SINGAPORE — Spain's Telefonica Blue embarks on the fourth leg of the Volvo Ocean round-the-world race, one of eight yachts leaving Singapore on Sunday for Qingdao, China.

The leg is about 2,500 nautical miles and expected to take from 10 to 12 days to complete. Race organizers expect this stage to be the one of most dangerous, with sailors likely to meet cold weather and large waves on the way to northeast China.

Telefonica Blue won the third leg last month, closing the gap on overall leader Ericsson 4 of Sweden during a 1,950-nautical-mile stage from Kochi, India to Singapore.

U.S. team Puma Ocean Racing arrived in second place. The yacht was just ahead of Sweden's Ericsson 3, which edged Ericsson 4, skippered by five-time Olympic medalist Torben Grael of Brazil.

The Volvo Ocean race started in Alicante, Spain and ends in June at St. Petersburg, Russia, after 10 legs and six in-port regattas.

The race includes Asia for the first time in its 35-year history.

On the Net: www.volvooceanrace.org