HAMBLE’S Sam Davies has become the first Volvo Ocean skipper to lead her crew to two in-port victories in the 2014/15 series.

Davies skippered her all-female crew onboard Team SCA to victory in the fifth in-port race in Auckland, after having previously won the third race in Abu Dhabi in early January.

The latest victory, after leading from the starting gate, leaves Team SCA just two points off the overall series lead behind Auckland runners-up Team Brunel (Netherlands) and Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing.

Abu Dhabi, skippered by Southampton’s Ian Walker, finished sixth and last – after previously managing top three finishes in all four in-port races.

“We won it because we kept it simple, kept our manoeuvres to a minimum and that’s what paid out for us,” said Team SCA’s Hamble-based navigator Libby Greenhalgh.

Davies added: “I’m really happy because it’s going to boost our team’s morale for the next two days while we wait for (Cyclone) Pam to leave us some space to go out in the Southern Ocean.”

The departure for the treacherous Southern Ocean/Cape Horn fifth leg to Brazil has been delayed until at least Tuesday because of the category five cyclone in the Pacific.

Cyclone Pam is, according to one New Zealand meteorologist, the fiercest in the South Pacific for 40 years.

Richard Green said: “Cyclone Pam is enormous, it is the most powerful it can be.

“We have seen nine cyclones of Category 5 in the last 40 years in the South Pacific, and this is the strongest.”

Knut Frostad, the chief executive of the Volvo Ocean Race, said he had “no option” but to delay the fleet’s departure for the 6,776-nautical mile leg to Itajaí in Brazil.

The sailors have unanimously backed that decision.

“We know that our boats are strong, but we cannot sail in 70-knot winds [130 kph]. This is already something more than a cyclone. I have not seen anything like this in my life,” Mapfre skipper Iker Martinez said.

In all, the fleet will contest nine offshore legs before the end of the race in Gothenburg, Sweden, on June 27.