The only American yacht in the Volvo Ocean Race 2005/06, The Black Pearl skippered by Paul Cayard (US), has arrived into Baltimore in third place to a rapturous home welcome.

Pirates of the Caribbean team finished at 0722 (local time) to clench their fourth podium place and skipper and crew were clearly delighted. When they sailed to the arrivals pontoon a crowd of supporters, media, friends and families were there to greet them.

On the dockside Paul Cayard explained to waiting press: "We're getting used to third but the result is tough to get used to. We are all very competitive and we all really want to win. ﾠOn the whole, we are happy with third, we are still on the podium."

"The last 48 hours have been trying. ﾠWe have been slating in flat calms with huge left over seas, dodging intense electrical storms, and beating upwind in a 30 knot squall. The 120 miles up the Chesapeake was long and slow without much wind during the night. ﾠAt one point we almost had to anchor to avoid going backwards with the current."

The past few hours have also been a time for intense reflection as Cayard continues: "I was just sitting by myself in the back of the boat for a moment reflecting on the fact that we were in the safety of the Chesapeake and what a long journey it had been to get The Black Pearl to the USA. ﾠWe had to sail her 25,000 miles and through a couple of scary moments to get her to her home country. ﾠWe are all looking forward to our time in Baltimore, Annapolis and New York. ﾠThe USA is the only country that has more than one stop in the Volvo Ocean Race."

Onboard for the final few hours was well known sports reporter, Gary Jobson who was reporting for PBS and ESPN. As he stepped off the yacht he explained: "I was incredibly impressed at the preciseness of the Pirates crew. With the vagaries of the Chesapeake Bay they just plodded away, kept working, there was never a crisis. I was honoured to be a guest."

With movistar taking second place into Baltimore and ABN AMRO TWO taking last place on the leg, the Pirates are now in fourth place overall, just 1.5 points out of second place. ﾠCayard is determined that his team of Pirates get their podium place back and is optimistic about the future, with 42 points still up for grabs between the Baltimore finish and the finish line in Gothenburg: "We're now closer to second place than we were in Rio. We didn't sail particularly fast on this leg and had a couple of the guys in the water looking at what was holding us back.

"We're still not entirely sure what caused this but for the in-port and the next leg we have four new sails so we're hoping that will make a difference. The points are so tight now for second that the race has almost started again."

Jerry Kirby, the other American onboard was greeted by his wife and son Rome when he arrived into Baltimore. Talking about the leg he explained: "It was a long race and there were difficult aspects. There was a lot of very competitive sailing out there and a real determination by all of the teams. We were charging in at the end doing over 24 knots. It feels good to be home."

"Sailing with old legends Paul, Erle Williams and Juggy (Justin Clougher) ﾠhas been a privilege and we're determined to get back up on that podium."

-ﾠﾠﾠ Ends -

NOTES TO THE EDITOR

Paul Cayard was the first American skipper to win the Whitbread Round the World Race, in 1998, on EF Language. He is a seven-time sailing world champion, a five-time America's Cup veteran and a two time Olympian. His accolades include election to the Sailing World Hall of Fame in 2002 and Rolex Yachtsman of the Year in 1998. ﾠFor more information, please visit www.cayardsailing.com

The Black Pearl entry in the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-06 is the result of a unique film marketing partnership between The Walt Disney Company and the Volvo Ocean Race. The Pirates of the Caribbean team, skippered by Paul Cayard, combines experienced sailors from six nations with five previous wins of this demanding race. ﾠFor more information on the team, visit: www.blackpearlracing.com ﾠ The Volvo Ocean Race takes eight months, covers 31,250 nautical miles of the globe's most treacherous seas over nine legs, visits 10 ports around the world and incorporates seven inshore races. ﾠFor the first time in the event's history, the race began in Vigo, Spain November 12th. The race travels to Cape Town, South Africa; Melbourne, Australia; a pit stop in Wellington, New Zealand; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Baltimore/Annapolis, Maryland; a pit stop in New York City; Portsmouth, England; Rotterdam, The Netherlands; and finishes in Gothenburg, Sweden in June 2006. ﾠwww.volvooceanrace.org

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Gore Verbinski, once again stars Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow, Orlando Bloom as Will Turner and Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Swann. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, the spectacular follow-up to the international blockbuster released in 2003, is currently being filmed in Los Angeles and the Caribbean and will be first released in July 2006. ﾠPirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest premieres in Italy on September 2006. ﾠ CONTACTS

Press Officer
Rachel Anningﾠﾠﾠ Tel: +44 (0) 7813 803 936ﾠﾠﾠ ﾠEmail: Rachel@piratesracing.org ﾠﾠ
ﾠ Press Officer - Italy
Federica Monticelliﾠﾠﾠ Tel *39 328 230 48 76ﾠﾠﾠ Email: Federica@piratesracing.org
Buena Vista International
Carol Nicolauﾠﾠﾠ Tel +1 305 776 0112 ﾠ ﾠﾠﾠ ﾠEmail carol.nicolau@disney.com
Cayard Sailing
Jennifer Hallﾠﾠﾠ Tel + 1 401 294 7136ﾠﾠﾠ ﾠEmail Jennifer@piratesracing.org

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