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Volvo Ocean Race • Melbourne

Victory for Mike Sanderson’s team on Port Phillip Bay

Fourth win for the leader during the australian in port race

samedi 4 février 2006 – Information Volvo Ocean Race

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Port Phillip Bay played host to
the most dramatic in-port race the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-06 has staged to
date. In the end it was New Zealander Mike Sanderson’s ABN AMRO ONE who
took victory in front of a spectator fleet of almost 1,000 spectator
boats.


American Paul Cayard’s Pirates of the Caribbean finished second after
working her way up through the fleet from fourth place. A final duel with
Bouwe Bekking’s Spanish entry movistar eventually saw Pirates pass,
leaving the Spanish boat claiming the third podium position in an
enthralling battle throughout the entire two and a half hour duration of
the race.

A delighted Cayard said : “It was a great race today for all of us. The
racing was really close and there were plenty of lead changes so we all
really enjoyed it. It was also great to see so many spectators out
cheering us all on. One of the nicest things about today is that the boat
is fast. Added to that we had good crew work and a couple of times we were
passing ABN AMRO ONE downwind on the gybes so that was really
encouraging.”

Ericsson (Neal McDonald), who jumped the gun at the start, recovered from
having to re-start to claim fourth place ahead of Brasil 1, ABN AMRO TWO,
who suffered the same fate as Ericsson at the start, and the Australian
entry Brunel.

Brasil 1 was shaping up to be the story of the race by snatching the lead
soon after the start as the fleet tackled the upwind beat to the first
mark in 14 knots. They maintained their hold over the fleet until the
halfway stage, as the wind built to 20 knots, before misfortune struck.

A bad spinnaker set along with a keel problem dropped them from first to
fifth place as their hardship in the Volvo Ocean Race continued. The
trials and tribulations for Torben Grael and his crew aboard Brasil 1 have
been numerous.

Following a dismasting en route to Melbourne from Cape Town on the second
leg of the race, the boat made the 4,000km journey from Fremantle, Western
Australia to Melbourne just three days before the in-port battle. Finally
a hastily modified rig was fitted just prior to the fleet leaving their
moorings in Melbourne Docklands.

Grael commented : “It is quite disappointing. We started really well but
started having problems on the third leg. It was such a big effort to go
sailing today and we got such a good start, so it was really disappointing
to finish with this result.”

Having stumbled in the opening in-port race in Sanxenxo, Spain in
November, Sanderson and his ABN AMRO ONE crew have completed back-to-back
victories in the two following races in Cape Town and Melbourne.

The win enables ABN AMRO ONE to extend their overall dominance of the
race. Since that last place finish in Sanxenxo, ABN AMRO ONE has picked up
maximum points by leading the fleet home in the first two ocean legs
(Spain to Cape Town and Cape Town to Melbourne) to push their overall lead
out to 7.5 points over second-placed ABN AMRO TWO. Another podium result
for movistar sees them hold on to third place overall.

Sanderson said : “That was an unbelievable yacht race. It was a long race
and we just dug our heels in and managed to get the desired result. When
we started we were just in our boat’s crossover range and then the wind
picked up so today was just fine for us.” Sanderson also recognised the
effort of Brasil 1 : “The Brazilian team did an amazing job. To be that
quick out of the starting blocks and get straight into racing after the
race against time they have had this week is just amazing.”

The teams now have one week to get their boats ocean ready before setting
off on Leg Three from Melbourne to Wellington and then on to Rio de
Janeiro via the Southern Ocean. The leg restart is at 13 00 (local) on
Sunday 12 February.

In-port race results

– 1 - ABN AMRO ONE, Mike Sanderson (NZL) - 2h 28 min 12 sec - 3,5 points
– 2. Pirates of the Caribbean, Paul Cayard (USA) : + 1 min 31 sec - 3 points
– 3. Movistar, Bouwe Bekking (NED) : + 1 min 44 sec - 2,5 points
– 4. Ericsson Racing Team, Neal McDonald (GBR) : + 1 min 59 sec - 2 points
– 5. Brasil 1, Torben Grael (BRA) : + 5 min 8 sec - 1,5 point
– 6. ABN AMRO TWO, Sebastien Josse (FRA) : + 6 min 53 sec - 1 point
– 7. Brunel, Grant Wharington (AUS) : + 12 min 48 sec - 0,5 point
Point sur le classement général provisoire et les points cumulés :

Leaderboard

[position/team name/skipper/race points to date]
– 1. TEAM ABN AMRO ONE, Mike Sanderson (NZL) 32.5 pts
– 2. TEAM ABN AMRO TWO, Sebastien Josse (FRA) 25 pts
– 3. Movistar, Bouwe Bekking (NED) 18 pts
– 4. Pirates of the Caribbean, Paul Cayard (USA) 16.5 pts
– 5. Brasil 1, Torben Grael (BRA) 16 pts
– 6. Ericsson Racing Team, Neal McDonald (GBR) 14.5 pts
– 7. Brunel, Grant Wharington (AUS) 11.5 pts

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