The crew of Delta Lloyd just gets better and better and although they crossed the Galway finish line in fifth place this morning at 0339 GMT, the team had been up in the lead during the leg and was in contention for a podium finish right up until the last moment.

As the crew gelled, their performance improved and they scored a third place in the in-port race series in Rio de Janeiro and Boston, as well as being third at the scoring gate on leg six.

On stepping ashore, Spanish skipper, Roberto Bermúdez said, "We're sailing against really good teams and really good people. We are trying to not make mistakes and to sail within our limits, and that's what we did here. You enjoy the race so much more when you don't 'lose' the fleet.

"You always think about the real big downwind sailing in the Southern Ocean when you think about this race, but these last couple of days were maybe the best downwind in the race, it was really good.

"It's a happy team and we've enjoyed it a lot. Everybody sailed very well and we are really starting to feel like a close group."

As the winner of the 2005-06 Volvo Ocean Race, Delta Lloyd already has one circumnavigation under her keel. The current team's first priority was to get to Galway in one piece, however, when the rest of the fleet put the throttle down, the crew of Delta Lloyd did the same.

The battle for fifth place was hard fought. Telefónica Black was also leader of the pack in the first third of this leg, but once the fleet cleared the ice exclusion zone and headed downwind, Telefónica Black did not flourish and finished at 0358 GMT, just 19 minutes behind Delta Lloyd. According to navigator Roger Nilson: "We were demolished"

Fellow Spaniard and skipper of Telefónica Black, Fernando Echávarri, commented, "We performed quite well. In the first half we were very comfortable with the boat and we did well, but we knew it was going to be really hard downwind.

"At the end, we were really close to passing Delta Lloyd, but we could not. It was very exciting racing, very close. It is more interesting when you can see the other boats."

For Ericsson 3, which finished two hours later in seventh position, at 0558 GMT today, leg seven could have been a leg the crew would rather forget.

In his usual irrepressible way, skipper Magnus Olsson was pragmatic. "We are a little disappointed with the result, but that's life. We think we've sailed the best ever, but this time it wasn't enough.

"When we sail as well, we are normally fighting for podium positions. It was frustrating when we didn't go so well, and in the end, we took some chances. In the short term, our egos have taken a beating and now we know how hard it is to really be up there."

With Volvo fleet safely arrived in Galway, there is a full two weeks for the crews to enjoy the legendary Irish hospitality before the in-port race next Saturday May 30. The start of leg eight is the following Saturday, June 6.

Leg Six finishing order
1. Ericsson 4: 8 points
2. PUMA: 7 points
3. Green Dragon: 6 points
4. Telefónica Blue: 5 points
5. Delta Lloyd: 4 points
6. Telefónica Black: 3 points
7. Ericsson 3: 2 points

Overall Leaderboard (provisional)
1. Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael/BRA) 92.0 points (FINISHED)
2. Telefónica Blue (Bouwe Bekking/NED) 77.5 points (FINISHED)
3. PUMA (Ken Read/USA) 76.0 points (FINISHED)
4. Ericsson 3 (Magnus Olsson/SWE) 60.0 points (FINISHED)
5. Green Dragon (Ian Walker/GBR) 52.0 points (FINISHED)
6. Telefónica Black (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) 36.0 points (FINISHED)
7. Delta Lloyd (Roberto Bermúdez/ESP) 29.5 points (FINISHED)
8. Team Russia 10.5 points (DNS)

Scoring gate order
1. Telefónica Blue
2. PUMA
3. Ericsson 4
4. Ericsson 3
5. Telefónica Black