21.05.2006
ABN AMRO ONE first into Portsmouth
Mike Sanderson and his crew brought ABN AMRO ONE safely into Portsmouth Harbour tonight, after crossing the finish line at 2330 GMT, 0030 local time. First round the scoring gate at the Lizard, and first over the finish line of leg seven from New York to Portsmouth, ABN AMRO ONE has now amassed 81 points, which makes Sanderson’s overall position in the Volvo Ocean Race unassailable.
After a stressful and testing Atlantic crossing, Sanderson was relieved to bring Black Betty and her crew into Portsmouth. For him, it wasn’t a day too soon.
“It has been a very tough few days, with up to 50 knots of winds, especially the last 24 hours.
“It is lovely to be here. It was such a huge set back losing Hans, but I know this is what he would have wanted.
“It is amazing really. It is such a special moment. For me this is the Olympic medal, the climbing Everest, it’s a childhood dream to have skippered a boat and to have won the Volvo Ocean Race. It has been absolutely unbelievable. It has been the most amazing race with the most amazing team. We have been so tight as a team, from top to bottom.”
Speaking about the tragic loss of Hans Horrevoets from ABN AMRO TWO, Sanderson said:
“From the minute we got the message about the man overboard, we didn’t know exactly which boat it was from, but I had that sinking feeling that it might be one of us. I emailed Si Fi straight away and he said that they had turned around and that Hans was in the water. It was a real kick in the stomach. We felt every minute that the guys were looking for him and they did an amazing job to get back to him. It was just tragic that it wasn’t soon enough.”
ABN AMRO ONE took the lead from day two out of the Hudson River and led the fleet north to the coast of Nova Scotia, then tacked south passing behind the fleet, temporarily falling to the bottom of the leader board. By day six, ABN AMRO ONE was back up to form and on top again leading the pack across the Atlantic.
Ericsson (Neal McDonald) is 60 miles from the Lizard and is expected to arrive in Portsmouth around 1300 GMT tomorrow. Pirates of the Caribbean is 15 miles behind Ericsson and the fight for second place on the podium is sure to be a fierce one.
LEG SEVEN LEADERBOARD
Leg Position
Yacht
Leg Points
Scoring Gate Points
Total Leg Points
Arrival Time
ELAPSED TIME
Overall Race Points
Position Overall
1
ABN1
7.0
3.5
10.5
20/05/06 23:30:42
009d 06h 30m 42s
81.0
1
LEG SEVEN DAY 10, 0030 GMT POSITION REPORT
Leg Position
Yacht
Latitude
Longitude
DTF
SMG
24 Hour Run
24 Hour Speed
DTL
Projected Leg Points
Scoring Gate Points
ETA
Projected Overall Race Points
Projected Position Overall
2
ERIC
49 42.64N
006 16.80W
00208
14.6
378
15.7
00000
6.0
0
21/05/06 13:16:59
40.5
6
3
POTC
49 51.97N
006 43.36W
00223
15.1
376
15.7
00015
5.0
0
21/05/06 14:15:49
52.5
2
4
BRA1
49 08.85N
007 45.89W
00275
16.2
363
15.1
00067
4.0
0
21/05/06 17:43:48
46.0
4
5
MOVI
48 30.11N
015 26.06W
00574
11.4
321
13.4
00366
3.0
0
22/05/06 19:32:44
50.0
3
6
ABN2
48 30.08N
015 26.83W
00574
11.4
264
11.0
00366
2.0
0
22/05/06 19:35:02
44.0
5
7
AUS1
47 29.42N
015 49.46W
00609
17.3
421
17.6
00401
1.0
0
22/05/06 22:15:44
3.5
7
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
Sacha Oswald, Press Officer in Portsmouth:
Tel: +447816 275 498
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
- Further information can be found at www.volvooceanrace.org .
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