SOUTHAMPTON sailor Ian Walker has enjoyed more Volvo Ocean Race success.

The former Olympic star skippered Abu Dhabi to first place in the first leg of the round the world odyssey.

He and his crew – featuring a second Southampton-based sailor, navigator Simon Fisher – followed that up by winning the Cape Town In-Port race yesterday.

Abu Dhabi already led the hunt for the Volvo trophy after claiming victory in the first leg and now they are looking to be serious contenders for the in-shore series silverware.

The fleet was split from the start in challenging conditions in Table Bay, under the famous Table Mountain, with winds veering dramatically between 12 and 20 knots and rain clouds threatening throughout.

Walker opted for a port line early in the sprint for the first mark and it paid immediate dividends as they and Team SCA, skippered by Hamble’s Sam Davies, raced clear.

The team from the Emirates have already shown they can make the right decisions under the toughest of pressure.

They edged out Dongfeng Race Team by just 12 minutes in a thrilling Leg 1 climax last week, after 25 days of sailing from Alicante to Cape Town.

After some 20 minutes of racing yesterday, they already looked like they had the points in the bag, especially after one of the rivals for the in-port series prize, Team Alvimedica, suffered a tear in their jib.

Charlie Enright's team had triumphed in the opening in-port race in Alicante back on October 4 but this victory puts Abu Dhabi now back on top of the points table with three.

The battle for second place soon grabbed the attention of most with Team SCA and Team Brunel in a rare old shootout after the Dutch found a burst of pressure midway round.

At the finish line Walker had a winning margin of a couple of hundred metres from Brunel with Davies and her all-female crew in third.

“Cape Town can be like that when the wind comes round Table Mountain. We had really good crew work today, I was out of breath just watching them,” said Walker.

“We just tried to do the right thing and our navigator, Simon Fisher, did a good job controlling the race.

“Two down, plenty more to go.”