After 6,700 nautical miles of racing, the battle for the second and third podium positions raged until the very last moment. In the last hours of the leg, Paul Cayard (USA) and Pirates of the Caribbean team regained second position to cross the line at 07:06:50 GMT (04:06:50 local time) followed just 30 minutes later by the young guns on ABN AMRO TWO led by Frenchman Sebastien Josse.

Local heroes, Brasil 1 skippered by multiple Olympic medallist, Torben Grael (BRA), missed a podium position in Rio de Janeiro, their home port, by the slimmest of margins, finishing 25 minutes behind the Dutch boat.

At 2200 GMT last night, the drama was played out as Pirates of the Caribbean stalled in a light patch of wind and Brasil 1 swept pass to take second place with a one mile advantage. ABN AMRO TWO was just nine miles behind. But by 0318 GMT, and the finish of leg winner, ABN AMRO ONE (Mike Sanderson), the Pirates had regained control, pushing the Brazilians back to third place. In the next four hours, the young team of ABN AMRO ONE took it one step further and deposed Brasil 1 of a place on the podium.

As Cayard and his crew crossed the finish line, ABN AMRO TWO was just four miles behind her and Brasil 1, a further two. At 07.36 GMT, the white Dutch yacht claimed third, and Brasil 1 missed out on her place in the sun by three nautical miles, finally finishing in fourth place at 0755 GMT.

Paul Cayard/Pirates of the Caribbean: “Second is a good finish. It was a long six hours and we had everything thrown upon us. It really tested our selves, our boat and our whole campaign. I am really pleased with the consistency of results. We always said it would take us to Rio before we were up to pace.”

Lucas Brun (BRA)/ABN AMRO TWO: “The experience of being the first Brazilian to hit home shores is absolutely amazing and I really did not expect this. It has been a very hard trip and just have got here would be good. Not to have sailed in the other legs and then to finally sail this one and sail home was a dream come true.”

Knut Frostad (NOR)/Brasil 1: “We pushed the boat very hard and always knew we were the team who had a lot to learn. There was a lot of mixed emotion as we crossed the finish line especially for the Brazilians whose goal was better than fourth.”

Share or bookmark this story: