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5 March 2006, 11:00 am

Reaching Towards Rio

Volvo Ocean Race 2005-2006

According to Mike SANDERSON, skipper of leading boat, ABN AMRO ONE, yesterday was just one of those days that the new Volvo Open 70 was designed for, reaching in breezes from 15 to 22 knots with boat speed nearly always matching wind speed.

'We are doing 21.7 knots at 95 degrees true wind angle in 19.5 knots of wind,' writes Sanderson, adding, 'numbers like that a couple of years ago just weren't achievable in anything other than a multihull or a super maxi such as Mari-Cha IV. Every now and then, the rule makers stumble on a special boat. The new boats [the Volvo Open 70] are fantastic, exciting and a real challenge to sail, and the racing is getting hotter than ever.'

As the fleet heads north towards Rio de Janeiro, at roughly the same speeds, 94 nautical miles separates the most westerly yacht, Brasil 1 (Torben GRAEL) from ABN AMRO TWO (Sebastien JOSSE) in the east. GRAEL and his team are now a little over 700 miles from the coast, and they are desperate to record a podium position on this leg in their home town.

The next obstacle to lie in wait for the fleet is a ridge of high pressure, which they will negotiate today.

Cape Horn Rounding Times And Points For Leg Four Scoring Gate

Team	Nation	Skipper	Time	Pts
ABN AMRO ONE	NED	Mike SANDERSON (NZL)	02/03/2006 - 1238 UTC	3.5
Pirates of the Caribbean	USA	Paul CAYARD (USA)	02/03/2006 - 1440 UTC	3
Brasil 1	BRA	Torben GRAEL (BRA)	02/03/2006 - 1810 UTC	2.5
ABN AMRO TWO	NED	Sebastian JOSSE (FRA)	02/03/2006 - 2125 UTC	2
Ericsson Racing Team	SWE	Neal MCDONALD (GBR)	02/03/2006 - 2158 UTC	1.5
movistar	ESP	Bouwe BEKKING (NED)	03/03/2006	1

Position Report At 1000 Hours UTC, 5 March 2006

Team	Nation	Skipper	Latitude	Longitude	DTF	DTL	DTLC	CMG	SMG	VMG	ETA
ABN AMRO ONE	NED	Mike SANDERSON (NZL)	45 15.03S	46 24.02W	1350	0	0	34	17.7	16.2	09/03/2006 17:00 UTC
ABN AMRO TWO	NED	Sebastian JOSSE (FRA)	45 47.02S	46 42.02W	1384	34	-2	33	17.1	16.1	09/03/2006 20:00 UTC
Pirates of the Caribbean	USA	Paul CAYARD (USA)	45 47.02S	47 48.02W	1391	41	3	37	18.1	16	09/03/2006 20:00 UTC
Brasil 1	BRA	Torben GRAEL (BRA)	45 56.03S	48 41.03W	1408	58	0	48	19.1	16	09/03/2006 22:00 UTC
Ericsson Racing Team	SWE	Neal McDONALD (GBR)	46 37.01S	47 22.04W	1438	88	-6	41	17.5	15.9	10/03/2006 00:00 UTC
movistar	ESP	Bouwe BEKKING (NED)	54 48.02S	68 17.01W	2340	990	-96	0	0	13.3	13/03/2006 21:00 UTC

DTF: Distance To Finish
DTL: Distance To Leader
DTLC: Distance To Leader Change; the difference between the distance from the boat to the leader taken at the time of the last six hour poll, and the distance from the boat to the leader at the previous poll
CMG: Course Made Good; the average course steered over the period of the past six hours up to the time of the last poll
SMG: Speed Made Good
VMG: Velocity Made Good; the average velocity of the boat towards the finish over the entire leg
ETA: Estimated Time of Arrival

Overall Leaderboard
(Up to and including Leg Four Scoring Gate - not yet ratified)

Pos	Team	Nation	Skipper	Pts
1	ABN AMRO ONE	NED	Mike SANDERSON (NZL)	42
2	ABN AMRO TWO	NED	Sebastien JOSSE (FRA)	30
3	movistar	ESP	Bouwe BEKKING (NED)	26
5	Pirates of the Caribbean	USA	Paul CAYARD (USA)	24.5
4	Brasil 1	BRA	Torben GRAEL (BRA)	22.5
6	Ericsson Racing Team	SWE	Neal MCDONALD (GBR)	18
7	ING Real Estate Brunel	AUS	Grant WHARINGTON (AUS)	11.5