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Assa Abloy triumphs in third leg

Assa Abloy wins with three sick crewmen

AUCKLAND, New Zealand -- British skipper Neal McDonald has led Swedish yacht Assa Abloy to victory in the third leg of the Volvo Ocean Race.

Assa Abloy crossed the finishing line in Auckland Harbour at 06:20 local time on Friday, taking exactly eight days, eight hours, 20 minutes and 42 seconds to complete the 2,050-nautical mile leg from Sydney to New Zealand.

The third leg of the global race began on December 26 in Sydney Harbour with Assa Abloy taking the lead in the first 627 miles between Sydney and Tasmanian capital Hobart.

Amer Sports One, with New Zealand skipper Grant Dalton aboard, finished second, nearly 2 hours later, the Associated Press reported.

Dalton, nursing a back injury from the previous leg, has led the last two round-the-world races into his hometown. On Wednesday he was third overall on points with a good chance to move above News Corp into second.

Tyco, skippered by New Zealander Kevin Shoebridge, was third, a little more than an hour back, followed 3 minutes later by overall race leader Illbruck, which won the first two legs of the Volvo race. News Corp was fifth, 5 minutes behind Illbruck.

Winning skipper MacDonald told Reuters: "It was pretty stressful, knowing that Dalts (Dalton) was right behind us, it wasn't the most comfortable situation I've been in, that's for sure."

Assa Abloy has completed the leg with three ill or injured crewmen: Guillermo Altadill and Magnus Olsson joining Jason Carrington who collapsed with a suspected kidney infection earlier in the race.

"The hardest part about it is that everyone else has got to work harder and you get very tired," MacDonald said. "It was pretty draining, we had to make sure we didn't burn people out."

Olsson had been confined to below-deck duties with a bruised back, while Altadill suffered a suspected urinary infection.

The Volvo Ocean race is a nine-leg, 32,700-mile race around the world, which started in Southampton on England's south coast in Sept, England in September 2001 and ends at Kiel, Germany in June.

Eight boats are contesting the race, with current leader Germany's Illbruck, skippered by American John Kostecki, winning the first two legs.