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Illbruck damaged in collision off Rio

Farewell Rio: The Volvo yachts set out on leg five

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil -- Leg five of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Rio de Janeiro to Miami, started in spectacular style on Saturday with the eight-yacht fleet threading their way through a large spectator fleet.

At the first rounding mark, positioned offshore from Sugar Loaf Mountain, Djuice was the pace setter. Then as the fleet settled into their first night at sea, Amer Sports One had taken the lead from Assa Abloy and Tyco with just two miles separating the first four boats.

But overall race leader Illburck suffered a setback just hours from the start when she was involved in a port-starboard collision with SEB. A brief report from Illbruck said there had been damage and the team intended to protest.

The round-the-world race is now past the halfway distance, but with five shorter legs to sail, more than half the available points are still on offer.

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Illbruck has won all three of the longer legs so far but came fourth in the short leg from Sydney to Auckland.

The 4,450 nautical mile fifth leg is expected to take 19 days. Instead of dodging icebergs in howling gales and freezing conditions, the crew will be facing light winds in tropical conditions making the boats extremely humid and uncomfortable below.

The course takes the fleet through the trade wind belts of the north and South Atlantic oceans which are separated by the windless doldrums. In these conditions boat speed and tactics rather than survival are the main factors for success.

"We're in the tropics which means the wind will come and go and swing around," says News Corp co-skipper Ross. "Each six hourly schedule will be like a mini-race as we track our position against the rest of the fleet."

With just seven points so far, the all-female crew on Amer Sport Too, led by Lisa McDonald, is keen to prove it can compete with the men at least once before the finish in Kiel, Germany, in June.

It also seems that the crew changes for leg five show signs of desperation.

Illbruck is unchanged and Amer Sports One has just one substitution with Dee Smith returning after his shoulder surgery to replace Paul Cayard. But struggling Djuice has made four changes and Assa Abloy three.

One of the more unusual moves is a crew swap with Jon Gunderson changing from News Corp to SEB and Matt Humphries joining News Corp from SEB.

Volvo Ocean Race Overall standings after four legs: