After racing more than 32,000 nautical miles in 8 1/2 months, the eight-boat fleet in the Volvo Ocean Race left Goteborg, Sweden, yesterday, on the final, 250-mile Leg 9 to Kiel, Germany, in a slow, agonizing search for a winner of the round-the-world race.
Sailing in light fluky winds of six knots to nearly no wind at all, the fleet was separated by less than five nautical miles from front to back.
Ten hours after a spectator fleet of more than 4,000 boats sent the racers on their overnight sprint to Kiel, Sweden's ASSA ABLOY and Team SEB were locked in a battle with Norway's djuice dragons for the lead, with less than a mile separating them. Overall race leader illbruck Challenge of Germany was in fifth place, two miles off the pace.
Illbruck, skippered by American John Kostecki, got off to an aggressive start. It was first across the starting line and held a one-mile lead an hour into what is expected to be a 24-hour race. But the wind died, then filled in to the west first, and illbruck could only watch as three competitors eased past. SEB was first to gain the new wind, then Australia's Team News Corp and Bermuda's Team Tyco. ASSA ABLOY and djuice also eventually sailed ahead, but Tyco slipped back.
With more than 150 miles to the finish through the island-dotted channels through Denmark and with very light winds forecast, the entire fleet was still in a position to win the leg.
With a five-point standings lead over ASSA ABLOY, illbruck can win outright by finishing the leg no worse than fifth. ASSA ABLOY, which has clinched at least second place, is the only other boat with a mathematical shot at winning overall.
Illbruck, with four leg victories - all on the longer ocean stages - has finished no worse than fourth on the other legs. But ASSA ABLOY, with three leg victories, has performed well on the shorter, tactical legs, winning two of the previous three.
"We'd love to beat ASSA ABLOY across the finish line - simply put," Kostecki said before leaving Goteborg. "It's going to be a tricky leg. Really anything could happen, and if we get behind them we're going to have to stay close, and if we get ahead of them we will be covering them."
ASSA ABLOY's odds of winning the race are long. Skipper Neal McDonald's crew must finish first and at least five places ahead of illbruck, or second with illbruck finishing last.
"There's no doubt about it, it is a long shot - we're up against it," McDonald said. "Really it is making sure that if opportunities arise, that we take them and use them to our benefit. It would be nice to win going into Kiel. ... But clearly, the ultimate goal is still the same; we've got to try and win the race."
The other "race" among the fleet is for third, the final podium spot. Three entries - Italy's Amer Sports One, News Corp and Tyco - were tied for third going into the final leg. The top finisher of the three will be awarded third.
Skipper Grant Dalton's Amer Sports One has held second or third in the standings through the race, but its performance has slipped in recent legs.
Conversely, skipper Kevin Shoebridge's Tyco has been improving since being forced out of Leg 2 with a broken rudder. Tyco, which has shadowed ASSA ABLOY in three of the past four legs, also has proven itself in light conditions.
Reports from Volvo's Web site contributed to this article.