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 | |  Wednesday, 24 October, 2001, 21:00 GMT 22:00 UK Illbruck first to South Africa  Illbruck crosses the finish line of the first leg Germany's Illbruck won the first leg of the Volvo Ocean Race, crossing the finish line in Cape Town ahead of Amer Sports One. Skippered by John Kostecki, Illbruck covered the 7,350 nautical miles from Southampton to South Africa in 31 days, five hours 19 minutes and 49 seconds. But the crew were required to push all the way to the line despite two-metre waves and more than 30 knots of wind.
Illbruck was fined �1,000 by the Volvo Ocean Race committee afterwards, for making illegal modifications prior to the start of the leg. But the result stood, after completion of a thorough investigation. "We kept fighting and never gave up. The whole team is great, it's so positive," a delighted Kostecki said afterwards. "I know Dalton's had a few breakages. The Southern Ocean is going to be interesting to watch." Grant Dalton, meanwhile, was pleased with his crew's performance after a shortened pre-race preparation.
"We were not disappointed to come second at all. "We had no expectations for this leg at all, other than to just get a reasonable result with our programme being late. "It wasn't a surprise to be beaten by Illbruck. They are a class act." Further adrift, was News Corp - skippered by Britain's Jez Fanstone - in third. Team Tyco, Assa Abloy, Djuice and Team SEB filled the next positions, with the all-female crew on board Amer Sports Too bringing up the rear. | | Internet links:  The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites Other top Sailing stories:  Links to more Sailing stories are at the foot of the page. | |||
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