Nicholson, an Australian in charge of a largely Kiwi crew, had been criticized after his team surrendered second place overall last weekend having mustered only fourth place in the fourth leg from China to Auckland.

A week of practising their starts, however, paid handsome dividends as Camper dominated the Auckland in-port race from the first mark and gradually increased their final margin of victory over second-placed Puma to 54 seconds following an hour of racing.

The result leaves Camper on 104 points, 18 behind overall race pace-setters Team Telefonica who finished last on Saturday.

Groupama of France are second overall on 107 but had to settle for third in Saturday's Auckland sprint after suffering problems with their keel at one stage.

"It's been a huge week of support for us and it's helped," he told reporters. "We did practice start after practice start all week and we really stuck it when it mattered.

"Now we've flicked the switch and we want this on the next leg. Telefonica showed in this race already that momentum counts for so much by winning the first three legs. I'm hoping it's our turn now." The fleet now faces probably their toughest test of the 39,000-nautical mile, nine-month race when they take on the treacherous Cape Horn on the way to Itajai, Brazil.

Storm conditions are expected to greet the boats on the first night out of Auckland on Sunday and then they will need to dodge icebergs in the Southern Ocean.

There are nine legs overall with each earning the winner 30 points.

1 Team Telefonica (Spain) 122 pts, 2 Groupama (France) 107, 3 Camper (Spain/New Zealand) 104, 4 Puma (US) 83, 5 Abu Dhabi 55, 6 Team Sanya (China) 25.