VOR Melbourne Stopover

The race, watched by almost 1000 spectator boats in ideal conditions, saw ABN Amro One, skippered by New Zealander Mike Sanderson, take the lead in the second half of the four-lap, 28-nautical mile race, securing victory in 2.28.12.
US yacht Pirates of the Caribbean, including Australians Justin Clougher, Anthony Merrington and Mark McTeigue, clung to second despite dropping a spinnaker rounding the final mark.

Spanish entry movistar, with Australians Andrew Cape, Chris Nicholson, Peter Doriean, and Noel Drennan on board, was just 13 seconds behind in third place.

A large crowd greeted the Volvo Open 70 yachts afterwards at Waterfront City, Docklands, with the crew of ABN Amro One making a triumphant arrival.

"It was a long race and we just dug our heels in and managed to get the desired result," Sanderson said.
"When we started we were just in our boat's performance crossover range and then the wind picked up, so today was just fine for us."

Pirates of the Caribbean skipper, American Paul Cayard praised his crew. "There were a lot of lead changes," he said.
"We had good crew work and a couple of times we were passing ABN Amro One downwind on the gybes, so this was really encouraging."

Doriean, from Melbourne, was less complimentary of movistar's performance, despite its podium finish. "We outsmarted ourselves and pushed ourselves too hard at all the corners," Doriean said.

"We should have taken more care. We set up too late at the leeward mark and it was then very hard to recover from our mistakes.

"On the plus side our speed was really good, and we are happy with all the boat work that we have done."
Ericsson was fourth, less than two minutes behind the winning yacht even though it had to re-cross the starting line after a jump start.

Brasil 1, in fifth place, charged into an early lead despite serious doubts it would even make the start of Melbourne's in-port race due to a broken mast.

A new mast was fitted only hours before the start of the race.

ABN Amro Two, with Australians Nick Bice and Luke Molloy on board, also had to restart after crossing the line early, finishing sixth.

Australian yacht Brunel, skippered by Grant Wharington, finished in seventh place.

"It was a tough day for us," Wharington said. "We didn't have any sail handling issues, but we just have to make some modifications on the yacht to be competitive.

ABN Amro One earned 3.5 points for its victory, and now has 32.5 points in the overall point race.

ABN Amro Two is second on 25 points, followed by movistar on 18, Pirates of the Caribbean on 16.5, Brasil 1 on 16, Ericsson on 14.5, and Brunel on 11.5.

Crews Agree On Race Safety
Skippers, key crew members and designers were unanimous in their support of the Volvo Open 70 Rule at a forum held at the Melbourne Stopover in February.

The forum was convened by the race organisers over issues of durability and safety, which arose during the first two legs of the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-06.

Each of the teams were represented and all three of the Volvo Open 70 designers attended.
The gathering was hosted by Volvo Ocean Race chief executive officer Glenn Bourke, who took questions at the end of the forum.

Q: What was the aim of the forum?
A: The aim was to get the skippers and key crew members together with the designers and the race organisation and have a round table discussion, an open exchange of information and ideas between all parties.
The overriding objective of the race organisation was twofold: To determine if the teams felt the rule required change or amendment to assist them in solving their durability issues or in making modifications to improve the robustness of the boats, and to consider any suggestions to further enhance the safety of the boats, bearing in mind that the first two legs of the race were the first the Volvo Open 70s have ever sailed in competition.

Q: Obviously you and the teams felt the issues during the first two legs were significant enough for the race organisation to convene this meeting.
A: Absolutely. I think it was in everyone's interests to call this meeting. It's not a bad time in a race to hold this type of meeting anyway, just to get the general feeling on any issues that are affecting the teams. We poll them by speaking to them personally but it is great in a collective environment if we get some of the main issues out on the table and discuss them.

Q: How was the mood of the meeting?
A: I was pleasantly surprised. There was consensus on a lot of issues. There was a good spirit of cooperation, which you don't always get at a meeting of that kind. Sailors generally have strong opinions and most of those opinions are varied.
What we had was a sense of collaboration – a group of guys with the interests of the race at heart trying to nut out a solution to the current issues. The teams and designers felt it was vital to share information on the exact nature of the damage sustained, particularly in the area of keel mechanisms and keel structures.

Q: What was the outcome of the meeting?
A: After a lot of constructive discussion, there was a consensus on a lot of issues, several positive ideas came out and an agreement that it's very much business as usual. The teams have looked at their own issues relating to breakage and they've decided that it's their responsibility to do something about it.
The message from the skippers was loud and clear. What they said was, 'nobody knows what's happening to us out there better than we know, so please leave it in our hands. If you want to talk to us about the technical detail and the loads that we are experiencing and the speeds of the boats by all means do so, but don't ponder great ideas for moving forward when you're not actually out there on the coal face, in the 60ft seas and in the 45kt winds'.

Q: What was agreed upon in terms of solutions to the current issues over damage to the boats?
A: The teams have looked at their own issues in terms of the structures of the boats and they've decided that it's their responsibility to do something about it. They unanimously agreed that the rule was fine in its current (format) and they don't believe there is anything that significantly requires change.

Q: What have you all learned from the first two legs?
A: What everyone has to understand is that the Volvo Open 70 is a development formula. It's at the cutting edge of the sport and we are learning all the time. The crews are learning the limits of the boats, learning just how much they can push and how much they have to back off.
Some of the breakdowns have come as a result of that learning process. These boats are designed to go fast, there's no denying that. But, I guess the crews have to be mindful of how fast they can push this Formula One of ocean racing in certain conditions.

Q: Was a postponement of the in-port race asked for by the teams to enable them more time to prepare the boats for the upcoming legs?
A: No. There was no request by the teams or designers for a postponement. All the teams agreed that they would throw what time and resources it took to get the boats ready for the in-port race. As a result, there was feverish activity out in the boatyard here in Melbourne to make alterations and have the boats ready to compete.

Q: In view of the modifications that are required, what dispensations has the race organisation allowed?
A: We have allowed the boats a little bit of extra time to prepare for the next leg in so far as they were allowed to weigh immediately prior to the leg start itself, rather than the in-port race, and before the in-port race they needed to declare how much weight they put on board.
They were aware of the fact that they always had to measure in this port and they were still required to measure.