Yachting: Dalton and McDonald both happy with finish

11.00 am

A sleepless night was well worth it for ASSA ABLOY skipper Neal McDonald and his crew as the Swedish yacht today won the Sydney-Auckland leg of the Volvo round-the-world ocean race.

ASSA ABLOY had held a 30 nautical mile lead over Amer Sports One, skippered by New Zealander Grant Dalton, as the yacht rounded New Zealand's northernmost point Cape Reinga yesterday. However, almost as soon as they rounded the Cape the wind died away to virtually nothing, leaving Briton McDonald a worried man.

"I didn't admit it to the boys, but I was petrified," McDonald said.

"There was a lot of concern there. It was the big chance for everyone else to catch us, and indeed they did, but not enough to cause us any harm.

"For several hours yesterday, when we were just floundering around I was very worried. If there was anyone you didn't want behind you then it was Grant Dalton, so I'm glad we were able to fend him off."

Fortunately for ASSA ABLOY, Dalton found himself facing exactly the same problem as he rounded the Cape.

"Our welcome to New Zealand was three knot winds and sailing backwards," Dalton said.

"The winds were very light and puffy, and we were starting to get worried about the boats behind.

"Second or last, you always work hard for 24 hours as you sail into Auckland. We needed a win, but they (ASSA ABLOY) needed it too.

"We're a lot more reliable boat now and we can go just as hard as anybody without being worried about falling apart which we couldn't do on the first leg.

"If you'd said to me in England, 'you'll be second into Auckland, would you be happy with that?' I'd have said we won't be second into Auckland. We can't be as fast as the rest of the fleet by then, but we'll be coming.

"So I'm ecstatic today, the guys did a really good job."

After a tense matchrace across the Waitemata harbour Tyco skippered by New Zealander Kevin Shoebridge crossed the finish line in third place at 9.17 am.

Race leader illbruck finished at 9.20 am in fourth place while Newscorp was fifth just minutes later.

Three of ASSA ABLOY's crew fell ill during the Sydney-Auckland leg, two of whom were confined to bed. In those circumstances, McDonald was rapt with the first place finish.

Richard Mason, one of two New Zealanders in ASSA ABLOY's crew, was given the honour of being at the helm of the yacht as it crossed the finish line, a moment he described as a childhood dream come true.

Meanwhile, the New Zealand skipper of Tyco, Kevin Shoebridge, is thrilled to have made it into Auckland in third place.

"You saw how close it was. There was 500m between us having a good day and us having a bad day," he said.
As a race the leg was over within the first day after ASSA ABLOY's dash to the north, Shoebridge said.

In terms of the race points and standings that made finishing as high up as possible a priority.

With Tyco, illbruck and Newscorp racing in a close knit bunch and always able to see each other all the way from Hobart to Auckland, it made the leg a cat and mouse race, Shoebridge said.

"It was tense. I'm just pleased we got here in third. With all our hard work to get third into Hobart, it would have been a shame to finish any further back than that," he said.

- NZPA