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 Warsash 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, a two time Olympic silver medallist, said.

“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.”

In the early throws of stage five – known as the toughest of all the stages across the notoriously unpredictable Southern Ocean – Walker and fellow Hampshire-based sailor Simon Fisher are third, making ground 18.8 nautical miles off leaders Team Alvimedica as of yesterday evening.

Another seafarer from the county, experienced Rob Greenhalgh, who is onboard the Spanish MAPFRE boat, jumped up a place into fourth in Friday’s sailing. Meanwhile, Gosport’s Dee Caffari and Hamble’s Sam Davies on the all-female Team SCA plummeted from fourth to last after tacking back.

Dongfeng, Abu Dhabi’s closest rivals overall, were fifth overall in the last location update as the boats continued their path away from the east coast of New Zealand and into the Southern Ocean.