17.04.2006
First home ABN AMRO ONE
Today at 1857 GMT, 1457 local, after 15 days, 2 hours, 47 minutes and 52 seconds, skipper Mike Sanderson steered ABN AMRO ONE, the Dutch yacht affectionately known as ‘Black Betty’, under the Annapolis Bridge and across the finish line south east of Sandy Point, 18 nautical miles from Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, to add another leg win to their tally of three wins and a second place in the Volvo Ocean Race so far.
Finishing in almost drifting conditions, at one point having us a kedge anchor to prevent the boat drifting backwards on the outgoing tide, Mike Sanderson was relieved to have kept the lead from movistar who was challenging them right to the very end.
“It is awesome to have won this leg,” said Sanderson after crossing the finish line. “The conditions in the Bay have not been fast, but we have been through a lot of different weather systems on this leg and it is incredible that we have got through them all and are here in first place.
“Once again the boys have done a fantastic job – I am always happy but today I am more than happy and I am very proud to be part of this team. It is a great day for us and I am looking forward to getting onto dry land here in America.”
In his last email from the boat prior to the finish, Sanderson said: “The last word for this leg has to go to the boys on "Black Betty". They have worked so hard over the last 16 days. It is just such a cool group to be a part of; even when we were last on the scheds, the spirit was amazing.
“Mike Quilter, who is a veteran of at least four of these races and famous for being the winning navigator for both Sir Peter Blake and Grant Dalton, often likes to joke around with us as he works with us on the strategy. In a quieter moment in Rio, he came up to me and said, " Make sure you enjoy this race Moose, boats and teams like this are very special, and don't come around in our careers too often...."
“So to Justin, Jan, Dave, Bob, Sidney, Tony, Mark, Brad and Stan it is just such a pleasure, what else can I say...”
ABN AMRO ONE set the pace on day two of leg five from Rio de Janeiro to Baltimore, but was overtaken the following day by Spain’s movistar with Bouwe Bekking in charge. Positions in the fleet then changed almost on an hourly basis, with ABN AMRO ONE sinking as low as fourth before slowly reeling in the fleet and challenging movistar as they approached the scoring gate at Fernando de Noronha on day five.
Movistar led ABN AMRO ONE around the island by one minute 25 seconds, scoring three points, after six days of difficult and often frustrating conditions. Sanderson and his team then rolled over the top of movistar almost immediately in an exciting move, to take the lead which they indextained right up to the finish.
ABN AMRO ONE heads the overall leaderboard with 62.5 points, 22 points ahead of movistar in second position overall, who was just 17 miles behind ABN AMRO ONE when she crossed the finish line.
LEG FIVE DAY 16, 17.04.06, 2000 GMT POSITION REPORT
YACHT
SGPTS
LPTS
TLPTS
FINISH TIME
ELAPSED TIME
POINTS OVERALL
POSITION OVERALL
1
ABN1
3
7.0
10.0
17/04/06 18:57:52
015d 02h 47m 52s
62.5
1
YACHT
Latitude
Longitude
DTF
SMG
24 Hour Run
24 Hour Speed
DTL
DTLC
SGPTS
PLPTS
PTLPTS
ETA
POP
POSITION OVERALL
2
MOVI
38 46.97N
076 26.02W
00017
06.6
232
09.7
00000
+00026
3.5
6.0
9.5
17/04/06 20:08:38
40.5
2
3
POTC
36 57.12N
075 58.80W
00129
17.6
278
11.6
00112
+00059
2.5
5.0
7.5
18/04/06 04:38:01
39.0
4
4
ERIC
36 08.69N
074 35.38W
00211
11.5
279
11.6
00194
+00040
2
4.0
6.0
18/04/06 11:07:22
29.5
6
5
BRA1
36 14.05N
074 20.10W
00219
16.4
290
12.1
00202
+00055
1.5
3.0
4.5
18/04/06 11:42:20
33.0
5
6
ABN2
36 05.54N
073 59.97W
00237
16.1
294
12.3
00220
+00054
1
2.0
3.0
18/04/06 13:10:56
39.5
3
ABN1 ABN AMRO ONE
ABN2 ABN AMRO TWO
BRA1 Brasil 1
ERIC Ericsson Racing Team
MOVI movistar
POTC Pirates of the Caribbean
DTF: distance to finish, SMG: Speed made good, DTL: distance to leader,
DTLC: distance to leader change; the difference between the distance from the boat to the leader taken at the time of the last six hour poll, and the distance from the boat to the leader at the previous poll
SGPTS: points scored at scoring gates on this leg to date
PLPTS: projected leg points
PTLPTS: projected total leg points including actual points from scoring gates
POP: projected overall points including actual points from scoring gates
OVERALL: projected position in race overall if yacht indextains current position
Sacha Oswald, Press Officer in Baltimore
Tel: +
Email: sacha.oswald@volvooceanrace.org
Lizzie Green Press Officer at race headquarters:
Tel: +44 1489 554 832, Mob: +44 7801 185 320
Email: lizzie.green@volvooceanrace.org
Sophie Luther Press Assistant at race headquarters
Mob: +44 7956 285548 email: sophie.luther@volvooceanrace.org
To receive the latest positions and breaking news on your mobile telephone, text “Alert” to 0046 737 494949
Images
Royalty free images for editorial use are available from the Image Archive at http://media.vemuk.com For assistance, please contact: Picture Desk Manager Tel: Mobile: +44 7801 185 320
Email: images@volvooceanrace.org
Port accreditation and sign up to the Volvo Ocean Race press information service is available online at https://accreditation.volvooceanrace.org .
The Volvo Ocean Race
- The Volvo Ocean Race is a round the world yacht race featuring nine offshore legs, over 31,250 nautical miles. The 2005-06 features an inshore race at each of the index stopover ports.
- Four teams from the last race measured the media value of their exposure. The results showed an average of US$50 million, which equates to a 200-300% return on their sponsorship investment.
- The Volvo Ocean Race 2001-02 achieved a cumulative audience of over 800 million viewers ranking it among the top international sporting events.
- Further information can be found at www.volvooceanrace.org .
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