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Illbruck prepares for battle
BALTIMORE, Maryland -- With only three legs of the Volvo Ocean Race left, overall race leader Germany's Illbruck is preparing for the crucial stage of the round-the-world race. John Kostecki's boat was overtaken on the previous two legs by Neal McDonald's Assa Abloy -- in overall second place with 34 points after six of the nine legs. Kostecki told the race's official Web site: "In a sense these last two legs have given us a kick in the butt. "It was good because it was a way of saying 'hey, wake up, this race is far from over and if we want to win we've got to improve.'"
McDonald threw down the gauntlet to Illbruck, which has 41 points after leg six, insisting the race is far from over. The British skipper of the Swedish boat said Assa can still catch the German-backed syndicate in the next legs. Over the last three days Illbruck has been testing her upwind and downwind sails, as the last two legs of the race are likely to be either upwind or downwind rather than crosswind. Leg seven starts on April 28 with the 3,400 nautical mile haul across the Atlantic to La Rochelle in France. The fleet then heads for Gothenburg, Sweden before the race finishes in Kiel, Germany in early June. Overall points after six legs - 1. Illbruck 41 points - 2. Assa Abloy 34 points - 3. Amer Sports One 32 points - 4. News Corp 31 points - 5. Tyco 28 points - 6. Djuice 20 points - 6. SEB 20 points - 8. Amer Sports Too 10 points |
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