Illbruck Beats Sweden’s SEB to Sydney

A renowned sailor was carried off his boat on a stretcher and a boat that almost sank en route wound up winning the second leg of the Volvo Ocean Race at Sydney, Australia on Tuesday.

Six of the eight boats finished the 6,550-nautical mile ordeal at Sydney’s landmark Opera House on 24 days after having left Cape Town, South Africa.

They were led, as they had been on Leg 1, by Germany’s illbruck, skippered by John Kostecki of San Francisco, whose crew fought successfully to save the 64-foot vessel when it took on water Nov. 11.

Italy’s Amer Sports One finished fifth in the leg, but skipper Grant Dalton became the boat’s second casualty.

The veteran of six previous round-the-world races apparently fractured ribs when he was thrown across the cabin as the boat crashed off a wave Monday. That followed an earlier weeklong drama when Keith Kilpatrick of Long Beach suffered a blocked intestine in the remote Southern Ocean.

He was taken off safely at Western Australia a week ago.

Dalton, 44, said, “I was in the galley area and suddenly launched into space. I broke the stove.”

Roger Nilson, who doubles as navigator and doctor on the boat, confined Dalton to a bunk and administered painkillers, as he had done earlier with Kilpatrick. With Dalton incapacitated, there is strong speculation that Paul Cayard, who in 1997-98 became the first American skipper to win the race, may return to take command of Amer Sports One--or one of the other boats.

Sweden’s Assa Abloy, considered a strong contender when the boats left England in September, finished only sixth, after having finished the first leg fifth. That resulted in a change of skippers--crewman Neal McDonald replacing Roy Heiner.

Cayard may be available for either boat, although he would need a leave of absence from Larry Ellison’s Oracle Challenge America’s Cup team, where he is currently in limbo after the software billionaire benched him as sailing team manager without explanation last month. Sweden’s SEB followed illbruck into the harbor, 1 hour 13 minutes later, followed in turn by Australia’s News Corp, Norway’s djuice, Amer Sports One and Assa Abloy.

The all-woman crewed Amer Sports Too again trailed badly and wasn’t expected to finish until late Thursday or Friday.

Bermuda’s Tyco will be arriving by freighter after breaking its rudder and returning to South Africa.

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Volvo Ocean Race

Standings after two of nine legs:

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Boat, Country Skipper Points* 1. illbruck, Germany John Kostecki 16 2. News Corp, Australia Jez Fanstone 12 3. Amer Sports One, Italy Grant Dalton 11 4. Team SEB, Sweden Gunnar Krantz 10 5. djuice, Norway Knut Frostad 7 6. Assa Abloy, Sweden Neal McDonald 7 7. Tyco, Bermuda Kevin Shoebridge 6 8. Amer Sports Too, Italy Lisa McDonald 3

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*--8 for first, 7 for second, etc.