By JULIE ASH
illbruck skipper John Kostecki had tears in his eyes in Sydney yesterday, after winning the second leg of the round-the-world race.
The yacht, with six New Zealand sailors in the crew, illbruck was well clear of SEB and News Corp, who finished second and third in the Volvo-sponsored
race.
For Kostecki, the second leg from Cape Town to Sydney was gruelling.
"I will never forget the coldness of the Southern Ocean," he said.
The second-leg victory was anything but straightforward.
Less than 24 hours after the start the bow flooded, almost causing the boat to sink. The crew managed to keep the yacht afloat and, after two hours, got going again - but not before losing valuable miles.
From a 65 nautical-mile deficit, illbruck climbed back up the leader board and passed SEB - who blew out a spinnaker - in Bass Strait, to take the lead on Saturday.
illbruck's watch captain, Stuart Bannatyne of Christchurch, said it was a "really, really tough leg".
"We were fortunate to come through it and to come through it first," he said.
"We would have liked to have led all the way, but everyone had their turn and it just worked out that ours was at the end."
Illbruck finished the second leg in 22 days 13hr 22m 26s. SEB finished more than an hour later, and News Corp was just over two hours behind.
Last night, Grant Dalton's Amer Sports One was battling it out for fourth spot with djuice.
ASSA ABLOY was also expected to finish last night, but the all-female crew on Amer Sports Too are not likely to reach Sydney until later this week.
The third leg from Sydney to Hobart, then on to Auckland, starts on December 26.
