ING Read Estate Brunel fifth in leg 2 of Volvo Ocean Race

by Volvo Ocean Race media 24 Jan 2006 09:10 GMT

Aussies battle on

Australian skipper, Grant Wharington had good news to announce the moment he stepped ashore after 21 days, 10 hours, 42 minutes and 44 seconds at sea on leg of the Volvo ocean race. His home town team will continue to compete in the event under the mantle of Dutch company Brunel.

The sole Australian entry in the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-06 was cheered home by their families and an enthusiastic crowd lining the dock at the Waterfront City Race Village in the Docklands, Melbourne when they arrived after crossing the finish line at 2142 GMT (0842 local time).

On the dockside with GRANT WHARINGTON, skipper, MATTHEW HUMPHRIES, navigator, and crewmembers IAN WALKER and MARK BARTLETT

Grant Wharington (AUS)

“It is nice to finally be here and I am very excited about arriving in Melbourne and to see the huge crowd that has come out to greet us and welcome us home. It’s sensational. I have never finished a yacht race in Melbourne before and it is a fantastic place and great to see that Melbourne can put on an event like this."

“The leg was really tough. On day four unfortunately we were within about 100 miles of leader and fell off the back of the weather system and that was the end of the race for us. We had a 100 mile deficit turn into 1000 miles in three days and that was really tough.”

“I am delighted to be able to announce that we are continuing on with the race. We would have been very disappointed to have to stop here in Melbourne, so it is great we can carry on. Brunel has come to the party and I am very excited about that news. I am not sure of all the details at this stage as we have a meeting this afternoon to agree the final plans and logistics. It has been pretty tough. We have gone from week to week not knowing if we can pay the guys and our shore crew or what our next steps are so this is quite a relief.”

“The boat is fantastic. We did some very fast miles and the boat is very competitive. We just have a few minor alterations to make and then we will be in great shape.”

“Everyone knew from the start the position we were in but we really wanted to sail home so I am delighted we have.”

“The negotiations have gone fantastically well with Brunel, I only found out yesterday but we can happily say that we will certainly be at the end of the race. There will be a few changes to the crew which will be announced tomorrow and the boat will see some new branding and we will be able to get some new sails. But all in all we are feeling strong and we are in good shape.”

“I am now looking forward to a beer, a shave and some very greasy fish and chips. I will also enjoy having time to catch up with the children.”

Matthew Humphries (GBR)

“I arrived two days before the start and it is always very interesting to see how things are. The trip has been quite reasonable. There are obviously a few reliability issues but there has been that in previous races.”

“This boat is a fairly reliable boat. If we had not had all our mast problems, we know we would have probably beaten one boat, one of those ones ahead of us. Good opportunity to try different things out and get the boat really motoring and the more time you spend on the boat the more you learn.”

“Every time you do this race it is a new experience. It was a lot of fun. Our chips were down a lot of the time but all the guys held strong and were a really good team. It is always difficult when you come into a leg two days before it starts, you are thrown in the deep end, but I think I fitted in well and they were a great bunch of guys to sail with.”

“It feels good to be here, and only a few miles behind Pirates. We know it is possible to achieve something with this boat. Our list of damage was pretty minor compared to some of the other boats and that pretty much came down to Don Jones [designer], we did have some major problems with our mast track but we experienced no problems with the keel. I was really impressed with the Volvo 70 and it is a totally different boat to the Volvo 60.”

“I am not surprised by some of the issues. If you sail in the Southern Ocean the boats are going to get pushed. We sailed some days in 50 knots of wind and at the time we only had three reefs in the mainsail because of the mast track, and crikey we wouldn’t have wanted any more sail area as were off doing 30 plus knots, so they are extraordinary machines.”

Ian Walker (AUS)

“We need to make some changes and do some testing as we have had very little time with the boat and we need to work it up to be competitive."

"It is brilliant news about Brunel coming onboard. To be honest I haven’t heard much about it but I thought something was happening. We will have more details tomorrow at the team meeting but it is great for the race as well as ourselves and this boat.”

“Coming in at day break and up the bay was fantastic. Coming into your home town is an awesome experience.”

Mark Bartlett (GBR)

“I am delighted with the news that we will be continuing. I always wanted to sail into my home town Portsmouth, UK and it is great that this may now be a reality.”