Oceanracing 2002 - Around Alone, das Highlight des Jahres

29.09.2002
AROUND ALONE 2002-03: FOUR YACHTS IN CLOSE FINISH AFTER 3,000 MILE TRANSATLANTIC DRAG RACE
Absender: Mary Ambler
http://www.aroundalone.com

GARNIER COMES IN THIRD PLACE DESPITE MISSING THE FINISH LINE!
PINDAR STORMS INTO FOURTH PLACE TO NARROWLY MISS THIRD BY 13 MINUTES
BIANCHETTI HAND-STEERING FOR SEVERAL DAYS AND ARRIVES IN FIFTH PLACE TOTALLY EXHAUSTED
DALTON CROSSES THE LINE WITH ONLY headSAIL UP IN SIXTH PLACE
TOMMY HILFIGER FREEDOM AMERICA ETA MONDAY @ 07:00HRS LOCAL TIME
BRAD VAN LIEW TELEPHONE & ON SITE PRESS CONFERENCE FOR LOCAL/INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Torbay, England 29th September: Four Open 60 yachts finished Leg 1 of the Around Alone race this morning in quick succession after 3,000 miles of intense competition and harsh North Atlantic boat-breaking weather. Overnight the wind moved into the south, as forecast, and freshened, allowing the yachts behind to close in on those in front on a direct course for the finish line at good speed. First up was a pre-dawn arrival of Garnier sailed by Belgian Patrick de Radigues. With a half-moon lighting the way Garnier sailed into Torbay, but overshot the finish forcing him to turn around and sail back the way he had come.
However, whilst he was preoccupied with getting to the finish line, de Radigues failed to notice the silhouette of Pindar outlined against a pale sky. Emma Richards, the youngest, only Brit and female in Around Alone, had made excellent speed during the night and had snuck up on Garnier. She was unaware that Patrick had overshot the finish, otherwise, as she said later at the press conference, "Even after 3,000 miles, just for those minutes I would have thrown out my reef and put up a bigger headsail if I had only known." As it turned out Pindar made a graceful entrance just as the sky turned Bermuda pink and she crossed the line just 13 minutes after Garnier.
It had been an extraordinary 24 hours for Richards. A day earlier Pindar had been in 6th place sailing well to the south of the other competitors. She had positioned herself to take advantage of an anticipated shift in wind direction, and her tactics paid huge dividends. She first stormed past Graham Dalton on Hexagon, and then later in the day she rolled Simone Bianchetti on Tiscali. An exuberant Richards smiled broadly as she sailed across the finish line knowing that the first leg was a real test for her and her campaign, and she had proven her mettle against the competition. “I’m racing against such gentlemen – well, they let me overtake them this time!”

Tommy Hilfiger Freedom America
Class 2 vor Torbay

Pindar als Vierte am Ziel

Emma Richards - als
schnellste Frau über den Atlantik

Hexagon - 7.Platz in Torbay

Next up, Italian Simone Bianchetti came sailing over the horizon in his blue rocket-ship Tiscali to take fifth place. He had been experiencing autopilot problems for the past week forcing him to hand steer, and so it was an exhausted skipper that brought his boat alongside in time for lunch. "I am very happy with my boat," he said dismissing the problems with his autopilot. "This is a long race. I am still getting to know her, with all the changes she is like a new machine, and I think we will be able to put in a strong performance for leg 2." Bianchetti is immensely talented having already sailed solo around the world, but Tiscali is new for him and he acknowledged that it takes time to get the best performance from the boat.
In the early afternoon New Zealander Graham Dalton brought Hexagon home under headsail only, to a rapturous audience of local schoolchildren and the Torbay community. He spoke movingly about how he was humbled by messages from kids all over the world on the HSBC Global Education Challenge website (www.education.hsbc.com) which he read when he was checking weather on line, racing in 50 knot winds and suffering from several technical problems with the boat. “The guys who came in ahead of me were better prepared out there. We’ve got a lot of work to do on the boat but I’m looking forward to a good scrap in Leg 2.”
Brad Van Liew on Tommy Hilfiger Freedom America, meanwhile, is flying towards Torbay, the clear leader of the Class 2 fleet of 6 Open 50 and 40ft yachts. He is currently 127 miles from the finish (at approx. 2pm local time today) and making 9 knots. His ETA is now for 07:00hrs local time Monday 30th September.

CLASS 1
Skipper, Boat, Finish time, Elapsed Times, Points
Bernard Stamm, Bobst Group - Armor Lux 14:33:38 UTC; 10days 22hrs 33mins 38 secs - 10
Thierry Dubois, Solidaires 01:17:28 UTC; 11 days 9 hrs 17mins 28secs - 9
Patrick de Radigues, Garnier 05:53:18 UTC; 13 days 13hrs 53 minutes 18 secs - 8
Emma Richards, Pindar 06:06:18 UTC; 13 days 14 hrs 06 mins 18 secs - 7
Simone Bianchetti, Tiscali 09:50:53 UTC; 13 days 17hrs 50 mins 53 secs - 6
Graham Dalton, Hexagon 12:05:55 UTC; 13 days 20hrs 5 mins 55 secs - 5
Ocean Planet – ETA Tuesday morning

CLASS 2
PRESS CONFERENCE FOR MEDIA ON SITE IN TORBAY FOR CLASS 2 WINNER:
10:00hrs local time, HSBC tent, AROUND ALONE Race Village, Brixham Yacht Club.

TELEPHONE NEWS CONFERENCE FOR INTERNATIONAL MEDIA WITH BRAD VAN LIEW:
With tales of harsh winds, waves and unfavorable weather conditions, Van Liew will be on hand via a telephone news conference to take your questions on his journey thus far, discuss how he’s dealt with Mother Nature’s barriers and what’s ahead for him in the extreme Around Alone race.
WHEN: Tuesday, October 1st 2002, 9:00am EASTERN TIME
WHERE: Join from your desk by dialling: 888-747-3510 (from US) or (+1) 703-671-3085 (from outside the US) and enter conference number 6236375
ENDS

Watch the finishes in Torbay
The finish line for the yachts is off the Berry head Hotel in Brixham. The boats will cross the line and then be towed into the pontoons at the Brixham Yacht Club. From there the skipper will be escorted to the public platform in the Race Village at the Brixham Yacht Club to hold interviews and be welcomed by the Torbay community.