Pipped at the post

Pirates nobble ABN AMRO Two to take final Volvo Ocean Race victory

WIth ABN AMRO Two holding a useful 15 mile lead yesterday afternoon as the rest of the fleet struggled to chase them down in the light conditions, so in the Gothenburg media centre of the Volvo Ocean Race the diligent members of the press had their headlines written: how ABN AMRO Two's win into Gothenburg was a fitting conclusion to the 2005-6 Volvo Ocean Race, similar to djuice in the race four years ago. But unfortunately the outcome the final leg of the Volvo Ocean Race was not to go the way of 'the kids' as they were pipped to the post by Paul Cayard's Pirates of the Caribbean who crossed the line ahead of them by a slender 4 minutes 50 seconds.

"We couldn’t have been any more unlucky or someone has got very very bad karma on board," said navigator Simon Fisher. "It all went pretty light for us this morning and we sat there with no wind and watched them pop over the horizon and get closer and closer and closer, and they sailed right up over the top of us so that they could gybe and cross and then we finally got the breeze and off we went."

As ABN AMRO Two found herself caught in the transition between the gradient and the sea breeze, so Pirates steamed up on the former, saw that the white boat was stuck and simply sailed round them and from there covered relentlessly - all text book stuff. There followed a gybing match during which Fisher's equilvalent on Pirates of the Caribbean Jules Salter said they gybed perhaps 40 times. "It was nice to have a good last leg, but it should have been ours. I am absolutely gutted," Fisher concluded.

Pos	Boat	Finish time	Elapsed time
1	The Black Pearl	17/06/2006 13:44	002d 02h 44m 06s
2	ABN AMRO TWO	17/06/2006 13:48	002d 02h 48m 56s
3	Brasil 1	17/06/2006 14:32	002d 03h 32m 15s
4	Brunel	17/06/2006 15:26	002d 04h 26m 48s
5	Ericsson	17/06/2006 16:10	002d 05h 10m 20s
6	ABN AMRO ONE	17/06/2006 16:26	002d 05h 26m 57s

Finally the ultimate heroes of the race arrived, two hours 48 minutes after The Black Pearl. In typically extreme style, the black, green and yellow form of ABN AMRO One finished in last place, but her crew didn't mind. The 2005-6 Volvo Ocean Race had been won by them as long ago as Portsmouth. The last two legs had just been a matter of finishing.

"We’ve been becalmed for god know’s how long," said crewman Rob Greenhalgh. "I guess everyone has had their eye off the ball a bit really. We didn’t have to be there and it does change you mental attitude a little bit."

"To be honest we were relaxed," said skipper Mike Sanderson. "I wanted to win the Volvo Ocean Race and that’s what we done. Our biggest aim for this leg was to be here the same day as everyone else! And we got in here in the afternoon in the sun and for all our supporters who have given us such a fantastic trip around the world. There has been nothing wrong with today. It was just a bit of a slow bus to get the party!"

And lo, the celebrations began....

Pos	Team	Combined elapsed time	Tot points
1	ABN AMRO ONE	097d 11h 15m 39s	96
2	The Black Pearl	106d 17h 44m 17s	73
3	Brasil 1	102d 12h 36m 33s	67
4	ABN AMRO TWO	101d 15h 50m 40s	58.5
5	Ericsson	105d 22h 44m 48s	55
6	movistar	-	48
7	Brunel	115d 16h 55m 37s	15.5