CAPE TOWN Dec 22 (Reuters) – French team
Groupama vanished off the public radar on Thursday as they led
the Volvo Ocean Race fleet into an anti-piracy stealth
zone.
The fleet will be hidden in the zone, which is one of
several security measures introduced to protect competitors from
pirates operating off the coast of Somalia.
The main pack, including U.S.-based Puma in second place,
Spain’s Telefonica in third and New Zealand/Spanish entry Camper
in fourth, were due to reach the zone by Thursday night.
The exact location of the boats will continue to be masked,
but their positions relative to each other will be updated until
they reach a secret Indian Ocean ‘safe haven’ port in around a
week’s time.
An armed ship will then be used to transport the yachts
through the area where pirates are most active and on to
Sharjah, where teams will resume racing and finish at Abu Dhabi
in the New Year.
The race, in which the teams cover more then 39,000 nautical
miles (72,000 kms), finishes in Galway in July.
(Editing by John Mehaffey; To query or comment on this story
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