Spain's Xabi Fernandez stepped in to cover for usual skipper Iker Martinez and guided MAPFRE to an unexpected victory on the fourth leg of the Volvo Ocean Race on Saturday in Auckland.
Martinez skipped the third and fourth legs of the round-the-world race to concentrate on training for next year's Olympics in Rio.
He won gold in Athens in 2004 and silver in Beijing 2008, but missed out on a medal in London four years later and is determined to make up for a perceived lack of preparation come Brazil.
The stand-in skipper Fernandez and his crew have now outperformed the Martinez-led line-up, winning the stage from Sanya on the southernmost tip of China to Auckland by a mere four minutes and 25 seconds from Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing after more than 20 days of sailing, covering 5,264 nautical miles.
"We're super happy to be here in Auckland, and of course, it was a very tough leg," Fernandez told reporters. "We had a very hard last day especially, but we're very happy to be here.
"We have improved a lot over the last two legs. We have a very good team and I hope we can now show the world what we can do and keep doing it like this."
The victory, which moves MAPFRE to fourth in the overall standings, was witnessed by tens of thousands of Aucklanders, who earlier in the day had been celebrating New Zealand's one-wicket Cricket World Cup win over arch-rivals Australia.
Fernandez and his crew overcame two big obstacles to claim a memorable win over Abu Dhabi, who nevertheless moved top of the overall standings thanks to their second runners-up spot in a row.
In mid-Pacific Ocean, they lost full communications with Race Control after a pair of antennae failed for three days. That deprived the crew from plotting the optimum course because of a lack of key weather data.
Additionally, 22-year-old crew member Guillermo Altadill has suffered a suspected broken right hand after being thrown across the dock by a large wave. He will visit a doctor in Auckland on Sunday morning for a full diagnosis.
The teams will now have a break of two weeks before the fleet sets out for the next leg, through the Southern Ocean from New Zealand to Itajai, Brazil.