“We are all thrilled about winning in such a closely fought leg, but we’re also exhausted after the last 24 hours”

These were the words of Spaniard Xavi Fernandez as he came off the boat and onto dry land in New Zealand. The last few hours in this third leg between Melbourne (Australia) and Wellington (New Zealand couldn’t have been more exciting with teams “Movistar” and “ABN One” disputing one of the tightest and closest finishes ever. The happy ending went to the Spanish team who, following four days of competition and 1,517 nautical miles sailed, gained a sailing record – the very first victory for a Spanish team in a leg of one of the most gruelling events in the world of sailing, the Round the World, Volvo Ocean Race.

The last few hours were tough for two reasons: first of all due to the pressure on each  crew member onboard during every single millimetre of each manoeuvre, and secondly the fact that there was never a moment to rest.

“Almost all of us have been out on deck without a moment’s rest, as ABN were just too close for us to just let them get away” said Xavi Fernandez.

On Wednesday Feb. 15th, towards 7pm, after crossing the Tasmanian Sea they caught sight of the Dutch boat, which managed to come within just 30 miles of them. “We managed to gain a lead…” said the Olympic Gold Medallist on “Movistar”, “on a very intense upwind course, which we managed to maintain in a neck and neck race until the end”

“It’s been four and a half days of tough racing, especially during the first three, where we had 25 to 30 knots of breeze behind us which meant we were going very fast. For the last night we didn’t have much wind at all, but we managed to overtake ABN again and to gain those precious nine seconds…after 1,500 miles!”

Talking a bit more about those four very intense days onboard, the Spanish Olympic Champion said“ This leg has been much tougher than people can ever imagine, in that we’ve been on constant ‘stand-by’ sleeping very little. It’s been much more intense than even we’d imagined in that we had to give it our all throughout the whole race, with the course being shorter, and on the last night everyone was out one deck making sure not a second was lost.”

Pepe Ribes from Alicante in Spain was very satisfied with the teamwork, “Last night we managed to overtake ABN AMRO 1, and this morning they overtook us, then we overtook again…"I’m very happy with this result!” he said, as he explained how the different choices of sail between the “Movistar” team and the Dutch  were crucial.

“This has been a fantastic regatta from start to finish. The past 24 hours have been difficult with low winds, and difficult sailing conditions and also both boats have a different set of sails and we’ve both been working our sails to get ahead.”

“There have been gybes and tacks one on top of the other, and in the end we managed to get in first by a nose! There’s been quite a bit of pressure, and we’re quite tired. At first there was a lot of wind and we were all on stand-by with five or six of us on deck going full on, lots of sail changes…lots of complex changes.”

The fourth leg is already at the forefront of Pepe Ribes’s mind, although he’s already looking at ABN’s performance on certain courses where she seems to have a considerable advantage in terms of speed. “In relation to the other Farr boats, we seem to have good speed, but there are certain angles where “ABN” slips away from us. These last four days sailing togather have given us the chance to see them in closer quarters and to learn a lot about their sails. We’ll just have to see how we get on in the fourth leg, and hope to reach Cape Horn close to them. From what I learned from my last RTW, from there to Brazil we may have a chance to beat them, as the course upwards tends to be lacking in wind.”

Movistar’s Captain Bouwe Bekking was thrilled at the prize-giving.

“I’m really happy with this result and with the whole team. It’s been a thrilling 24 hours and whole race. The whole leg has been very exciting.”

Movistar moves closer to the leaders with this result, and also ensures a solid third place on the podium, as well as moving even closer to the team in second place “ABN Two”, now only three points away. They ara now only 13.5 points away from leaders “ABN One” agap which they hope to reduce further in the next leg towards Rio de Janeiro.

Movistar will be making use of the “penalty” in Wellington, which means that they will be penalised with two hours delay on departure from the New Zealand capital due to structural damage in the joins between the keel and the hull.

“About 24 hours ago we noticed a strange vibratios, but we weren’t sure exactly where it was coming from,” said Pepe Ribes.

“As we drew into Wellington the boat seemed to be going much slower than usual for the sailing conditions. We though it might be the laminate coming apart, but that’s not what we found.”

The skipper Bouwe Bekking, responded calmly to the news that the “penalty” would have to be used on the leg towards Rió de Janeiro in this fourth leg which joins Wellington with the famous Brazilian city.

 “In terms of damage, we knew we were in trouble, but not that we’d damaged the keel wedges to such an extent. Even so, we manged to get away from “ABN One” with or without the damage. Tomorrow some of our shore team should arrive with all the equipment we need to get the hull sorted out in time for us to leave for leg four on Sunday

The team’s trainer, Ken Dool, explained the damage experienced before reaching Cook’s Straight in more detail.

 “What’s broken is large part of the keel wedges that fair the keel aperture and the sliding “bomb doors” which have been ripped from the hull. There was also damage to the fairing at the hull aperture for the port side dagger board.

The wedges are foam and carbon fibre fillers between the sliding plates that move with the canting keel to stop most of the water that might come into the boat through the hole the keel works through.

“These are issues which gravely affect the boat’s performance, which makes the team’s victory in this leg even more impressive”

“We don’t know exactly how they have come off, perhaps due to the force of a wave in the strong weather conditions experienced out there during the start of the race.”

“It’s a relief and also a great assurance for the team that one of the key boat builder, Peter Britt, is already here repairing and preparing the boat. At 13:30 (NZ time) the boat was crossing the finish, and at 16:00 it was already out of the water, with Pete examining the damage and organising the repairs.

“Everyything will be sorted by Sunday, and even if we have to undergo the two hour “penalty” the boat will be 100% for the fourth leg of the race.”

Provisional General Rankings
3rd Leg Melbourne (Australia)-Wellington (New Zealand)
Volvo Ocean Race 2005-2006

1º MOVISTAR (Spain)
2º ABN-AMRO 1 (Holland)
3º Pirates of the Caribbean (USA)
4º Brasil 1 (Brazil)
5º ABN-AMRO 2 (Holland)
6º Ericsson (Sweden)
7º  Brunel (Australia)

Provisional General Rankings Volvo Ocean Race 2005-2006:

1º ABN-AMRO 1 (Holland), 38,5 points
2º ABN-AMRO 2 (Holland), 28 points
3º movistar (Spain), 25 points
4º Pirates of the Caribbean (USA), 21,5 points
5º Brasil 1 (Brazil), 20 points
6º Ericsson (Sweden), 16,5 points
7º Brunel (Australia), 11,5 points