Team Brunel, led by two 50-something veterans, maintained their grip on the fourth leg of the Volvo Ocean Race Tuesday after a navigational gamble paid dividends.

The Dutch boat, skippered by Bouwe Bekking (Netherlands), 51, and navigated by Andrew Cape (Australia), 52, broke clear of the rest of the fleet on the leg from China to New Zealand and steered far to the north of their rivals.

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The route has probably added some 300 nautical miles (556 kilometres) to their trip to Auckland from Sanya in China, but the extra winds they found have now propelled Brunel well into the lead.

At 0640 GMT on Tuesday, they led by just over 30 nautical miles from Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing with MAPFRE a further 13 nautical miles adrift.

The Spanish boat's progress was all the more remarkable after a communications breakdown with race control which means they cannot receive vital weather data.

"We only have email which works," MAPFRE's onboard reporter Francisco Vignale wrote in a message from the boat.

"Our navigator is very limited in his work and cannot forecast or work out future routes."

The boats still have around two weeks further to sail to cover the 3,000 nautical miles left to reach Auckland.

The nine-month, 38,729-nautical mile event, held every three years, is scheduled to be completed in Gothenburg, Sweden, on June 27.