Amer Sports One wins Volvo Ocean race start, leg 7, Anapolis to la Rochelle, France

by Nautor Challenge on 29 Apr 2002 Amer Sports One led the fleet away at the start of leg seven of the Volvo
Ocean Race which started at Annapolis, Maryland, today at 1pm local time.

The race had barely started before Amer Sports One, Assa Abloy and
Illbruck were crossing tacks, encounters won Nautor Challenge crew. It was an
Intense start, with tack after tack giving the crews what was to come over the
Next few hours.

Amer Sports One, Assa Abloy and Illbruck fought for the left hand side of
the course, Amer Sports One taking the upper hand, gaining clear air very
quickly.

The fleet sailed down a murky Chesapeake Bay out into the Atlantic Ocean
And the 3400 miles to France. The breeze was south to south-east of 15 to 20
knots, giving the fleet a beat out of the bay.

It was wet farewell. Steady rain fell throughout the morning with the
prospect of thunder and lightning showers as the afternoon progresses.

A front will move across the fleet early on Monday morning. Weather
Models predict fresh winds and a fast trip to France is predicted, with a finish
possible as early as May 9, which would be two days earlier than first
estimated.

Skipper Grant Dalton said his Amer Sports One crew, after a good result
on the Miami-Baltimore leg, was going into the transatlantic with a winning
attitude.

'We are ready, this is a make or break leg for us,' he said. 'We need to be
in the first three for each leg now. There's a lot of responsibility
being heaped in Roger Nilson's (navigator) and Dee Smith's
(tactician) shoulders.'

Lisa McDonald and her crew on Amer Sports Too are looking for a good
result, after two legs in which the women's crew proved conclusively that
they could slug it out with the men.

'Tactics will win this leg,' Lisa said. 'We may not have the depth of
experience the men's teams have but in Miranda Merrons and my watch
captains Katie Pettibone and Emma Westmacott we have a lot of
transatlantic experience.

'Having Willemein van Hoeve, as the on-board meteorologist is a
bonus. Her professional input on the massive amount of weather data we collect is a massive advantage.'

In addition to the tricky Chesapeake Bay and the Gulf Stream current,
Crews have an 'ice box' to contend with. The ice box is an area of
the North Atlantic at 40 deg north through which boats must not sail. It
is designed to keep the yachts away from ice bergs which are much further
south than usual.

Grant Dalton said: 'The ice box is 350 miles further south than it
was four years ago. The western edge is 1400 miles from the start, which is only
1900miles from La Rochelle.

The introduction of the prohibited area makes it even more important for
The yachts to get into the Gulf Stream. 'The great circle route from
Annapolis to La Rochelle passes through the ice box so we don't have the
option of taking the shortest route,' Grant Dalton said.

'We will try to hitch a ride on the stream and stay with it as long as
we can. When we get to the other side of the ice box, the decision will be how
aggressively we go north at the other side of the ice box. It's the
reverse of the southern ocean where the decision is how aggressively you
dig south.'

For both Amer Sports One and Amer Sports Too tactics are to make a clean
start and stay away from the crab posts down the bay. Then, Grant Dalton
said, 'We are going to go like hell for the ice box. Get in front and stay
in front. Historically, trailing boats have not made up large distances
part of the leg.'

The Nautor Challenge campaign:

Nautor Challenge is campaigning two boats in the Volvo Ocean Race:
Amer Sports One skippered by Grant Dalton and Amer Sports Too, skippered by
Lisa McDonald. Nautor Challenge is a member of Nautor's Swan, builder of
The renowned Swan yachts. A Swan 65, Sayula II, won the first Whitbread Round the World Race in 1973-74.

Partners: Amer Sports, a leading worldwide supplier of sports equipment with
global brands such as Wilson (racquet sports, golf, team sports), Suunto
(outdoor and sports instruments) and Atomic (winter sports equipment).

UBS, a global investment services firm headquartered in Switzerland. UBS
employs 70,000 people in 50 countries and has more than 7 million
clients. In world markets, the Group has a leading position in private
banking, asset management, investment banking and private equity. UBS is
the world's largest asset manager and among the 10 largest banks in the
world.

The Nautor Challenge yachts are racing under the burgees of Yacht
Club Costa Smeralda, Italy and Nylandska Jaktklubben (NJK), Helsinki,
Finland.