Yachting: Drama at start of Volvo leg

New Zealand around-the-world skipper Kevin Shoebridge helmed his yacht Tyco out of Miami overnight, straight into a dramatic start to an intense three-day sprint to Baltimore.

The start to the sixth leg of the Volvo Ocean Race saw six boats on the wrong side of the course at the starting cannon. All had to turn and recross the line.

The all-women crewed yacht Amer Sports Too, and ASSA ABLOY were the only two to get it right.

Amer Sports Too led the fleet under spinnaker from ASSA ABLOY in a 13-knot southeasterly, reaching the first turning mark 200m ahead.

Overall race leader illbruck, the first to realise the course error, corrected quickly, recrossed and passed the first turning mark in third place behind Amer Sports Too and ASSA ABLOY.

Grant Dalton's Amer Sports One was in fourth place after also taking the wrong course and turning back to cross the line for the second time.

The fleet was expected to finish the 875nm leg to Baltimore on Thursday and was expecting mostly east-southeast winds and moderate to rough seas.

The sixth leg of the Volvo Ocean race between Miami and Baltimore is the second shortest of the nine-leg race, but for Shoebridge, every leg was a sprint.

"Not a lot changes between a three-day leg and a 20-day leg, like the one we've just had (Rio de Janeiro to Miami).

"We match-raced the whole way for 20 days. So it doesn't really mean we will be changing the boat a whole lot.

"We have to change our watch system slightly so that we can get more manpower on deck for longer periods, but we'll only do that weather-dependent," Shoebridge said a few hours before the sixth leg started.

- NZPA