice that.

"We had an absolute thrashing this morning," Walker said. "We got 40 knots of wind and torrential rain for five hours."

The conditions proved too much for the holiday treats on board, according to media crew member Nick Dana.

"As the morning got on, so did the breeze," Dana said. "At one point we were seeing a steady 35+ knots of true wind speed ... it made for tough driving conditions.

"The breeze has been settling down by the hour now, and should hopefully lift us by the afternoon. A pretty exciting Christmas so far - all the chocolates and candy were already smashed in the fever this morning."