Velux 5 Oceans - Fleet Hurting in South Atlantic
February 21, 2007 0 comments
SAGA INSURANCE is now back in 5th position in the VELUX 5 OCEANS race having completed his stop in Ushuaia to make repairs. Graham Dalton, onboard A SOUTHERN MAN – AGD, is also making a pit stop in the Falklands with a problem with its headboard ca
SAGA INSURANCE is now back in 5th position in the VELUX 5 OCEANS race having completed his stop in Ushuaia to make repairs. Graham Dalton, onboard A SOUTHERN MAN – AGD, is also making a pit stop in the Falklands with a problem with its headboard car, which will give a better window for Sir Robin to re-gain 4th place. 3rd place will be harder to catch this time, as the Basque sailor Unai Basurko, onboard PAKEA has put 500 miles between him and SAGA INSURANCE.
The last time Sir Robin pit stopped in Fremantle, the Basque sailor had only gained 250 nautical miles. However with just under 7,000 nautical miles to go to the States, anything could still happen and in Open 60 yacht racing, it usually does. 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. The Swiss skipper is fighting wildly fluctuating wind conditions as he climbs towards the Equator, 200 miles north of CHEMINÉES POUJOULAT.
These conditions are highly demanding, allowing Stamm little time to rest. 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.
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. The Japanese skipper has been dogged by windless periods throughout Leg 2, but he is now taking a more relaxed approach which he attributes to his spiritual discipline.
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.
Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, SAGA INSURANCE:
“If stress is meant to be good for you then the Beagle Channel to Ushuaia must be very good for one, but I could have done without it. Sunday evening was a beat into an increasing narrow channel with winds gusting 35 and steady for long periods on 33 knots and steep, nasty seas. I was not sure we were going to make it, but a slight freeing of the wind for 30 minutes gave us a safe angle in the end. The towboat was waiting for me off Picton Island but rightly said they could not put a line aboard SAGA INSURANCE until we had calmer waters. Then we lost contact and it was only halfway along the island that they found me and escorted us to a small area where there was a lee.”
“After a harrowing 8 hours I suddenly felt very tired now the situation was under control. Mooring up in Ushuaia was another nightmare, it seems to blow a gale or go very calm and we had the former but eventually got tied up with minimal loss of skin. Then it was time to leave … Solo sailing the Beagle Channel is not to be recommended, but the scenery is spectacular. It narrows to less than a mile in places and the wind gusts through, although there are calmer patches. I would not willingly do the passage again except in a boat with a powerful motor and good crew. It took longer than intended and I have lost some extra hours as I did not get to the point where I started to motor until 0524 GMT but it will be a huge relief to get SAGA INSURANCE into open water.”
Bernard Stamm, CHEMINEES POUJOULAT
“I have a big problem with my water maker 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. I took the reef in just before the gust has arrived, five minutes before there was a big tornado under the squall, but it disappeared before arriving on the boat. It is like this, now, since two days ago and between the squalls there is very slow and shifty wind and burning sun. I hope soon I’ll get out of this place.”
‘For ultimate coverage of the Velux 5 Oceans click here.’
