Photos: L Oskar Kihlborg R © Patrick Anderson

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Mon, 26 Dec 2005 11:00:00 UTC

Final standings and elapsed times: 1 ABN AMRO ONE 15:31:44 3.5 points; 2 movistar 15:38:24 3.0 points; 3 ABN AMRO TWO 2.5 points; 4 Brasil 1 15:41:56 2.0 points; 5 Pirates of the Caribbean 15:42:49 1.5 points; 6 Ericsson 15:54:32 1.0 points; 7 ING Real Estate Brunel 15:55:25 0.5 points.

1345GMT ABN AMRO TWO sail over Brasil 1 and are now giving them dirty wind in order to keep them behind. Brasil 1 made a fantastic charge for the third place, but the sheer power of ABN AMRO TWO and some good sailing by Sebastien Josse's team gave Team ABN AMRO two places on the podium. Pirates have thrown away a good chance of second place by their inability to get the gybes right and have to settle for fifth, Ericsson look as though they have repaired their reef problem and will hold off ING Real Estate Brunel for the last two places.

1339GMT movistar are cruising home in second, having found the way to get their boat going again after the disaster of the first leg. ABN AMRO TWO, Brasil 1 and Pirates are battling for third place. ABN AMRO TWO seem to be laying the finish line, with Pirates to well leeward and Brasil 1 close to leeward. ABN AMRO TWO is suffering in the big gusts, but they are trying to drive over Brasil 1 to stay ahead, but the battle will go all the way to the line.

1335GMT The Race Committee have shortened course and as ABN AMRO ONE gets to the windward mark she takes the win, leading the fleet home by an immense distance.

1330GMT ABN AMRO One leads from movistar, then ABN AMRO TWO, Brasil 1, Pirates then the battle between Ericsson and ING Real Estate Brunel. ABN AMRO one are nearing the last windward mark and hold a huge lead which might now be six minutes. They have a spinnaker ready to hoist and sail the last downwind leg to the finish.

1320GMT Ericsson are still hanging on to sixth position ahead of ING Real Estate Brunel downwind, but if the Australians can't overtake on the downwind leg, they surely will on the final upwind leg. Big gusts are still coming through into Table Bay, but it is hoped that there will be no breakages aboard the boats before the finish.So far the breakage that as really obvious was Ericsson's and it seems that it was a reef line theat give up and caused their mainsail to flog. It is unusual that this sort of breakage has happenened as usually the crews tie a strop over the reef line as a security measure.

1310GMT movistar is well placed in second now, in front of ABN AMRO TWO and Brasil 1. Pirates are back under control but are in fifth. Ericsson looks vulnerable to being caught by ING Real Estate Brunel as they have only a small rag of mainsail to use. ING Real Estate Brunel round the mark and try to chase down the boat in front. Can they get the one point for sixth, leaving only .5 for Ericsson? There is one more windward leg and a run to the finish for the leader, so perhaps 20 minutes to go. ING Real Estate Brunel hoist as Barney Walker calls for the asymmetric in order to close on Neal McDonald, John Kostecki and the rest of the team aboard Ericsson. ABN AMRO ONE are already well up the final windward leg about half a lap ahead of the tail enders.

1306GMT Pirates broach on the gybe again in the same place and wipe out yet again. Three out of three for them, allowing movistar into second place. Pirates spinnaker flies out from the mast, they are heading for the beach out of control, and have let the sail fly to try to get the boat on its feet and back under control. Ericsson seem to have broken their outhaul and have had to put in the next reef to get any control of the sail. They are looking for what points they can out of the race. Pirates are still out of control sailing in the wrong direction.

1305GMT Ericsson seem to have some serious trouble with their mainsail or boom and they might be turning to go back to port.

1300GMT Pirates round the mark an amazing and a dispiriting five minutes and 24 seconds behind ABN AMRO ONE. ABN AMRO TWO must have struck some problem on the leg to have dropped so far from Pirates and to allow movistar to get into third. movistar round 25 seconds behind Pirates, with ABN AMRO TWO about 40 seconds further back. Hot on their heels is Brasil 1, Torbel Grael's team doing a good job on this leg. Ericsson seem to have a problem with their maisail which might have broken it's outhaul or perhaps some fitting at the end of the boom.

1250GMT ABN AMRO ONE round in the lead and hoist. They head off downwind at well over 20 knots in a ball of spray. Pirates are now fighting for second with movistar as ABN AMRO TWO has droped back and is now battling it out with Brasil 1. Ericsson are not showing at all well in sixth. ING Real Estate Brunel are bringing up the rear.

