PR No. 12
AROUND ALONE RESTART FROM TORBAY POSTPONED 24HRS TO 14TH OCTOBER
PRESS CONFERENCE AT 10:30AM 13.10.02 WITH THE RACE ORGANISATION AND SKIPPERS IN THE HSBC PRESS CONFERENCE TENT IN THE OVERGANG ROAD COACH CAR PARK NEXT TO THE LOOP MEDIA CENTRE. CONTACT: MARY AMBLER ON 07887 643 583
Despite the deceptively calm weather currently sitting over Torbay, tomorrowÂ’s noon start time for Leg 2 of the Around Alone has officially been postponed by 24 hours because of the weather. Right now itÂ’s a beautiful evening in Torbay with the lights around the harbor reflecting on the calm water, but thatÂ’s all about to change. According to the weather experts at the British Meteorological office and the US Navy, a nasty easterly wind is due to pick up this evening bringing with it a driving rain. They are talking about Force 6 Easterly winds at noon Sunday when the race was due to get underway.
Cynics might scoff at the thought of weather being the cause for the race delay given that these boats are designed and engineered to sail around the world, but it’s not that the boats can’t sail in a gale, it’s that they will not be able to get off the docks. The yachts have to be towed out of the marina because their engine shafts are sealed for the leg, and the tow boats are not able to manage especially with a strong easterly wind that brings a large swell into the harbor. So with that as a given, race officials have decided to do the prudent thing and postpone the start by a day. “It’s absolutely the right thing to do,” said Race Chairman Sir Robin Knox-Johnston. “Our index concern is to not have any damage to the boats and so if it makes sense to delay the start a day, that’s what we will do. ”
The Around Alone Race Organisation met with the Brixham Yacht Club officials, in charge of organizing the start, and all the Around Alone skippers to discuss the situation with the weather forecast, before deciding altogether to make this 24hr postponement. The reason for a dayÂ’s delay is also because in order to re-arrange the start, so many people in the community are involved in the organization
John Dennis (Bayer Ascensia) voiced the reaction of the skippers: “It’s a smart decision. We’ve got a long race around the world, so why take a chance on some very violent weather which might damage our boats getting out of the harbour. The other thing is that we will now have Kojiro starting with us, as he thought he would have to start 24hrs later due to his keel damage.”
Brad Van Liew (Tommy Hilfiger Freedom America) added: “We needed a decision now on the best available information. Robin’s index concern is that we get away safely from Brixham, it’s up to us to make sure we get ourselves to Cape Town.”
Tim Kent (Everest Horizontal) explained: “There’s no point going out in this kind of weather. It’s not that the boats cannot handle this kind of weather in the open sea, but here in the bay it’s the interface between land and sea that makes it dangerous.”
RESTART DAY PROGRAMME 14th OCTOBER
07:45 - 08:15am A service will be held by the Fishermens Mission on the pontoons for half an hour to send off the skippers.
08:00 - 10:00 am The boats will start motoring out two by two, starting from Open 40's first, from 8am onwards from the Brixham Marina. Each boat will then moor alongside the welcome pontoon off the Brixham Yacht Club in pairs, in order to have their engine's sealed. Then they will be towed out to the starting area where they will then set sails.
12:00pm The start line is 200 yards off the edge of the Brixham Harbour breakwater. The line is being marked by two boats, the Drumbeat of Devon and Far fly.
The fleet will follow an inshore course first, keeping to starboard three Brixham heritage trawler boats Pilgrim, Regard and Vigilance, which will be moored across the bay off Brixham, Paignton and Torquay. Then the fleet will race back past Berry head and head out to sea bound for Cape Town, South Africa, 6,880 miles away.
SMS Messaging
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www.aroundalone.com : Don't forget to refresh your screens every day for all the news on the Around Alone 2002-03 Official Race Website. Media & General public can register online for race updates, buy merchandise, and subscribe to the 3D Race Viewer 'Voyager 2020'. More information on the Torbay stop over is also online in the Race Route section under Torbay.
Around Alone 2002-03 takes the fleet from New York to Torbay (England), then Cape Town (South Africa), Tauranga (New Zealand) and Salvador de Bahia (Brasil), before returning to Newport in April 2003. The official entry list of competitors consists of 12 competitors from 9 different nationalities; 6 in Class I and 6 in Class II.
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