Charles Caudrelier's Dongfeng Race Team has weathered numerous pushes by Xabi Fernández and the MAPFRE to build on his early lead as the fleet dives south towards the Aarhus turning mark.
© Martin Keruzore/Volvo Ocean Race
"It's 0330 local time and after a less than ideal start we have recovered quite well in the upwind (to the Norway turning mark) and we are just behind Dongfeng," Fernández said.
"It's going well. We are fighting hard with them and hopefully we can get in front of them soon."
The third team in the race for the overall title, Bouwe Bekking's Team Brunel, has struggled to stay with the leading pair. As of 0500 UTC, Team Brunel was in fourth place, 15 miles behind.
"It's been a bit of a rich get richer scenario. The fleet has expanded a little bit," said Team Brunel's Peter Burling. "We're running in over 25 knots of wind and almost back where we started at Gothenburg. We'll probably be in Aarhus late this afternoon."
Conditions are fast - downwind sailing in nearly 20 knots of wind.
Further back, Scallywag and Turn the Tide remain closely matched in the battle for sixth place, separated by just one mile on the leaderboard.
