There was a break in the busy schedules last night when the teams attended the Volvo Ocean Race Leg Two Prize Giving Dinner at Crown, Melbourne. It was a chance to award the winners from Leg Two as well as present some special accolades.

Before the main Leg trophies were awarded, the evening’s proceedings started with three special awards.

The first award to be given was the media prize which was presented by Erling Pedersen from Volvo Car Corporation. The media prize is presented by the race organisation to the crew member who makes the best contribution to the overall media efforts. Traditionally this award is presented to an individual crew member however, for Leg Two it was felt necessary to present this award to a team. Brasil 1 won the prize for the spectacular footage that they sent back from the leg as well as the in-depth and heart-felt e-mails.

The second prize of the evening, the Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics Ocean Watch Environmental Award, was presented by Laurtz Andersen from Wallenius Wilhelmsen and went to Pirates of the Caribbean. Skipper Paul Cayard (USA) was invited onto the stage but insisted in bringing team member Justin Clougher (AUS) with him, who was responsible for the creative writing.

The final special award of the evening was the Musto Seamanship Award which is presented in recognition of an act of bravery, goodwill or sportsmanship on the part of a crew member. Torben Grael, skipper of Brasil 1 presented the award to fellow Brazilian Andrea Fonseca who played such an integral part in rescuing the boat when Brasil 1 was dismasted. Fonseca dived overboard to cut away the broken rig to prevent it puncturing the boat.

ABN AMRO TWO were presented with the Gant Time Trophy for the best 24 hour run, after they clocked up 563 nautical miles in 24 hours, setting a new world record.

There were no surprises with the rest of the evening’s awards. David Jones, Chairman of the Melbourne Stopover Organising Committee, presented a Waterford Crystal Trophy to movistar who finished third in the Leg. Peter Hertinge, President of Volvo Commercial Vehicles Australia, presented ABN AMRO TWO with their second prize. The final trophy of the evening was presented to the overall leg winners ABN AMRO ONE who received their prize from Alan Desselss, General Manager Volvo Cars Australia.

With the Leg prize presentations out of the way, the crews will now be looking towards increasing their trophy count and points at the in-port race. The race is still on for Brasil 1 who now has their boat back in the water and will be rigging their mast overnight.

The rest of the fleet have managed to get a full days practice in today out on Port Phillip Bay in preparation for tomorrow’s race which kicks off at 14 00 (local).

The fleet will leave their berths at Waterfront City Race Village, Docklands from 0915 (local). They will leave the dockside at 15 minute intervals to allow for time to get under the Bolte Bridge and commence out to the race area on Port Phillip Bay.

After an intense and exciting 2-3 hour in-port race the boats will return to the Waterfront City Race Village, Docklands, for the prize presentation at 19 00 (local).

Current Leaderboard

1st TEAM ABN AMRO ONE, Mike Sanderson (NZL) 29 pts

2nd TEAM ABN AMRO TWO, Sebastien Josse (FRA) 24 pts

3rd Movistar, Bouwe Bekking (NED) 15.5 pts

4th Brasil 1, Torben Grael (BRA) 14.5 pts

5th Pirates of the Caribbean, Paul Cayard (USA) 13.5 pts

6th Ericsson Racing Team Neal McDonald (GBR) 12.5 pts

7th Brunel, Grant Wharington (AUS) 11 pts