Cape Town (South Africa) – The Brasil 1 sailors breathed a sigh of relief when they got off the boat Monday. The first Brazilian crew ever to compete in the round-the-world Volvo Ocean Race was not just celebrating their fourth place in the in-port race or the end of a race that saw gusts of wind of more than 40 knots. What the crew really celebrated was the consistency of their performance.

With 12.5 points the team is now alone in second place in the overall standing. The Brasil 1 has consistently been among the front runners in the three races that have taken place so far in the competition. The Brazilians finished in second place in the Sanxenxo in-port race, passed the scoring gate at Fernando de Noronha in third position in the first leg between Spain and South Africa and were now the fourth boat in this Monday’s in-port race.
\"Our second place shows that we have achieved a certain consistency. We didn\'t get a podium finish today (Monday) but we are always close to the leaders,\" celebrated trimmer Marcelo Ferreira, bowman of Torben Grael in the Star class. \"This will give us more peace of mind to work with this week.\"

\"The ABN 1 made the least mistakes. All the other boats screwed up quite a bit. Including ours,\" said Ferreira. \"The second place position is wonderful after everything that has happened. The conditions were very difficult, it was the first time I sailed in 45-knot gusts of wind,\" said sailor and project director, Alan Adler.

The Brasil 1\'s performance also demonstrated that the crewmembers\' pre-race confidence was justified. \"I was very pleased with the speed of the boat, which was excellent compared to others. However, we could also notice the advantage that the ABN has of having had an extra 12 months of training,\" said Adler. \"The boats that finished ahead of us are the ones that had much more training time,\" said the crew\'s new navigator, Dutch sailor Marcel van Triest.

The new crewmembers did well. \"Marcel and Knut Frostad helped a lot. Marcel, who was the only completely new crewmember was a big help, especially with the waylines,\" praised Grael.
Modest, the Dutch sailor thanked his fellow sailors. \"My job wasn\'t so much as a navigator but I helped out with the trimming of sails and the maneuvers.\"

The overall results of the Volvo Ocean Race, after the second in-port race are: 1º. ABN Amro One, with 15 points; 2º. Brasil 1, 12.5 points; 3º. ABN Amro Two, 12 points; 4º. Ericson, 11.5 points; 5º. Movistar, 6 points; e 6º. Pirates of the Caribbean and ING Brunel, 5 points.

The Brasil 1 is sponsored by VIVO, Motorola, QUALCOMM, HSBC, Embraer, ThyssenKrupp, NIVEA Sun, Ágora Senior Corretora de Valores and the Brazilian Government through Apex (Agency for the Promotion of Brazilian Exports), the Ministry of Industry, Development and Foreign Trade, the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Sports, with special support from Varig.