Pirates of the Caribbean, with Australians Justin Clougher and Anthony Merrington on board, has sailed in to Melbourne in fourth place in the round-the-world Volvo Ocean Race.

With renowned US skipper Paul Cayard at the helm, the boat, complete with full pirate livery, crossed the finish line off Williamstown at 12.24am on Tuesday.

Despite experiencing problems with their hydraulic canting keel system and having to stop in Albany, Western Australia, for repairs, the team managed to hold on to fourth place from the hard-chasing Australians aboard ING Real Estate Brunel

"I'm absolutely stoked to be home and it is great to see my family here," Clougher said.

"We went in to a phase when we slowed the boat right down and made some very careful assessments about what we were going to do. Were we going to pull out or what?

"We decided to keep racing. We didn't push the boat. We found that just by sailing the boat at a reasonable level we were staying in the event. So we were very happy about that."

A late addition to the team in Cape Town, Merrington, 33, from Sydney, made his Pirate debut on the Southern Ocean.

After missing the first leg of the race from Spain to South Africa, the Pirates are now in fourth place with 13.5 points, including 8.5 point from the Melbourne leg.

Winners in Melbourne, ABN AMRO ONE lead the race with 29 points followed by sister yacht ABN AMRO TWO on 24 and Spanish entry movistar on 15.5.

The Australian yacht, skippered by Grant Wharington, is due in to Melbourne early Tuesday morning.

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