Portsmouth (England) – The Brasil 1 has conquered a fifth podium finish in the 2005-2006 Volvo Ocean Race. This Monday, in the in-port race in Portsmouth, England, the Brazilians finished in third place, behind the expected champion ABN Amro 1/HOL and the Pirates of the Caribbean/USA. With this result, the team consolidates its third place in the overall race standing, with 52 points. The ABN 1 has 84.5 points and the Pirates are in second place, with 59.5 points.

“It was a very difficult race, with changing winds and rain showers. We had a good start but opted for a conservative strategy. The Pirates took more of a risk and did well. We focussed on racing against the ABN 2 and the Ericsson, who are our competitors for third place,” explained Torben Grael, skipper of the Brasil 1.

The race was one of the hardest ones of the round-the-world race. In the south of England, just outside the Solent channel, the boats faced conditions that changed with each leg. One moment, the boats were sailing with less than 10 knots under clear sky and the next moment, close to a buoy, they encountered heavy rain and gusts of 25 knots.

Under these conditions, the US-Pirates of the Caribbean did really well. Paul Cayard and his crew chose the left side of the race course, while the rest of the fleet steered towards the right. “We raced really well, getting all our manoeuvres right. The only difference was at the start, when they made the right choice to go towards the left. But we were conservative and were sailing to stay in the top three and keep our podium finish in the overall race. We know it will be hard to overtake the Pirates now, with only three more opportunities for scoring points,” analysed sail trimmer Marcelo Ferreira.

The only hope for the Brazilians came at the end of the race, when, after rushing a manoeuvre, the US-team tore a spinnaker sail. “Before the buoy, we got a cloud that increased the wind suddenly and changed direction on us. We had to carry out a fast jibe and also change the spinnaker. In this manoeuvre, they ripped the spinnaker that they were planning to use and we could start to close in. It is too bad that the wind kept rounding off and we quickly had to raise a genoa sail so we were not able to get that close,” explained João Signorini.

The race, once again, showed the superiority of the champion ABN 1 compared to the other boats. “The ABN 1 went very fast. It is hard to even put up a fight with them because they win everything,” said Torben.

“There isn’t much point in talking about the ABN 1. We are not competing with them, they are in a class of their own, as far as speed goes,” added Marcelo Ferreira.

With this Monday’s win, the ABN 1 sums up a total of 16 points in the in-port races. The Brasil 1 and movistar have earned a total of 14 points and the Pirates of the Caribbean, in fourth place, 13.5 points. The seventh and final in-port race will be competed on June 10th, in Rotterdam.

Just like the Brasil 1 and the Pirates of the Caribbean, who were granted bonus points for participating in the attempted rescue of a Dutch crew member in the seventh leg of the competition, the ABN 2 also received 1.5 bonus points for rescuing the crew of the movistar, who abandoned ship in the North Atlantic.

The overall Volvo Ocean Race standing, after the in-port race in Portsmouth, is as follows: 1. ABN Amro 1 (HOL), 84.5 points; 2. Pirates of the Caribbean (USA), 59.5; 3. Brasil 1 (BRA), 52; 4. ABN Amro 2 (HOL) 48.5; 5. movistar (SPA), 48; 5; 6. Ericsson (SWE) 45; and 7. Brunel (AUS), 8 points. This Saturday, the fleet leaves on the 8th leg of the race, between Portsmouth (England) and Rotterdam (Holland), a course of 1500 nautical miles (approx. 2800 km).

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.