HAMPSHIRE skipper Ian Walker is poised to claim his second podium position in as many legs as the end of the second stage of the Volvo Ocean Race approaches.

Walker’s Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing crew are in third place just 39 miles behind leg leaders Team Brunel with less than 500 miles to the Abu Dhabi finish line.

Walker, from Warsash, guided his team to victory in the opening leg from Alicante, Spain, to Cape Town.

And with about 300 miles separating the top three teams from the rest of the fleet, a second podium finish in the sprint to home port of Abu Dhabi is almost guaranteed.

Walker said his crew was on a constant lookout for opportunities to reel in frontrunners Brunel and Dongfeng in the final miles.

He said: “Sometimes in this race you have no tactical options and you just have to settle in and simply cross off the miles as fast as you can.

“Right now we are sailing identical courses to the boats ahead and trying to clip a few miles off their lead if and when we can.

“We are two hours behind Dongfeng and three behind Brunel after some welcome small gains on the last position report.

“We have to bide our time and hope we get a chance later in the leg but it would be good if we could sneak closer to them in the short term.”

All-woman Team SCA, skippered by Hampshire’s Sam Davies, were also looking for opportunities despite trailing the leaders by almost 1,000 miles.

Libby Greenhalgh, the Southampton-based navigator, said: “We’ve just under 1,000 miles to go, which is good.

“We’ve been trying to use large clouds to give us some good breeze but unfortunately one suckered on to us.

“We made gains and now we’re into the north easterly winds.

“We’re just chugging along around a pirate exclusion zone and heading towards the Gulf of Oman where there will be a bit of a restart.

“We could have the opportunity to close the gap and maybe see some of the others.”

The first boats are expected to arrive in Abu Dhabi in the next few days.