Sanderson's crew were first past Fernando de Noronha

The team picked up three-and-half points for being the first past the Brazilian archipelago of Fernando de Noronha at 0130 GMT on 21 November.

Neal McDonald's Ericsson were 10 hours adrift in second with Brasil third.

Points are accumulated on each of the nine legs and seven in-port races, replacing the old elapsed time system.

ABN Amro One came sixth out of seven in the first in-port race, but Sanderson insisted his boat was more suited to the strong winds in the open ocean than the the light airs experienced in Galicia.

"Following our disappointing performance in the first inshore race, my answer was that we were, from a naval architecture point of view, supposed to be slower in those conditions of under seven knots," he said.

"And that as long as the boat did what it was supposed to do, when it was supposed to do it, then we thought that we still had the right boat to win the Volvo Ocean Race."

Olympic champion Torben Grael's Brasil 1 was half an hour behind Ericsson, with ABN Amro Two passing the scoring gate at 1212 GMT.

The leading four boats passed through the doldrums, an area of light and variable winds, with little problem.

And they made time to conduct the traditional ceremonies to King Neptune - to give thanks for the safe passage from one hemisphere to the other - for those who had not sailed across the equator before.

Briton Rob Greenhalgh on ABN Amro Two was given a mohican haircut.

Sunergy and Friends, who put into Porto Santo to make repairs, had yet to cross the equator at 2200 GMT on Monday.

American boat Pirates of the Caribbean has pulled out of the first leg with damage and will rejoin the race in Cape Town.

Spain's Movistar is also undergoing extensive repairs in Portimao, Portugal, after being damaged in a suspected underwater collision in the first few days of the race.