Velux 5 Oceans - Race Leader Roasts in the Doldrums
February 21, 2007 0 comments
Bernard Stamm, has rounded the eastern point of Brazil 100 miles offshore, squeezing between the mainland coast and the islands of Fernando da Noronha. "I have a big problem with my water maker," Stamm reported early this morning, "but in the afterno
VELUX 5 OCEANS race leader, Bernard Stamm, has rounded the eastern point of Brazil 100 miles offshore, squeezing between the mainland coast and the islands of Fernando da Noronha. “I have a big problem with my water maker,” Stamm reported early this morning, “but in the afternoon, I went trough a very big squall and I could catch more or less 80 litres of fresh water in the reefed mainsail.” The Swiss skipper is fighting wildly fluctuating wind conditions as he climbs towards the Equator, 200 miles north of Cheminées Poujoulat. “I took the reef in just before the gust has arrived,” he explained, “five minutes before there was a big tornado under the squall, but it disappeared before arriving on the boat.”
These conditions are highly demanding, allowing Stamm little time to rest: “It is like this, now, since two days ago and between the squalls there is very slow and shifty wind and burning sun.” At this point on the globe, the sun remains directly overhead for most of the day, throwing no shadows from the mainsail, providing minimal shade. Roasting below deck out of the blazing heat on the airless Open 60, Stamm trusts that the Doldrums will diminish: “I hope soon I’ll get out of this place.”
Sailing off the coast of Uruguay, 1,914 miles to the south, second place Kojiro Shiraishi has unglued Spirit of Yukoh from a period of dead calm yesterday and is heading due north averaging 8.5 knots: “As expected, I’ve been trapped in the calm,” he wrote this morning. The Japanese skipper has been dogged by windless periods throughout Leg 2, but he is now taking a more relaxed approach: “My feelings are also relatively calm and I’m not getting frustrated. I’m concentrating ahead rather than dwelling in this trying period. I feel this way of thinking has come from my mental attitude I’ve gained as a result of my spiritual discipline. I might even have enjoyed the calm seas today.”
Indeed, Kojiro has been celebrating the conditions in the South Atlantic with stunning photography [onboard images above and below]: “Throughout the morning, the weather was fantastic,” he added, “the sky was blue and white clouds flickered on the horizon. The sea itself was a completely beautiful turquoise.”
Having left the Falkland Islands to starboard, third place Unai Basurko has capitalised on Koji’s stalled progress, taking 60 miles from Spirit of Yukoh overnight. The Spanish Open 60 now trails the Japanese yacht by 1,016 miles as Basurko takes Pakea along the edge of South American continental shelf, 150 miles due north of the Falklands.
South-east of Basurko, Graham Dalton and Open 50 A Southern Man – AGD in fourth place are now within hours of reaching Port Stanley, the main harbour in the Falklands group, for repairs to his mainsail’s headboard; a vital fix for the forthcoming period of headwinds through the South Atlantic section of Leg 2.
Trailing Dalton by 344 miles this morning, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston left the Argentine port of Ushuaia last night having completed satellite equipment and sail repairs. The 05:32 UTC position poll shows SAGA Insurance is just 5 miles from Cape San Pio on the northern shore of the Beagle Channel, the point where Knox-Johnston turned on the yacht’s engine at 21:46 UTC on Sunday and suspended racing. The weather reports from Tierra del Fuego indicate strong winds and although Knox-Johnston will soon exit the narrow Beagle Channel, there are a further 50 miles to sail before leaving this treacherous stretch of coast.
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