Yachting: Sanderson extends lead in ocean race

New Zealand skipper Mike Sanderson has stretched his lead in the round-the-world yacht race, winning the sixth leg, a sprint from Annapolis in the US state of Maryland to New York.

Sanderson's team ABN Amro One won the 400 nautical mile leg in 1 day 15 hours, seven minutes and 36 seconds.

ABN Amro One, which has New Zealanders Sanderson, David Endean, Brad Jackson, Tony Mutter and Mark Christensen on board, finished two hours ahead of the second-placed Pirates of the Caribbean.

The win is ABN Amro One's fifth in six legs. They now sit at the top of the leaderboard with 70.5 points - 23 points ahead of Pirates of the Caribbean.

"It was a sweet victory," Sanderson said. "As we are getting closer to the finish they are getting sweeter and sweeter."

Despite being the shortest stage in the nine leg Volvo Ocean Race it was was by no means an easy one. Light winds plagued the fleet out of Annapolis, which immediately put Sanderson and his wide-bottomed boat at a disadvantage.

However they found some breeze just out of Chesapeake Bay which saw them push back into the middle of the pack. With the right sails and a bit of breeze, they then powered into the lead.

"It would be nice to get some breeze at the start for a change, Sanderson said. "It was quite a stressful race for us because if we wanted to win this leg we were going to have to push pretty hard upwind." Something they had previously avoided doing in fear of breaking something.

"We have to grab the points if we can. The guys have done a fantastic job."

The seventh leg, 5150km from New York to Portsmouth, starts on May 19.

THE STANDINGS

Points after six of nine legs.

* ABN Amro One (Ned) 70.5
* Pirates of Caribbean (US) 47.5
* movistar (Esp) 47
* Brasil 1 (Brazil) 42
* ABN Amro Two (Ned) 42
* Ericsson (Swe) 35.5
* Brunel (Aus) 2.5