1240GMT Pirates are sitting right on top of ABN AMRO TWO and feeding them dirty wind in true match racing style, preventing them from having any chance of getting thrugh unless they want to initiate a tacking duel - something they might not want to do given the conditions. ABN AMRO ONE is making the windward leg into a one tack wonder as well they might. They are so far in front that they need not take any risks and they don't even need to do more than just keep a watching brief on Pirates and ABN AMRO TWO. Further back Brasil 1 and movistar have extended from Ericsson, and look to be closing up on ABN AMRO TWO.

1230GMT ABN AMRO ONE round the leeward mark in the lead after sailing the whole downwind leg in less than ten minutes. Pirates are the only boat to be able to live with the Juan Kouyoumdjian designs ABN AMRO ONE and TWO in these conditions. The boats that will be disappointed with their performance today will be movistar and Ericsson. Bouwe Bekking and Neal McDonald will be wondering what has gone wrong. Ericsson certainly was fast in the light winds of the Galicia In Port race, but are no match for the ABN AMRO boats in 20 knots and more in Table Bay. movistar is the boat with the miles under her keel, but again, she is struggling in the bigger winds. What has Paul Cayard done to make his version of the Farr-designed Volvo Open 70 go so much faster than her design sisters? Bouwe and Neal will be thinking exactly the same thing.

1225GMT ING Real Estate Brunel with their small crew, two fewer than the rest of the boats, manage to set an asymmetric, a fine performance abord this boat which has been playing catch-up right from the beginning in every aspect of the cmpetition, not just today. But don't write them off when they get out into the ocean. If they can keep it together they might show some of the other boats the way to get big speed in open water.

1220GMT Brasil 1 has come back well on this leg and round in fourth place. movistar and Ericsson are neck and neck, though Brasil 1 have problems setting their spinnaker, but resolve the problem quickly and keep well in front of Ericsson and movistar. ABN AMRO ONE are well in front of Pirates, ABN AMRO TWO have a solid third. Times at this second windward mark were: Pirates two minutes and 52 seconds behind ABN AMRO ONE, then ABN AMRO TWO four minutes and one second behind the leader, Brasil 1 33 seconds, then movistar 26 seconds further back and then Ericsson 15 seconds more. Pirates been have knocked down again in the gybe as they were on the last leg; right on their side with their spinnaker flogging. Brasil 1 gybes badly and are flat on their side too. These boats do seem to have problems in the gybe with the keel, though ABN AMRO TWO make a conservative gybe and gain a great deal of distance. ING Real Estate Brunel sensibly sail downwind with a headsail only.

1215GMT Perfect conditions for the Volvo Open 70s. ABN AMRO One rounds the mark now and look to have extended their lead over Pirates. ABN AMRO TWO in third, but the battle for fourth is raging with perhaps Ericsson having come back from a poor first couple of legs to overtake movistar and Brasil 1. ING Real Estate Brunel are about three minutes behind, but considering they are sailing with only nine aboard it is not surprising they are struggling on the corners, but they look fast in these conditions in a straight line. Pirates round, two minutes 55 behind ABN AMRO ONE. Pirates and well ahead of ABN AMRO TWO.

1208GMT The wind is now well over 15 knots and the breeze seems to be solid across the whole course. The course is first a windward leg, then two reaches, followed by three more windward leeward legs. The sea has increased and so far the conditions favour ABN AMRO ONE not just in their boat speed, but also in their handling. We have seen two massive broaches from movistar and Pirates, but ABM AMRO ONE seem to have things well under control. The points position will be interesting to look at at the end of the race, as of course movistar and Pirates didn't score in the offshore leg. ABN AMRO ONE tack, but have a problem with their headsail which is flapping. As always the race is never over until the finish gun goes. They tack back and things seem to be back under control. A sheet or winch problem perhaps?

1200GMT ABN AMRO ONE tack on starboard towards the top mark. Nothing in it between Pirates and ABN AMRO TWO. Pirates seem to have made some adjustment to the boat - perhaps that's why they stopped for a moment earlier in the leg - and are sailing better than they were on the early part of the leg, though it it still very close between these two boats. The next three are close, movistar, Brasil 1 and Ericsson. Pirates have tacked and will cross ahead of ABN AMRO TWO by a few boat lengths.

1155GMT Pirates have a sudden stop, going head to wind for a moment and lose distance on the two ABN AMRO boats. Brasil 1 has closed on the three boats in front, movistar tacks away from Ericsson. These three are fighting it out for fourth place.

1145GMT ABN AMRO ONE round the leeward mark in the lead well in front with what looks like a solid lead. Pirates drop their asymmetric into the water, but recover well and round in second one minute 48 seconds behind the leader. The small crews must be exhausted already after the excitement of the offwind legs. ABN AMRO TWO round in third and have closed up on Pirates and if they have the speed they showed on the first windward leg, might get back to second by the end of the leg. Ericsson are fourth, but at the mark movistar round perfectly and take the place from them. Then it's Brasil 1 three minutes and 36 seconds after the leader, finally ING Real Estate Brunel.

