Sailing: Smith makes sharp start to tough leg

Lawrie Smith was at his aggressive best to lead the fleet of 14 away from Punta del Este, Uruguay, at the start of the second leg of the Whitbread Round The World Race to Fremantle, Western Australia, yesterday, writes Stuart Alexander. The new skipper of the Whitbread 60 Intrum Justitia, who joined the boat just six days ago, judged the conditions perfectly as he hoisted a spinnaker for the short run across the bay in the River Plate. He was being pursued by the overall race leader, Grant Dalton, in the 20ft longer Maxi NZ Endeavour, as they turned into the 10-knot south-easterly to begin what is forecast to be three hard days of windward work.