Dutch yacht ABN AMRO ONE won the in-port race at Guanabara Bay in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday, increasing its overall lead in the Volvo Ocean Race.
ABN AMRO ONE, winner of the fourth and longest leg of the around-the-world race two weeks ago, finished comfortably ahead in 2 hours, 26 minutes, more than two minutes in front of Spain's movistar, and four minutes ahead of Sweden's Ericsson Racing Team.
Local favorite Brasil 1 was fourth, five minutes behind the leader, followed by ABN AMRO TWO and American yacht Pirates of the Caribbean.
PHOTO: AFP
"Without a doubt we expected a better finish here," Brasil 1's Alan Adler said. "We took too many risks and ended paying for that at the end."
ABN AMRO ONE reached 52.5 points in the overall standings, 16 more than ABN AMRO TWO, and 21 ahead of the Pirates of the Caribbean. Movistar was fourth with 31 points, followed by Brasil 1 with 28.5, and Ericsson with 23.5.
ABN AMRO ONE dominated the in-port race, keeping a safe lead all the way to the end. Movistar and Ericsson weren't able to push hard enough to mount a threat at any point.
Hundreds of spectator boats accompanied the race. A fleet of Brazilian navy vessels was on hand to keep the boats at a safe distance from the speedy 21m Volvo Ocean Race yachts.
ABN AMRO ONE won the 12,400km fourth leg from New Zealand to Brazil on March 11, after more than 20 days through the Southern Ocean and around Cape Horn. Pirates of the Caribbean was second and ABN AMRO TWO third.
ABN AMRO ONE also won the first and second legs and was second to movistar in the third.
The 9,260km fifth leg from Rio to Baltimore, US, begins on April 2. The six multi-million-dollar yachts should make the trip in about 18 days, negotiating the fickle winds and weather systems of the intertropical zone known as the Doldrums.
The nine-leg, 58,000km race includes other stops in the US, Britain and the Netherlands before the finish in Gothenburg, Sweden, in June.
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