Sea, Sail & Surf newsAround Alone • Leg 5
Countdown for Swiss victory
Stamm awaited between 5:00 and 9:00 local time
mercredi 30 avril 2003 –
"I have left to race the equivalent mileage of how long it takes to cross Switzerland from one end to the other - 300 kilometres ! I’m still in race mode, nothing has changed around me, so it’s hard to think that soon I’ll be on land. But I’m also missing friends, eating fresh food, drinking a cold beer.." Stamm has got out of the calm winds and is currently moving at 8 - 10 knots but only making 7 knots towards the finish and getting nicely chilled as the sea and air temperature dropped from 23° to 14°. In view of the new season he has also started his ’spring-cleaning’ in anticipation of his arrival. "No mirror on this boat, so I hope I don’t cut myself shaving !"
At the Newport Shipyard, a horde of friends, supporters, and international media are readying to celebrate his arrival, which will begin with the ceremonial spraying of the victor’s magnum of Champagne Mumm at the pontoon, followed by the skipper’s press conference and then no doubt a party will ensue ?
Parties are the last thing on the minds of the other skippers behind Stamm. While the weather in Newport is still sunny and warm, the forecast is for it to turn gnarly later in the week when the bulk of the Class 1 boats and Tommy Hilfiger Freedom America will be arriving. A stationary front will place itself inconveniently right off the coast of Rhode Island and will drench the fleet with a persistent rain. The boats behind Bobst Group - Armor Lux will start sniffing the Newport shoreline during the day on Friday.
Italian Simone Bianchetti on Tiscali still has a reasonable hold on second for the leg positioned now between the line and 3rd boat Ocean Planet. At current speeds should arrive during the day on Friday. Ahead of the front he will find a favorable west southwesterly wind, but once through the front the wind will switch into the northeast and start to blow. If Bianchetti is lucky he will make it in before the switch in wind direction, but it will not be so for the rest.
Bruce Schwab on Ocean Planet, Brad van Liew on Tommy Hilfiger Freedom America, the leading Class 2 boat, and Thierry Dubois on Solidaires will definitely face headwinds. Tim Kent on Everest Horizontal described this 30 knot Northerly as if "someone is setting a huge 30 knot fan on the finish line and pointing it right at us. I guess that will be the character-building part of this leg."
Kojiro Shiraishi on Spirit of yukoh has sailed a great leg but he has not had an easy time of it. After finding his main halyard stuck he had to climb to the top of the mast to find that the pulley at the top of the mast had broken, making it impossible for him to lower his mainsail. Fortunately for Koji there was a gap in the weather that allowed him to make a repair. Had the wind come up he would have been in a dangerous situation. Alan Paris on BTC Velocity is nearing his home of Bermuda, and despite the temptation to call in on family and friends, Paris’ goal is the finish line in Newport.
POSITIONS AT 1400GMT 30th APRIL 2003
Class 1
Boat Lat Lon AvgBsp AvgHeading DTF
1. Bobst Group-Armor Lux 39 34.680 N, 68 54.960 W, 64.05 nm, 8.02 kt, 345 °T, 158.84 nm
2. Tiscali 34 09.400 N, 65 36.520 W, 47.50 nm, 5.93 kt, 311 °T, 515.97 nm
3. Ocean Planet 33 28.440 N, 65 27.320 W, 51.34 nm, 6.41 kt, 313 °T, 555.41 nm
4. Solidaires 33 40.080 N, 62 06.360 W, 55.34 nm, 6.91 kt, 288 °T, 641.51 nm
5. Pindar 32 05.120 N, 60 15.008 W, 50.23 nm, 6.29 kt, 297 °T, 774.43 nm
Class 2
Boat Lat Lon AvgBsp AvgHeading DTF
1. Tommy Hilfiger 32 56.560 N, 64 21.080 W, 56.30 nm, 7.04 kt, 320 °T, 610.70 nm
2. Everest Horizontal 30 26.711 N, 62 43.065 W, 53.55 nm, 6.70 kt, 330 °T, 782.13 nm
3. Spirit of yukoh 27 35.177 N, 57 55.760 W, 63.11 nm, 7.89 kt, 329 °T, 1062.18 nm
4. BTC Velocity 23 11.857 N, 54 51.841 W, 50.16 nm, 6.27 kt, 8 °T, 1373.35 nm
* Spirit of Canada (Leg 4) at 14:00 GMT - 22 11 001S, 36 29 538W Distance to Finish 567nm
Dans la même rubrique
Around Alone • leg 5 : "A heck of a boat race to the finish !"
Around Alone • Leg 5 : A Swiss skipper straight into the storm
Around Alone • Leg 5 : Halfway to Newport, Stamm still leading
Around Alone • Leg 5 : Five Class 1 Open 60’s en route to the northern Atlantic
