Portsmouth (England) – The Volvo Ocean Race organization granted bonus of 1.5 points to the Brasil 1 and the Pirates of the Caribbean/USA in recognition of the two boats’ participation in an attempt to rescue crewmember Hans Horrevoets of the ABN Amro 2/HOL, who died after having been knocked overboard on the seventh leg of the round-the-world race.

Now, the Brazilians are solidly in third place in the race, with 49.5 points, behind the ABN Amro 1/Hol, the expected champion with 81 points and the Pirates of the Caribbean, now with 56.5 points. “I thought it was a fair decision. We are fighting for a podium finish and the difference in points will be key in the next few legs,” evaluated skipper Torben Grael.

The Brasil 1 completed the 3200 miles (approx. 6.000 km) of the seventh leg in 9 days, 21 hours, 30 minutes and 57 seconds. The winner of the leg, the ABN 1, arrived 15 hours earlier, but the two following boats, the Ericsson/SWE and the Pirates of the Caribbean/USA, completed the leg quite close to the Brazilians, with only two hours between the second and fourth boat.

“At the time, we changed our course for quite a while. In that period, during those two hours, the weather conditions changed significantly. We were sailing well, using the spinnaker but when we were allowed to continue by the race organization, we got more of a wind and had to change the way we were sailing,” remembers Torben. “I believe that if nothing had happened, we would have battled the Ericsson for second place,” analyzes Dutch navigator Marcel van Triest.

On the water – This Friday, the Brasil 1 returned to the water in Portsmouth, after a general 5-day revision. “We do this at each leg but this time we had some additional concerns as the seventh leg was the hardest one of the entire competition,” explained technical coordinator and crewmember Horacio Carabelli.

Docked in Gosport, the city right next to Portsmouth, the Brazilian shore crew had a bit more work than the other teams. The Brasil 1 was the only one of the five boats to have its keel removed for a closer inspection. The hydraulic cylinders that leaked during the crossing from the USA to England were removed and sent to Italy at the beginning of the week and returned on Friday. “Furthermore, we also changed the rudder as a safety precaution. The old one already had 20 thousand miles on it,” added Carabelli.

This weekend, the Brasil 1 crew will be training for the in-port race, which will be held on Monday at 9 a.m. (Brasilia time). The team will also take the opportunity to try out some “new” sails. During the week, while Carabelli and his team were overhauling the boat, the team’s sail coordinator, New Zealander Stuart Wilson, adjusted some of the sails, based on the expected wind conditions for the last few legs.

The overall Volvo Ocean Race standing, after the additional bonus points of the seventh leg, is as follows: 1. ABN Amro 1 (HOL), 81 points; 2. Pirates of the Caribbean (USA), 56.5; 3. Brasil 1 (BRA), 49.5; 4. movistar (SPA), 48; 5. ABN Amro 2 (HOL), 45; 6. Ericsson (SWE) 43.5; and 7. Brunel (AUS), 7 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 (Trade and Investment Promotion Agency), the Ministry of Industry, Development and Foreign Trade, the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Sports, with special support from Varig.