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22 November 2005, 10:50 am

Drag Race South

Volvo Ocean Race 2005-2006

As Mike SANDERSON (NZL) and the Dutch ABN AMRO ONE team continue to steal a march on the chasing pack in the charge south, the race for second place is as tight as ever. At 0400 GMT this morning, Torben GRAEL's (BRA) Brasil 1 slipped past the Neal MCDONALD (GBR) skippered Ericsson (SWE) to take up second position, with Sebastien JOSSE (FRA) and ABN AMRO TWO in fourth just a few miles behind.

ABN AMRO ONE has now reached the half way stage in this 6,400 nm leg to Cape Town, South Africa and is driving relentlessly south in search of the stronger westerly winds that flow over the far southern reaches of the Atlantic Ocean. She is now 236 nm off the Brazilian coast, 300 north east of Salvador.

At 1000 GMT this morning, Brasil 1, the most easterly of the bunch by 18 nm, and Ericsson, in the middle of the pack east to west, continue to fight it out. Brasil 1 has increased her margin from two to five nm, although Ericsson has the edge on speed. ABN AMRO has slipped slightly, from eight to nine miles back, but her speed is the same as Ericsson and she is the most westerly of the trio.

Sunergy and Friends has started to move again after very frustrating 24 hours when they were only able to achieve 122 nm at an average speed of 5.1 knots.

Position Report At 1000 Hours UTC, 22 November 2005

Team	Nation	Skipper	Latitude	Longitude	DTF	DTL	DTLC	CMG	SMG	VMG	ETA
ABN AMRO ONE	NED	Mike SANDERSON (NZL)	11 27.57S	33 10.02W	3119	0	0	186	15	13.9	01/12/2005
Brasil 1	BRA	Torben GRAEL (BRA)	08 20.12S	32 26.09W	3193	74	2	180	12.5	13.6	02/12/2005
Ericsson Racing Team	SWE	Neal MCDONALD (GBR)	08 35.55S	32 44.21W	3198	79	-1	183	12.7	13.6	02/12/2005
ABN AMRO TWO	NED	Sebastian JOSSE (FRA)	08 22.32S	32 45.30W	3207	88	-2	184	12.7	13.5	02/12/2005
Sunergy and Friends	AUS	Grant WHARINGTON (AUS)	08 47.00N	29 36.36W	4136	1017	15	186	9.8	9.6	10/12/2005
movistar	ESP	Bouwe BEKKING (NED)	37 07.38N	08 31.48W	No Data	No Data	No Data	No Data	No Data	No Data	No Data
Pirates of the Caribbean	USA	Paul CAYARD (USA)	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF

For a complete list of all the news about the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-2006 CLICK HERE.

World Sailing TV

Lithuania's Juozas Bernotas came out on top in the Men's RS:X whilst Russia's Stefania Elfutina was triumphant in the Women's RS:X. Both sailors claim the first Abu Dhabi ISAF Sailing World Cup Final spots whilst Jock Calvert (AUS) and Joanna Sterling (AUS) picked up the Oceanic spots for the Emirati finale.