Iker Martinez's Telefonica spent two days in sailing's version of the emergency care ward before the Sanya in-port race but still left their rivals trailing as the Volvo Ocean Race resumed Saturday. The shore crew of Martinez's apparently indestructible boat replaced the entire rigging after finding a mystery fault and the gamble paid off in style as the Spanish team beat US outfit Puma to extend their overall lead by three points. The still unexplained problem discovered by Telefonica forced it to miss all the practice races Thursday and Friday. The decision to replace the entire system at the last minute was understandable given that faulty rigging can cause a mast to break and the boats are heading out into 10 meter waves when they start Leg 4 Sunday. If their rivals thought the Spanish crew, which has won the first three of the nine-month race's nine legs, would suffer in Saturday's 10.8-nautical mile race they were in for a rude shock as Martinez cruised home to a 41-second win over US-led Puma.
