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Assa Abloy wins leg five

Assa Abloy's victory puts her in second place in the overall race

MIAMI, Florida -- Neal McDonald's Assa Abloy has won the fifth leg of the Volvo Ocean Race, snatching the lead from Illbruck after a neck-and-neck race to Miami.

With just over 100 miles to sail on the run from Rio de Janeiro to Miami, Assa Abloy caught up with John Kostecki's Illbruck and the two yachts were sailing side by side in an intense downwind sprint to the finish.

Germany's Illbruck had been leading leg five for the last 10 days, but the loss of a crucial spinnaker four days ago appeared to some to have lost her the race.

McDonald had a different opinion, as he told MadforSailing.com: "Well, Illbruck sailed by us today and they seemed to have a spinnaker."

RESOURCES Sailing Glossary    YOUR SAY E-mail us with your views  on the world of sailing   INSIDE SAILING • Flying fish hit Volvo sailors  • SEB leaves Amer wooden spoon  • Illbruck damaged in collision off Rio  • Volvo boats prepare for leg five  • Illbruck sets fast pace

In addition to the weather and navigation skills, McDonald attributed the win to team effort: "The guys were on fire. You need to make sail changes without thinking about it. If you had to single out one thing it was that."

Claiming its second victory in the round-the-world race, Sweden's Assa Abloy is now in second position in the overall race with 28 points to Illbruck's 36.

Kevin Shoebridge's Tyco finished in third place and Gunnar Krantz's SEB claimed fourth place.

News Corp and Amer Sports One are set to finish later on Wednesday, while Djuice and Amer Sports Too are battling it out for seventh and eighth place and are expected to finish in the early hours of Thursday morning.

The 32,700-mile race, which started in Southampton, England, last September is due to end in Kiel in Germany in June.

Current position report for leg five:

1 Assa Abloy

2 Illbruck

3 Tyco

4 SEB

5 Newscorp

6 Amer Sports One

7 Djuice

8 Amer Sports Too