Swedish Match were rewarded for their daring tactics by winning the second leg of the Whitbread Round the World Race yesterday. The yacht, skippered by Gunnar Krantz, completed the treacherous 4,600-mile leg from Cape Town, South Africa to Fremantle, Australia.

Krantz was rewarded for his gamble in taking a risky southern tack away from the rest of the nine-boat fleet in the wild Southern Ocean to seize the initiative early in the second leg.

The gruelling 15 days three hours and 45 minutes at sea moved Swedish Match to fourth position in the race overall. Innovation Kvaerner was 157 miles from the Fremantle finish, followed by Toshiba with 246 miles to go.

Of the rest of the fleet, Britain's Silk Cut was 399 miles from Fremantle in fourth, 50 miles ahead of Sweden's EF Language in fifth.