May 11, 2006: For the sailors on board the two ABN AMRO boats in the Volvo Ocean Race it has been a whistle stop stay in their third American port of the race, New York. Despite light conditions at the start off North Cove, with a forecast for strong winds once the teams get out of the Hudson River the ABN AMRO crews are looking forward to getting back into fast reaching conditions.

For both teams the race from Annapolis – New York took its toll both mentally and physically. For much of the 400 mile dash from the Chesapeake Bay the positions in the fleet were constantly changing and there was little time to eat or sleep. For Mike Sanderson and the crew on ABN AMRO ONE who finished first into New York, adding another win their overall tally it was a victorious moment but thoughts quickly turned to what lies ahead.

“With the overall leader board as it is, we don’t need to push it this leg – that does not mean that we won’t be working hard to do as well as we can but we will be conscious that we still want to sail our boat, our way. With the latest forecast we have heard, it looks like it is going to be crashing upwind for the first couple of days and then we should have quite a quick crossing to the UK. We know that the conditions in the River here might not suit us to start with but we also know we still have 3,200 nautical miles to sail and anything can happen.”

For Seb Josse and the young crew on ABN AMRO TWO their position in the race is somewhat different. With only 5.5 points separating the second group of 5 boats it is a very tight race and this is a significant leg for the team. Seb Josse commented: “We had some bad luck on the last leg and it was hard to come back as it was only 400 miles but we have been sailing well as a team. We all know that we need to keep the boat together and sail well on this leg so that we can keep fighting for second place. For me and the crew we all want to finish on the podium and it is possible for us so we will keep working hard and hopefully on the next legs we can get a good result.”

The fleet is expected to arrive in Portsmouth, UK between the 19th – 21st May.

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