1140GMT Brasil 1 has a problem and movistar is struggling to get that asymmetric down. ABN AMRO TWO with a reacher rather than a spinnaker has survived the carnage at the wing mark and get through to third. Brasil 1 has sailed well off to the side of the course to sort out their problems. The order is ABN AMRO ONE, Pirates, ABN AMRO TWO, Ericsson, movistar, Brasil 1 and ING Real Estate Brunel.

1137GMT ABN AMRO ONE gybes to approach the wing mark well in the lead. They gybe twice, clearly not finding the mark too easily in the seas. They have a wrap with their spinnaker, ABN AMRO ONE seem to have had a hang up during their second gybe. Pirates look as though they are now in second from movistar. ABN AMRO ONE have another problem in the gybe and lose a lot of their lead. movistar gybe and are completely knocked down with the keel on the wrong side, the boat goes almost on her side. Pirates also broach and fall over on their side. ABN AMRO TWO seem to have a problem with sail selection and has dropped back. Brasil 1 and Ericsson have closed up on the Pirates and movistar after those two massive broaches.

1135GMT Pirates are making a move on ABN AMRO TWO and with movistar are making a charge on second place. movistar are changing to an asymmetric and it looks as though TWO might slip back to 4th under their flat reacher.

1130GMT ABN AMRO ONE rounds first and sets an genneker for the reach to a wing mark. Thirty four seconds behind are ABN AMRO TWO, then movistar and Pirates just ten seconds back from TWO; 15 seconds covers second, third and fourth. ING Real Estate Brunel seem to have a mainsail problem. Brasil 1 beats Ericsson to the mark. The boats are sailing over 20 knots downwind. Pirates set an asymmetric instead of a flat reaching sail. movistar are closing on ABN AMRO TWO, ABN AMRO ONE are smoking away in the lead.

1128GMT ABN AMRO ONE cmes in on starboard to the first mark with their team mates just behind. The two Juan K boats have shown a clean pair of heels to the rest of the fleet. Will their boat handling be as fast as their boats?

1125GMT. ABN AMRO ONE and TWO lead from movistar, Pirates, Ericsson, Brasil 1 and ING Brunel. The boats are less than a minute from the mark.

1120GMT ING Real Estate Brunel brings up the rear, not yet showng her potential. Interestingly she was the fastest boat over a six hour run during Leg 1, faster even than the two ABN AMRO boats. The fleet is closing on the first windward mark, it looks as though ABN AMRO ONE is sailing the best of the fleet and has worked out well to windward of movistar. Brasil 1 seems to be strugglng at the moment. ABN AMRO TWO is tacking on the left side of the course in slightly smoother sea. It looks as though ABN AMRO ONE and TWO might come through in the lead at the top mark

1115GMT ABN AMRO ONE looking to be in the lead. Sails are looking good on this boat and their long training and development process seems to be working well. The possible front two is ABN AMRO ONE and Brasil 1. Torben Grael is keeping the Farr boats in contention, but with ABN AMRO TWO having shown Pirates a clean pair of heels, it looks like the Juan K boats are enjoying the conditions. ABN AMRO ONE ahead of movistar now, with Brasil 1 very close and ABN AMRO TWO on the other side of the course keeping pace with ABN AMRO ONE.

1113GMT Fantastic sight of the Volvo Open 70s at speed in front of an audience. On the right ABN AMRO TWO has climbed out from under Pirates, on the left it's ABN AMRO ONE and movistar ahead of Brasil 1, Ericsson not shining on this first windward leg, movistar clearly faster. ABN AMRO ONE is well to the right with Brasil 1.

1105GMT ING Real Estate Brunel got a second row start, but holding on to the fleet although last at the moment. The left side of the course seem to be favoured. Boats sailing at high speed to windward. Brasil 1 still going left. ABN AMRO ONE and movistar challenging Brasil 1. On the right side it's Pirates and ABN AMRO TWO.

1100GMT. The wind is 20 knots plus, the sun’s out, all seven Volvo Open 70s are on the water for the start of the In Port race. The course is in Table Bay, over to the north east of the bay, hoping for some superb sailing. All the boats are reefed to start and already there is plenty of water on the deck. They line up on the start line, with the gun about to go. Gun! Best start goes to Brasil 1 at the pin end, ABN AMRO ONE gets a good start, then movistar, Ericsson in 4th. Pirates up at committee boat end. Ericsson struggling in dirty wind. movistar controlling the fleet at the pin end. Pirates tack on ABN AMRO TWO who have to duck them.

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