BOOKIES may have named their favourites to win the Volvo Ocean Race on the back of pre-race preparations but, until the first leg from Southampton to Cape Town is completed and the true thoroughbreds established, the field remains wide open.

German entry Illbruck Challenge had a head start by formulating plans more than two years ago.

They bought the best training boats available and invested in further research and development from Farr, the gurus of race yacht design. Skipper John Kostecki is in the same mould as the last race winner, Paul Cayard, and the Solent's Ian Moore is the well-respected navigator and tactician.

Second favourites Team Tyco is the boat to track for Hampshire race followers.

Founded by Dennis Koslowski, the business tycoon who owns J-class yacht Endeavour, the campaign is well funded and, under the management of Kiwi Kevin Shoebridge, extremely well organised.

Farr-designed, their VOR 60 was built by Goetz in Newport, Rhode Island and has achieved speeds of 31 knots in trials.

Navigator is Hamble's Steve Hayles, a shrewd operator with an eye for a calculated risk, who was with the Silk Cut campaign in 1997/98. The boat was launched in March this year and has had one transatlantic passage, but an experienced crew, comprising Tim Powell, Gerry Mitchell and Jan Dekker, have been training together for more than a year.

Most stunning of all the boats is Sweden's Assa Abloy in its gold and blue livery, an inspiration of former Silk Cut member Jason Carrington who has lovingly, almost obsessively overseen building operations at Green Marine in Lymington.

Ambitious Dutchman, Roy Heiner, is skipper, but his secret weapon is Hamble helmsman Neal McDonald who left his coveted position with British America's Cup Challenge to join the Volvo Ocean Race so he could spend more time with his wife Lisa, skipper of Amer Sports Too.

American Mark Rudiger is the idiosyncratic but often brilliant navigator and, despite 11-2 odds, this boat has gained favour on the dockside as a hot contender.

Lymington's Jez Fanstone was regarded as a skilled Indian on Silk Cut in the last race.

But being in the right place at the right time has paid dividends for this former Soling Match Racing World Champion and he now finds himself as chief of Australian entry Team News Corp, in close association with Whitbread veteran Ross Field. Race winner in 1993/4.

Joker Fanstone has listed Bart Simpson as his 13th crew member - the undefeated champion of bathtub 'bubble-making' competition - but, in reality, he has a skilled crew from around the world which makes him third favourite in the starting blocks.

Many of the Team SEB crew gathered vital experience with the Swedish Match campaign four years ago, including Matt Humphries who was the Whitbread's youngest skipper when he took charge of Dolphin and Youth in 1993. He has abandoned the British yacht racing scene in favour of Sweden where he has become fluent in the language and betrothed to a girl called 'Ulrika'. Despite Marcel van Triest navigating, the boat fell to fifth place in the favourites' list after an average performance in the recent Rolex Fastnet Race.

Kiwi legend Grant Dalton is the Mika Hakkinen of offshore yacht racing, but his late declaration with Nautor Challenge and his indecision over whether Farr or Frers is best has set him back in the starting stakes. He finally opted for Amer Sports One, conceived by Frers, the chief designer at sponsors Nautor Swan.

An experienced campaigner with six Whitbreads (including a victory) already under his belt, this bloke knows his onions, so despite the lack of preparation, the rest of the fleet fear his record and ability. Dalton is an awesome yachtsman, whichever boat he campaigns or whoever he sails with.

Whatever the crew of djuice dragons achieve in the 2001-2002 Volvo Ocean Race, Southampton, well-wishers will remember them for the luminous pink outfits they were forced to wear during race week. Regarded initially as casting prospects for BBC's Absolutely Fabulous, Knut Frostad's Norwegian crew quickly gained credence as a popular choice when details of their big budget, early launch, two-boat programme and experience became known.

If ever there were a boat to be willed around the world by genuine good wishes, it is Amer Sport Too skippered by Hamble's Lisa McDonald, wife of Neal. After a fruitless campaign to raise her own funds, Lisa became the first choice of Grant Dalton to head up the second boat in the Nautor Challenge. She was appointed in June, just three months before the start of the race, was forced to seek and train an all-women's crew and, with one week to go, was handed her boat after Dalton had finally made his choice. The odds are stacked against her but Lisa and her crew are strong, confident and happy...go get 'em, girls!