Hampshire skipper Ian Walker has led his Volvo Ocean Race team to the top of the competition’s in-port series as stage seven of the round-the-world epic gets underway.

The Warash sailor, onboard the Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing boat alongside Southampton navigator Simon Fisher, made it 12 podium finishes from 13 races in the in-port events in Newport, USA.

It means that, not only does the Abu Dhabi team top the overall leaderboard, but they also are now kings of the sprint competition that accompanies the 39,000 nautical-mile ocean challenge.

The double Olympic silver medallist led his team to a fightback after being in last place at the first round marker at the start of the latest leg from Newport to Lisbon in Portugal.

“The in-port racing is always tight,” Walker said. “But the natural topography in Newport means the racecourse is long and narrow and that forced the yachts even closer together and that made it harder to find passing lanes.”

The six-strong fleet have now made their way into the Atlantic Ocean, where Walker’s boat is currently in second behind title rivals Dongfeng.

On a sombre day for competitors, after they marked the death of Dutchman Hans Horrevoets – the last sailor to die while competing in the event in 2005/06 during a crossing from New York to Portsmouth – there was little more than seven nautical miles separating first to last.