Datum: 12. Nov 2002 17:30
PR No. 43
LAST OBSTACLES FOR STAMM IN FINAL 24HRS TO FINISH
ETA BOBST GROUP-ARMOR LUX: 9AM, 13TH NOVEMBER - UNDER 200NM TO GO!
STAMM NARROWLY MISSES COLLIDING WITH LARGE WHALE IN LAST 24HRS
PINDAR DROPS BACK 62NM BEHIND SOLIDAIRES
CAPE TOWN MEDIA INFORMATION/CONTACTS
Southampton, England - 11th November. Preparations for the first arrivals in Cape Town have been sped up in the last few days as Around Alone Leg 2 leader Bernard Stamm on Open 60 'Bobst Group-Armor Lux' is set to arrive in Cape Town, South Africa tomorrow morning, Wednesday 13th October at approximately 9am local time (GMT +2hrs). With 196 miles to go at 1400hrs GMT today, Stamm will have completed the 6,880nm leg from Torbay, England to Cape Town, SA in an astounding 30 days.
This translates into 4 weeks and 2 days racing offshore, alone, surviving a fierce 70 knot Atlantic storm; shooting down the N African coast; dodging 50 knot squalls in the 'Doldrums'; passing the Equator milestone; and then enduring days of boat-breaking SE Tradewinds on the nose in the South Atlantic after which he had to climb his mast twice to rethread the index halyard; and finishing with a foretaste of the cold, desolate 'Roaring Forties' at the edge of the Southern Ocean. Ahead, the imposing landmark of table Mountain creates a huge wind shadow that often throws a curve-ball to the competitors, changing their ETA at the last minute, often by hours.
This time the weather forecast is good for a fast finish, and so Stamm is fairly confident of his ETA, although he has not been able to rest on his laurels: "Last night I was was getting quite anxious as the wind dropped to 9 knots and I thought I'd stuffed up big time, that was it, I was in the grips of the high. Thankfully it was a false alert, however today I narrowly avoided hitting a whale which was surely as big as this boat. It just goes to show that nothing is certain until you cross the line. All being well I should be in Cape Town early tomorrow morning."
Stamm's closest three rivals, Solidaires, Pindar and Hexagon are over 200 miles away, and just a bit further North on a trajectory towards Cape Town. In second, Frenchman Thierry Dubois has doubled his lead over third placed British skipper, 28yr old Emma Richards on Pindar and lies 62 miles ahead of her. The youngest and only female in Around Alone, is more than tenacious and will not give up without a fight to the finish, although a tactical decision last night saw her lose more precious miles to her rival: "I will get the next position report soon and I don't even want to look as I know I will have dropped more miles to Thierry again based on my decision not to go with the gennaker and my higher angle. At least I am expecting it and anything can still happen to the finish!"
Fourth place Graham Dalton on Hexagon is rocketing in, with the highest average boatspeed for the last 8 hours, just a touch above 15 knots. It's his last chance of gaining a podium place for Leg 2, and he will hang on to that opportunity as he pushes his Open 60 to her full potential up until the line, despite the exhausting number of miles already covered.
The latest ETA's (local time = GMT +2hrs) for the top 4 boats are as follows:
Bobst Group-Armor Lux - 9am local time Wednesday 13th November.
Solidaires - 2am local time Thursday 14th November
Pindar - 8am local time Thursday 14th November
Hexagon - 8pm local time Thursday 14th November
Positions at 1400hrs GMT 12th November 2002
Class 1
Boat Lat Lon AvgBsp Avgheading DTF (nm)
1. Bobst Group Armor-Lux 35 36.240 S 15 02.240 E 12.82 kt 44 Â訊 196.59 nm
2. Solidaires 35 15.784 S 10 22.353 E 11.52 kt 83 Â訊 406.72 nm
3. Pindar 34 30.000 S 9 01.000 E 9.41 kt 73 Â訊 468.80 nm
4. Hexagon 36 16.410 S 5 22.280 E 14.17 kt 77 Â訊 656.72 nm
5. Ocean Planet 13 42.580 S 27 05.380 W 10.46 kt 186 Â訊 3163.88 nm
6. Tiscali 37 27.020 N 12 24.170 W 9.51 kt 191 Â訊 6395.01 nm
Class 2
Boat Lat Lon AvgBsp Avgheading DTF (nm)
1. Tommy Hilfiger 18 31.530 S 29 53.170 W 10.05 kt 198 Â訊 2899.94 nm
2. Spirit of Canada 4 03.624 S 27 56.292 W 8.52 kt 188 Â訊 3743.95 nm
3. Everest Horizontal 3 04.290 S 28 01.480 W 7.81 kt 188 Â訊 3803.44 nm
4. Spirit of yukoh 0 11.550 S 26 50.200 W 6.37 kt 203 Â訊 3974.89 nm
5. BTC Velocity 1 22.145 N 27 07.591 W 6.78 kt 207 Â訊 4068.60 nm
6. Bayer Ascensia 1 05.140 N 27 02.380 W 6.80 kt 216 Â訊 4051.57 nm
Click on Cape Town Page in Race Route section on official website to find out more about Cape Town, South Africa.
ARRIVALS
The boats will cross the finish line in Cape Town harbour and come in to the V&A dock, the skippers will be welcomed & hold interviews on shore first at the 'Pierhead' in the Waterfront complex.
TELKOM Foundation Media Centre
Address: TELKOM Foundation Media Centre, Union Castle House, V&A Waterfront, Cape Town, South Africa.
Entrance to rear of Telkom Exploratorium Centre.
Telephone / Fax: TBC
Telecomms: Provided by Telkom, South Africa. One ISDN line, 2 PC Computers provided with internet access. Eight data lines for internet dial-up.
Opening Dates: 15th November until 15th December, 2002
Opening Times : 0930 - 1730hrs local time
Accreditation: Present your business card at the media centre for access to facilities.
Local Media Relations:
Brian Hancock - Email: great.circle@verizon.net - Cape Town Mobile No: +27 (0)823 706 225
For more information on Around Alone 2002-03:
Media Relations: Mary Ambler, Media Manager
Tel: +44 (0) 2380 237 088 - Mob: +44 (0) 7887 643 583 - Email: mambler@clipper-ventures.com
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