By JULIE ASH
Assa Abloy won the fifth leg of the round-the-world race tonight, pipping overall leader illbruck at the post.
The Swedish entry, with New Zealanders Stu Wilson and Richard Mason on board, won the 4450-mile journey from Rio de Janeiro to Miami, lifting them to second place overall behind illbruck.
Light
conditions made the final run to the finish line frustratingly slow.
It was six hours after the expected time of arrival that Assa Abloy picked up the breeze and stormed across the finish line at 10 knots, securing their second win in the nine-leg race - they won the third stage, from Sydney to Auckland.
Without the use of their light wind spinnaker which they shredded three days ago during a gybe, illbruck, who had held the lead for the past 10 days, was severely crippled for the final stages.
Illbruck took a more southerly track across the Straits of Florida as it dipped south to counter the Gulf Stream, but off the Florida coast it was becalmed.
It ended up to the north of Miami and then had to claw its way south.
At one point it appeared that Tyco might also overtake illbruck and finish second.
But illbruck fought back and finished just over an hour behind Assa Abloy.
Tyco, skippered by New Zealander Kevin Shoebridge, was third, less than 10 minutes after illbruck.
Tyco sailed consistently with good speed and clever tactics. This is its third top-three finish in a row and is now fourth overall, overtaking News Corp.
About the round-the-world race
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