| CAPETOWN, SOUTH AFRICA-(6-12-2005) Gun smoke, kissing on the foredeck, champagne spraying in the air, a small libation splashing on the water! Sunergy and Friends cross the line at 1433.55GMT to take fifth place and to conclude Leg 1 of the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-06, a leg of ups and downs, triumphs and tribulations.
Grant Wharington and his crew on Sunergy and Friends were overjoyed to have completed the first leg of the Volvo Ocean Race this afternoon, crossing the Cape Town finish line at 14.33.55 GMT with boat intact and one 500+ mile day in the bag.
The Australian Volvo Open 70 was the last boat to cross the Cape Town finish line, recording a time of 24 days 1 hour 33 minutes and 55 seconds, arriving some four days after the fourth placed Ericsson, and five days, one hour, nine minutes and 53 seconds after the winner ABN AMRO ONE, but who’s counting?
A 15 knot breeze greeted Sunergy and Friends, providing her with the best conditions and the fastest run into the line of any boat in the fleet, making her the only Volvo Open 70 to give the Table Bay dolphins a run for their money.
Sunergy and Friends' arrival means that the points table for Leg 1, including the scoring gate at Fernando de Noronha is now as follows: ABN AMRO ONE 10.5, ABN AMRO TWO 8, Brasil 1 7.5, Ericsson 7, Sunergy and Friends 4.5 and Movistar and Pirates both on 1, having retired.
Overall, the points table, including the first In Port race, the scoring gate and the Cape Town finish, looks like this: ABN AMRO ONE 11.5, Brasil 1 and Ericsson tied for second with 10.5, fourth ABN AMRO TWO 9.5, Sunergy and Friends 4.5, then Pirates on 3.5 and movistar on 3. In terms of the total points available to the final winner in Gotherburg, these figures are a mere drop in the ocean. There's a long way to go yet.
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