Neal McDonald scored his second triumph of the Volvo Ocean Race this week when he won the fifth leg after a nerve-jangling finish in Miami.

The Hamble skipper of Assa Abloy, the VOR 60 built in Southampton, maintained a top three position throughout the 4,500nm leg from Rio, but in the final approaches to the finish line, he and his crew overtook leaders Illbruck, who were struggling having lost their light airs spinnaker over the side of the boat last weekend.

Until they crossed the line, they were not certain of victory, explained the weary McDonald, who took over as skipper after the first leg.

"We were drifting backwards and forwards. It could have been anybody's game at that stage. When the wind first stopped and we saw them drifting out to sea, we were drifting backwards, too. But we felt we had just got out of the tide a bit earlier than they had, so we had a better chance of finishing."

With a win in the third leg from Sydney to Auckland, Assa Abloy goes into second place overall behind German boat Illbruck with four legs still to race.

"We needed another good result, so we are keen to get a top three place. That's what we were planning on and so coming first is a bonus," said McDonald, who's wife Lisa, skipper of Amer Sports Too was due to arrive in Miami this morning.

The fifth leg saw some top performances from the region's yachtsmen with Team Tyco, with Hamble's Steve Hayles and Tim Powell on board, coming third and Lymington's Jez Fanstone, skipper of NewsCorp, finishing in fifth place.

"It was frustrating at the end," said Fanstone.

"It was disappointing result-wise, but we are still on good form and sailing the boat as hard as ever and that is going to continue, don't worry about that. There are still four legs to go and we've got the speed and we will keep doing what we think is the right thing and keep pushing as hard as we can until June 9.