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Volvo Ocean Race

First win for British skipper Neal McDonald

Swedish entry Ericsson Racing Team win the inaugural In-Port race held in Sanxenxo

samedi 5 novembre 2005 – Information Volvo Ocean Race

It’s a win for British skipper Neal McDonald and his crew onboard the Swedish entry Ericsson Racing Team in the inaugural In-Port race held in Sanxenxo, Galicia, Spain, today.
Ericsson Racing Team will now start leg one, the first of the offshore
legs, 6,400 nautical miles to Cape Town, South Africa, next Saturday with
3.5 points already on the table.


Leading the fleet up the first leg of the 14.4 nautical mile course and
extending it throughout the race to win by just over two minutes, McDonald
and his team of experts never looked threatened. Tim Powell (UK) at the
helm and the crew handling the boat and its huge sails in a skilled way
that one would expect from this talented team. Swedish supporter, Race
Patron H.R.H Prince Carl Philip, was onboard for the victory.

“I feel very relieved,” said McDonald after stepping ashore. “It is nice
to know that we have got good boat speed and are clearly one of the
fastest boats in those conditions. It is a really nice start to win the
race and certainly a great way to start the regatta. John (Kostecki -
tactician) really put us in the right place and that made all the
difference to the race.”

The battle for second and third place was closely fought throughout the
two-hour race. His Majesty King Juan Carlos I, the King of Spain, enjoyed
some tight manoeuvres onboard local boat, movistar, but the Brasil 1 team,
with its crew of Olympic medalists, was able to hold onto to their narrow
lead, to finish in second place.

Skipper, Torben Grael said, “We are very happy with the boat and it is a
great boost for our campaign. We didn’t get a great start, but we felt
very good with our speed and this is how we made up the ground we lost at
the start. I am really pleased that we have a very motivated team and we
had some very good racing, it really was a great way to start the race.”

The pirates onboard The Black Pearl, were joined today by the Infanta Doña
Cristina of Spain. The team put up a good fight all the way round the
track and finally rolled past movistar on the last leg with some superior
boat handling. As the last team to launch their boat, the ‘pirates’ have
accepted that they will have some catching up to do in the first few legs
of the event.

Perhaps the surprise of the day was Team ABN AMRO whose team of hotshots
onboard ABN AMRO ONE must now be bitterly disappointed by not only
finishing in sixth position, but crossing the line behind their team
mates, the inexperienced young crew led by Frenchman Sebastien Josse. No
doubt both skippers will be hoping never to meet these sorts of light air
conditions again in the next nine months.

The day dawned bright and fair for the first time in weeks in the seaside
resort of Sanxenxo today, leaving the sea glassy but the sky blue. The
Volvo Open 70s racing together for the first time as a fleet were left
milling around as the race committee postponed the race as they waited for
more wind to fill in.

The racing finally got underway at just after 1500 local time.
Spectators, afloat in anything they could find, invaded the race track
giving marshals a headache as they attempted to clear the course ready for
racing. Starting the inshore race in light south westerly breeze, the
race committee made the decision to shorten course in a dying breeze after
two hours of racing.

Scoreboard after In-Port Race Sanxenxo

– 1. Ericsson Racing Team elapsed time 01:51:29 (3.5 points)
– 2. Brasil 1 01:54:55 (3 points)
– 3. Pirates of the Caribbean 01:56:30 (2.5 points)
– 4. movistar 01:57:13(2 points)
– 5. ABN AMRO TWO 02:00:07 (1.5 points)
– 6. ABN AMRO ONE 02:04:11 (1 points)
– 7. Premier Challenge DNC (0 points)

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