| SANXENXO, SPAIN-(9-11-2005) After the see breeze kicked in today the racing in the Volvo Extreme 40’s got underway. The race committee decided on a triangle course today. Consequently the five super cats started the race with a beat first going around the cans counter clockwise (starboard rounding).
Later the race committee had to change the course and the teams sailed clockwise around the course. Six races were sailed in tricky conditions with the wind constantly moving to the right. The course was always close to the shore and in sight of the spectators and round the world sailors in and around the Real Club Nautico de Sanxenxo.
Calculating with the provisional results Team Volvo Ocean Race is still in the lead with a margin of four points over Holmatro, skippers by Mitch Booth. In third place is Hilfiger only one point behind Booth.
Sebastiaan Godefroid (crew Volvo Ocean Race) “It was really very difficult today. With lots of position changes, all the time. Only on the finish line we were certain of our position. For example Mitch Booth went from fifth to second in just ten seconds before the finish. Very close racing. Just imagine we have sailed eleven races and the we are all only ten points apart. Anything can happen tomorrow.”
Hugh Styles (skipper Basilica): “From hero to zero, that was our story for today. With the Basilica we ended first, second, fourth, fourth and fifth. The wind changed a lot. In the first race we started as last, but ended as first. And the number five won the opening race. That was the story. It was awesome to see everybody ending so close to each other. Hopefully the spectators loved it too.”
Carolijn Brouwer (skipper Volvo Ocean): “ We sailed today like a jojo around the course. We were very sharp on the tactics, but the weather and wind were very difficult. We got it right a couple of times, we got it wrong a couple of times. You have got to anticipate the breeze very well and that was the hardest part of the day. All together we like to have a little bit more pressure, like in the race we won.”
Leigh McMillan (helmsman Motorola-CHR) was not very happy on the water, especially at the final of the fourth race, where skipper Randy Smyth and his Tommy Hilfiger-crew almost hit Motorola-CHR: “Eh… Yes…. We had some discussions today. Like in that fourth race where they did not give us enough space to round the leeward mark. But we will not take it any further, just that people watch out for these kinds of incidents. We stay sporty.”
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