May 7, 2006: The crews of ABN AMRO ONE and ABN AMRO TWO today bid farewell to the people of Annapolis as they set off on leg 6 of the Volvo Ocean Race, a high intensity, 400-mile sprint down the Chesapeake Bay and then back up the East coast to New York. Seb Josse and the young crew of ABN AMRO TWO had a strong start in winds of between 8 to 10 knots, fighting with Brasil and Pirates at the front of the race fleet as they tacked up to mark at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. Race leaders ABN AMRO ONE, skippered by Mike Sanderson, chose to stay out of trouble at the back of the pack. Although not ideally suited to the typically light and variable conditions of the Chesapeake, ABN AMRO ONE managed to work their way through the fleet and passed the mark in fourth position, a quarter of a length ahead of the kids on ABN AMRO TWO.

Speaking on the dockside before the fleet departed Annapolis, the kiwi skipper of ABN AMRO ONE commented, “It has been great to be in the United States. Baltimore has been exciting and the people of Annapolis are so into their sailing, how can you not be enthusiastic about being here? For the sprint leg, we’re still hoping for some good breeze to get out of the Chesapeake, and even if we don’t, let’s hope we’re still with the pack for whatever the Atlantic is going to throw at us. It’s nerve-wrangling as we know we have a speed problem in less than 8 knots of wind and we’re leaving the Chesapeake Bay, but that’s just the reality of the situation.

“We’ve had plenty of times when we’ve been enjoying the pace of the boats and this might not be one of them. You have to take the good with the bad and we’ll still have our heads up if we don’t get the result we want in New York. We’re ready to take the boat across the Atlantic and between the crew we’ve had a fair few Atlantic crossings in the last couple of years, be them solo or fully crewed, so we’re looking forward to it.”

The Volvo fleet experienced fluky and changeable conditions of under 10 knots of wind in the northern part of the Chesapeake Bay. Once outside the bay in the Atlantic, the fleet is expected to encounter between 30 to 40 knots on the nose, as the fleet beat upwind to New York.

Seb Josse, the young French skipper on ABN AMRO TWO, added, “For this short leg to New York, the tactical options for all the teams aren’t as varied as previously. This sprint will have the same intensity and rhythm as an in port race, and we will have to adapt and change our strategy and approach to sailing. With the prospect of 3 or 4 days to recover in New York, we can adopt different watch rotations and be less focused on keeping the crew well rested.

“We are starting to feel the end of the race approaching on the horizon. The competition for the podium positions is certainly heating up, with more and more psychological warfare between the teams on the pontoon. The final legs are routes that I know well though, but the crew will have to be very focused at sea.”

Nick Bice, returning from injury as Watch Captain on ABN AMRO TWO, noted, “My injury has come up a lot better than the doctors expected and I’m looking forward to getting out there, and I’m going to be on the boat at 100%. There’s going to be a lot of effort put into this leg, which is almost a day race, and we are looking forward to stepping up the intensity and adopting an in shore mentality. For the 400 mile sprint, we have seen forecasts ranging from 17 hours to 53 hours, but if there is any breeze we will be up there in no time. We are very confident in the boat and we have enough talented people in their various areas to repair anything during the pit stop in New York.”

The boats are expected to arrive in New York harbour between Monday evening and Tuesday morning, depending on weather patterns and wind conditions. The boats will then spend a few days in North Cove Marina on a pit stop where repairs and alterations to the boats by shore crew are not permitted without penalty. The crews set off for Portsmouth (UK) on Thursday May 11.

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