THE fourth leg of the Volvo Ocean Race begins this weekend – with Warsash’s Ian Walker aiming to return to the top of the leaderboard.

Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing are currently second in the global sailing race, but victory in the fourth of the nine legs would at worst put them level with current leaders Dongfeng.

Walker skippered Abu Dhabi to victory in the first leg, followed by two more podium finishes, and is now focused on the 5,264 nautical-mile voyage from Sanya, China to Auckland.

The one-design boat rule is unique to the 2014-15 edition of the Volvo Ocean Race and has made the competition even more intense, which is what persuaded Walker to enter the world’s premier offshore race for the third time.

“This has been far and away the closest leg we have ever sailed,” he said after arriving second in Sanya last week.

“We’re in a good place overall – our plan since the race began was to always finish on the podium so after three legs we are exactly where we want to be.

“There are two thirds of the race still to go and we will be sticking to our plan as we move forward.”

Dongfeng clinched their first win of the race in the last leg, which began in Abu Dhabi, with the help of 24 year-old Jack Bouttell, from Southampton.

Born and raised in Australia before moving to Ocean Village with his family in 2005, Bouttell is a graduate of the Artemis Sailing Academy in Cowes.

He impressed after agreeing to join Dongfeng’s eight-man team at the 11th hour.

But he will not be involved in leg four. Instead, he will concentrate on single-handed sailing while the two under-30 slots on the Dongfeng team will again be filled by Chinese sailors. Team SCA is the first women’s team in the Volvo Ocean race for ten years. Skippered by Hamble’s Sam Davies, whose 11-girl team includes Poole’s Annie Lush and Gosport’s Dee Caffari, they are currently sixth out of the seven teams.

Hamble-based Rob Greenhalgh, the ultra-experienced watch captain of MAPFRE, knows there are challenges ahead.

“Historically, leg 4 is a bit of a tricky one,” he remarked.

“A lot of upwind, a lot of reaching, quite a long leg as well.

“I imagine it will be quite close, certainly up until the Philippines.

“There’s a few options on routes to take beyond that.

“Tight reaching angles may see the boats separate a little bit.”

Most of the sailors agree that the Philippines will be a key staging post on a route that takes the Volvo fleet through the South China Sea and into the Pacific, skirting past eastern Australia.

“Going in the right direction, beyond the Philippines, is key,” said Greenhalgh.

“As you start cracking off and reaching, the boats which do the reaching angles fast will make a bit of a jump.”

The weekend begins with an in-port race today with the journey to New Zealand getting underway tomorrow.