illbruck Challenge Wins First Leg of Volvo Ocean Race
Cape Town, South Africa After almost 32 days at sea, the illbruck Challenge team won the first and longest leg of the Volvo Ocean Race, finishing at 10:19 pm local time today. Wives, children, frie
October 25, 2001
illbruck skipper John Kostecki Photos by Daniel Forster, www.yachtphoto.com
Cape Town, South Africa — After almost 32 days at sea, the illbruck
Challenge team won the first and longest leg of the Volvo Ocean Race,
finishing at 10:19 pm local time today. Wives, children, friends and
family of the race crew welcomed the victorious team dockside in Cape
Town. Syndicate chairman Michael Illbruck greeted the team as they crossed
the finish line after racing 31 days, 6 hours, 19 minutes and 49 seconds
since starting from Southampton, England on September 23.
Photos by Daniel Forster, www.yachtphoto.com
"It's unbelievable," said skipper John Kostecki dockside in Cape Town. "We
didn't expect to win the leg but our goal was to finish in the top three
with a podium finish. It's nice to start out this way."
While consistently at the front of the fleet, it was only in the final 24
hours that Kostecki and crew regained the lead from fellow competitor Amer
Sports One. Amer Sports One was 16 miles behind when illbruck crossed the
finish line.
Photos by Daniel Forster, www.yachtphoto.com
Kostecki commented on how illbruck fought back to regain the lead they had
relinquished to Amer Sports One eight days earlier. "We always believed we
could catch Amer Sports One. The question was how? We were able to do it
by having better reaching boat speed and great crew maneuvers changing
sails in the shifty southwesterly breeze. We slowly ate up their lead and
finally passed them early this morning. We had a lane which was further
south. This gave us an advantage because we were able to sail a lower and
a faster speed into the finish compared to Amer Sports One who was further
north. Our crew work was flawless and the boat handled nicely for us in
these last few critical days of racing," Kostecki said.
Photos by Daniel Forster, www.yachtphoto.com
"I am very pleased with our performance. We led early on Leg 1 and for
most of the leg but were passed at the Trinidade islands in some tricky
conditions. Then we were able to grind down and pass Amer Sports One and
this has given our team the confidence not only that we a major contender
in this Volvo Ocean Race, but we can fight back when it gets tough."
The second leg from Cape Town to Sydney, Australia starts on Sunday
November 11.
Event site www.volvooceanrace.org
