Illbruck wins second stage

Illbruck takes leg-two victory in Sydney

German yacht Illbruck Challenge sailed into Sydney Harbour on Tuesday to win the second leg of the Volvo Ocean Race.

Illbruck, captained by American John Kostecki, also won stage one of the round-the-world race, from Southampton to Cape Town.

And it finished a little over an hour ahead of Sweden's Team SEB after the 6,550-mile trip from Cape Town to Sydney.

  Overall race points

1. Illbruck - 16

2. News Corp - 12

3. Amer Sports One - 11

4. Team SEB - 10

5. Djuice Dragons - 7

5. Assa Abloy - 7

7. Team Tyco - 6

8. Amer Sports Too - 3

Britain's Jez Fanstone brought News Corp home a close third, to seal a second successive appearance on the podium for the Australian yacht.

Further back, Djuice pipped Amer Sports One by just seven minutes to claim fourth spot, with Assa Abloy placing sixth and Amer Sports Too bringing up the rear.

It was a particularly tough leg for Amer Sports One skipper Grant Dalton.

He damaged his ribs in a hard fall on deck and lost one of his crew - Keith Kilpatrick - from the race with a twisted intestine.

Leg winner Kostecki testified to the rigours of captaincy.

Everyone paints the Southern Ocean through rose-coloured spectacles, but when you're there it's a pretty soul-destroying place

Jez Fanstone
Skipper, News Corp

"I'm very glad it's over and I know everybody on board is glad we're here at the dock with our families and friends," he said in Sydney.

"We got off to a slow start the first night. We took on so much water that at times we thought we were sinking.

"But we battled back and we have a great team and we were able to come out with a victory."

Fanstone said conditions on board News Corp were difficult throughout.

"It was tough because of the conditions being a lot more extreme than in the first leg.

  Leg two result:

1. Illbruck

2. Team SEB

3. News Corp

4. Djuice

5. Amer Sports One

6. Assa Abloy

7. Amer Sports Too

DNF. Tyco

"The waves are bigger, the wind is stronger, it's cold and it's mentally very stressful as well.

"The first time someone sees an iceberg, when you're doing 20 knots - it's not the most relaxing thing."

The British skipper said it was important to bring his Australian yacht to home soil in good position, but paid tribute to the terror of the Southern Ocean.

"Everyone paints it through rose-coloured spectacles after they have been there, but when you're there it's a pretty soul-destroying place at times.

"It's a grey, dreary, windy, cold, wet and exhausting place. But the sailing is fantastic."

Fanstone: Another podium place

Eight yachts set out from Cape Town on 11 November, but Team Tyco was forced to pull out on 20 November, after it suffered major damage to its steering gear.

The nine-legged Volvo Ocean Race began in Southampton on 23 September.

After Sydney, the boats will dock in Auckland, Rio de Janeiro, Miami, Baltimore, La Rochelle and Gothenburg, before finishing in Kiel in June 2002.