Dave Kneale / Volvo Ocean Race
Monday 28 December 2009, 13:00 GMT
Alfa Romeo, with Kiwi veterans Stu Bannatyne and Erle Williams among the crew, took line honours in the 2009 Sydney-Hobart.
The New Zealand super maxi crossed the finish line on the Derwent River at 22:02:10 (11:02:10 GMT) in an elapsed time of 2 days, 9 hours, 2 minutes and 10 seconds.
Alfa Romeo finished ahead of Wild Oats XI, which was chasing a fifth consecutive line honours win. The 2005-06 Volvo winner Mike Sanderson on ABN AMRO ONE and Adrienne Cahalan, who was briefly on board Brasil 1, were among the crew.
Meanwhile, the Salter brothers Guy and Jules, team-mates on the victorious Ericsson 4 during the 2008-09 Volvo, were on board third-placed ICAP Leopard. The crew also included Brad Jackson, Ray Davies, Justin Slattery, Jason Carrington and Rob Greenhalgh.
Alfa Romeo had held the lead from the early hours of Sunday morning when she opened a 20-mile lead over Wild Oats. She eventually crossed 16 miles ahead of Wild Oats with Leopard a further 24 miles astern.
As winds began to fade, Alfa Romeo caught a decisive breeze in waters off the NSW/Victoria border on the first morning that eluded her rivals.
Tom Addis, the Alfa Romeo navigator who sailed on Telefonica Blue in the 2008-09 Volvo, said that the hardest parts of the race were off Gabo Island on Sunday morning, and getting through the big hole in the bottom half of Bass Strait.
"It was a park-up," he said. "We were confident off Gabo, even though Wild Oats XI came up on us. It was painful, but you just have to be calm and get through it.
"The Derwent is hard too," he added. "You go into it unaware of what the future holds. You see a glassy patch and your heart falls, but you just have to get there and deal with whatever is there, whereas the rest of the race you can plan."
Cahalan, Addis's counterpart on Wild Oats, conceded that Alfa Romeo had won the tactical battle in the lighter airs. "If I could change anything it would be the way we approached Gabo Island," she said. "There's nothing like coming first, but we worked hard and we don't think we made many mistakes."
Groupama 3 almost home
Groupama 3 has encountered heavy conditions off the Portuguese coast as she heads for her home port of Brest in the final part of her 6,000-mile journey from Cape Town.
The giant trimaran is returning home to prepare for a second attempt at the Jules Verne Trophy.
The boat, skippered by Franck Cammas, sustained damage during her previous attempt last month. The boat is currently under the charge of Fred Le Peutrec.
The crew report being shaken about by a low generating downwind south-westerly winds reaching gale force 10.
"It's reminiscent of the deep south with a fairly low cloud base with zero visibility. The swell is well ordered and the crests of the 5 to 6 metre waves are breaking nicely. We're sailing with two reefs in the mainsail and nothing up forward," says Mayeul Riflet, one of the 10 crew on board."There is a medium wind of 40 knots, gusting to up to 48 knots. As we approach Cape Finisterre, it is set to reach 50 to 55 knots before we hit the westerly wind shift, which will enable us to make a direct course towards Lorient."
Cammas and Groupama have announced their participation in the next two editions of the Volvo Ocean Race.