Hampshire skipper Ian Walker is avoiding being too clever in his quest to win the Volvo Ocean Race.

The six-boat fleet on the round-the-world race are currently on the fifth leg between Auckland in New Zealand and Itajai in Brazil.

Walker, the skipper of the Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing boat that is currently joint first with Dongfeng Race Team on the overall scoreboard, is biding his time as he looks to win the competition that finishes in June in Gothenburg, Sweden.

“The plan is to get on the podium in every leg, in the same way that in an Olympic Regatta you try and get in the top four or five in every race,” Walker told Scuttlebutt Sailing News.

“If you can do that, then you put yourself in a position with a day or two to go where you can win the regatta.

“So my philosophy has been more so to let others lose a leg than try and do anything too smart to try to win it.

“So we just chip away, and I think that strategy is fine as long as there’s lots of different contenders.”

At the start of stage five Walker and fellow Hampshire-based sailor Simon Fisher are third, 19.2 nautical miles off leaders Team Alvimedica.

Another seafarer from the county, Rob Greenhalgh, who is onboard the Spanish MAPFRE boat, is in fifth.

Meanwhile, Gosport’s Dee Caffari and Hamble’s Sam Davies on the all-female Team SCA are fourth as the fleet crosses the notoriously tricky Southern Ocean.