Brasil 1 sailor Andy Meiklejohn (NZ) enjoyed life in the fast lane when he stepped onboard the Volvo Extreme 40 Holmatro for the penultimate day of the Volvo Extreme 40 Portsmouth grand prix series yesterday.

Commenting on his day on the water Meiklejohn said: “I can’t believe how much fun these boat are. The racing is fantastic as the boats are all so close and it really was a lot of fun out there today.”

Despite having the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-06 sailor onboard, the best result the team managed all day was a third place which kept Mitch Booth and his team in fourth position overall going into the final day.

Team Basilica had one of the best days of the fleet and enjoyed the 10-15 knot wind conditions. The all-British team scored three first places out of the five races, to maintain their top spot.

Basilica helmsman Alister Richardson commented: “It couldn’t have been a better day for us. We sailed really well and managed to get the shifts right. The conditions were really tricky and with the turning mark so close to the shore the wind was very variable.”

Looking to the final day today he said: “We have one day left and possibly four races remaining so we will just have to continuing doing what we have been doing and make sure we don’t get caught out.”

It was also a good day for Motorola-CHR. The team were the only other boat to win races in the shifty conditions and after a ‘good day in the office’, they move up to second overall, overtaking Randy Smyth’s Tommy Hilfiger.

Helmsman Leigh McMillan said: “It has been a good week and I am pleased to now be in second place. I didn’t sail the first day of the regatta as I was returning from an Olympic event, but I am pleased with our performance. We have a bit to do tomorrow to catch Basilica but in these boats anything is possible.”

With one day of the series remaining, Team Basilica holds the overall lead, 21 points in front of Motorola-CHR with Tommy Hilfiger third. Mitch Booth and his team on Holmatro are fourth and Yves Loday, the class designer, holds fifth place.

Racing concludes today at 1400.

Results, Day 3 (after 13 races)

1st Basilica, 115 pts
2nd Motorola-CHR 94 pts
3rd Tommy Hilfiger, 86 pts
4th Holmatro, 71 pts
5th Volvo Ocean Race, 62 pts

Overall Series Rankings (after three events)

1st Tommy Hilfiger 26 pts
2nd Basilica 20 pts
3rd Holmatro 19 pts
4th Motorola-CHR 18 pts
5th Volvo Ocean Race 16 pts

Remaining Volvo Extreme 40 Grand Prix Series event
Rotterdam, Netherlands 9-14 June, 2006