John Kostecki, Skipper of illbruck/Pre-start Leg seven

by Volvo Ocean race media on 28 Apr 2002 Q: The next leg is your last long leg, how do you feel about that?

A: The long legs have been to our advantage, and we’ve been quite
successful on the long legs so I’ll be sorry to see them go, but I am also
looking forward to some tight racing on these shorter legs, eight and nine

Q: Noel Drennan is back instead of Ian Moore, what does he bring to the
boat?

A: He brings additional helming skills, trimming and he is our onboard
sail maker, so he is a huge addition to us; especially on these long legs
where you normally have some gear failure with the sails.

Q: As skipper, have you had to pick your crew up after coming in fourth on
the last leg?

A: Yeah, leg five we were passed by ASSA ABLOY towards the finish, and
ended up in second place, we all felt like we sailed well enough to
deserve a victory there, but you know we were beaten. And then this last
leg, on leg six, we were a disappointing fourth place, so as a whole we
have had some good discussions, with the whole team, not just the sailing
team. And we’ve got everyone rallied, so they’re fired up again to
hopefully win the next leg.

Q: Is it a case that people have looked at what you’re doing and catching
up, and that’s what is making it tougher?

A: People are catching up and I think we let our guard down a little bit.
I think we can do better and we’re also working hard at these stopovers to
improve. I think we have improved a lot at this stopover, we’re over the
hump and we have only three legs left to go and we’re fit and ready to go.

Q: Nine months is a long time, it must be hard to give 100% for all nine
legs?

A: Honestly, we have thirteen guys on our sailing team who are all very
experienced in yacht racing, though not necessarily the Volvo Ocean Race,
and we’re all individual winners in different areas so everybody is really
keen to win this event.

Q: Three top three positions would be enough, does that effect tactics for
the next leg?

A: Top three podium finish has a been our goal from the start of this
race, so we’ll stick with our game plan, and accomplish our goal, and we
can win it.

Q: You wouldn’t be too disappointed with a third on the next leg?

A: Not really, a third place would be quite solid in this fleet,
especially as you say, everyone has been catching. I think everybody is
pretty tuned up for this next leg, so it’s going to be a tough one.

Q: Are you expecting the challenge to come from the usual suspects?

A: I think this can be anyone’s leg. Although Tyco is back in fifth place,
they are very capable of winning a leg, there is djuice as well and even
the girls are coming on strong now. Four years ago the girls were fourth
on this leg, so really it could be anyone’s race.

Q: Have you enjoyed being back in the States?

A: It’s been great, the Miami stopover was long enough for me to go home
to the San Francisco Bay area, which was nice. Here in Baltimore, its been
an awesome stopover, everyone around has an understanding of what we’re
doing and what we’re up to and is very interested in talking to us, the
public awareness is just great.