illbruck Challenge Wins Leg Two of Volvo Ocean Race

by Jane Eagleson on 4 Dec 2001 In a hard-fought comeback victory, the illbruck Challenge team today won Leg Two of the Volvo Ocean Race, crossing the Sydney finish line at 11:22 am local time. The elapsed time for the leg was 22 days, 13 hours, and 22 minutes finishing 12 miles and one hour, 13 minutes ahead of Team SEB.

In 22 grueling days and 6,550 miles at sea, skipper John Kostecki and crew
fought for every mile in a dramatic leg that started with the team fearing
that the boat was sinking the first night out from Cape Town, South
Africa. When the crew discovered water gushing into the boat through a
broken bow inspection hatch, the team considered returning to port 43
miles into the leg on November 11. Instead the crew made temporary repairs
to the boat and continued on into the treacherous Southern Ocean bailing
out the cold water that continued to leak into the boat.

“We battled back and kept a positive attitude on board. Simply put, we
have a great team,” said an elated Kostecki at the dock in Sydney. “That
first night, I was worried about the safety of the crew. For two hours we
were surviving, not racing. The water was coming in and it took a long
time to stop it. We couldn’t maneuver the boat at all. At one point we
started coming back to shore but we couldn’t sail so we had to solve the
problem out there. We gave our competition a 20-mile head start.”

illbruck dropped to last place after the problems on the first night and
struggled to claw their way back to the front of the pack, spending much
of the first week in the middle of the fleet. The next battle was the
freezing cold conditions in the iceberg-dotted Southern Ocean.

“It’s definitely the toughest leg I have ever done,” said Kostecki, who
sailed 6 of 9 legs in the last Whitbread round the world race. “Day after
day, the cold takes a toll on your whole body. It was pretty brutal. You
just work day by day and keep pushing no matter what the conditions are. I
just warmed up for the first time yesterday.”

Several days of 400-mile plus 24-hour stretches of blast reaching allowed
illbruck to once again look like a contender for a podium position on Leg
Two. In a strategic move that paid off, illbruck, SEB and Assa Abloy went
north at the Kerguelen Islands about a week into the leg, gaining on the
rest of the fleet.

illbruck took the lead briefly for the first time on November 20 and then
again as the fleet approached the first waypoint at Eclipse Island. But
Team SEB, who also broke the Volvo 60 class record for the best 24-hour
run of 460.1 miles during this leg, regained the lead and held it until
the Bass Strait. illbruck finally broke through SEB two nights before the
Sydney finish line holding a slim lead over the Swedish team until
extending the lead the final night at sea. The top boats in the fleet have
been within striking distance of each other for much of the leg, keeping
the racing incredibly close and exciting. The outcome remained open ended
with no clear winner until this morning.

The severe thrashing in heavy seas that first night also caused the wind
instruments at the top of the mast to break off. The illbruck team sailed
without wind instruments and Satellite B capability until they were able
to get emergency replacement parts at Eclipse Island off Australia on
November 27. Race rules allow teams to receive needed emergency parts or
supplies. The port steering pedestal broke when a huge wave crashed over
the boat while Mark Christensen was helming in 45 knots of wind in the
Southern Ocean. Bowman Stu “Waffler” Bettany cut his forehead and required
several stitches and mastman Jamie Gale was thrown across the boat hurting
his back during the events of the first night.

Gale summarized the leg in an email from the boat 500 miles from the
finish: “There is a quiet confidence growing that despite nearly sinking
and having to sail through the Southern Ocean with no reliable wind
instruments that we can hang onto this small lead and be first to Sydney.
Of course, 500 miles is a long way and this is a very unpredictable
stretch of water but there is a little light starting to appear at the end
of what has been a very long, dark tunnel. If that is the case, then for
me personally (and I suspect most of the other blokes as well), it will be
one of the most sweetest and satisfying moments of my career. It’s been a
hell of a leg.”

The leg proved challenging for all of the teams. Early leg leader Team
Tyco was forced to retire from the leg with rudder problems only a few
days out of Cape Town. A crew member on board Amer Sports One, Keith
Kilpatrick, was taken off the race boat at Eclipse Island after days of
suffering on board with a blocked intestine. SEB navigator Marcel van
Triest also left the race boat at Eclipse due to a death in his family.

The race crew for Leg Two: Stu Bannatyne, Watch Captain; Stu “Waffler”
Bettany, bow; Mark “Crusty” Christensen, Watch Captain; Richard Clarke;
Ray Davies, trimmer/helmsman; Dirk “Cheese” de Ridder, trimmer; Noel
Drennan, trimmer/helmsman; Jamie Gale, mast; Ross “Rosco” Halcrow, trimmer
and Sail Program Manager; Tony Kolb, bow; John Kostecki, skipper; Juan
Vila, navigator.

This is the second consecutive leg victory for the illbruck Challenge
team. illbruck won the first leg from Southampton, England to Cape Town,
South Africa. After two legs, the illbruck Challenge is overall leader of
the Volvo Ocean race with 16 points. The team’s progress can be followed
on the Internet at www.illbruck-challenge.com.

The illbruck Challenge is a professional international sailing team and an
outgrowth of the illbruck-supported PINTA racing teams that over the past
30 years have earned success at many of the world’s top regattas. The
illbruck Challenge is now pursuing the world’s two pinnacle sailing
events: the Volvo Ocean Race, the world’s premier ocean race, and the
America’s Cup, the world’s top match racing event. The illbruck Challenge
is representing the Duesseldorf Yacht Club in Germany’s first-ever
Challenge for the America’s Cup, the competition for the oldest
international trophy in sport.