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Illbruck receives hero's welcome

The victorious Illbruck team

KIEL, Germany -- Germany's Volvo Ocean Race's winning team has been treated to a hero's welcome as it sailed victoriously into its home port and a massive celebratory party.

Skipper John Kostecki said: "It was amazing. I've never seen anything like it before in my life. We thank everyone here who's supporting us – it's a fantastic welcoming party."

Illbruck, the first German yacht to win the race, sailed into the German harbour of Kiel on Sunday in second place on the leg but with overall victory in the nine-month and 52,300-kilometre (32,700 mile) race.

Some 200 boats joined the Illbruck yacht several miles from the end, some from as far out as 70 miles, and escorted her to the finish line.

Norway's Djuice was the winner of the leg. Skipper Knut Frostad's stripped the boat for the leg, including leaving three crew members on land.

"We have taken off anything we don't need to have for the rules," he told Reuters.

INSIDE SAILING • Illbruck, Assa Abloy face-off  • 50,000 cheer Illbruck to victory  • Assa Abloy victorious in home port  • Illbruck sets 24-hour record    EXTRA INFORMATION E-mail us with your views  on the world of sailing   RESOURCES Sailing Glossary

"The boat is just completely empty inside. Just a couple of sails, and nine crew members altogether. Many thanks to the three guys on our team, who stayed on shore to make us lighter," Frostad said.

Illbruck won four of the nine legs, giving them a five-point lead over closest rival Assa Abloy heading into the final leg.

Kostecki told Reuters Sweden's Assa Abloy -- who had to win the final leg and finish six places ahead of Illbruck to win the overall race -- was his only concern.

"We had one boat to worry about so it was a match race. [Djuice] took some risks, but it paid off for them as we all had light air. It was fine. Djuice could go off and win the race. We wanted to beat Assa," he said.

Assa Abloy finished third, almost two hours after Illbruck.

Illbruck completed the nine-stage race in a total sailing time of 123 days, 5 hours and 11 minutes. The race began on September 23 in Southampton, England, with a grueling first leg of 7,50 nautical miles down to Cape Town, South Africa.

The $25 million campaign was backed by 42-year-old German industrialist Michael Illbruck, a keen offshore sailor who did not sail with the crew.

The Illbruck sailors will now go their separate ways to compete in the Olympics and the America's Cup, but Kostecki, who credited the team's victory with the tightness of the crew, said he thought everybody on the team "would be sailing together often in the future."

"Now I need a long vacation. My next event is the couch potato -- and I hope I win that too," Kostecki said.

Ninth leg Gothenburg to Kiel

Final overall points