ROUNDABOUT WAY TO CAPE TOWN
Absender: "Aroundalone"
Datum: 21. Nov 2002 17:50
ROUNDABOUT WAY TO CAPE TOWN
· SKIPPERS PARTICIPATE IN AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL EVENT
Southampton, England - 20th November. Out on the race course, the Class 2 skippers are now desperate to get to the finish and as 2nd placed Canadian skipper Derek Hatfield on Open 40 Spirit of Canada admitted: "The urge to save miles and head for Cape Town is very strong." He goes on to explain that although the High opened a door for them to cut the corner a little, it is now firmly shut again: "So after a few light air days, we are now back trying to get south and on the far side of another high approaching from the west. You saw both Everest Horizontal and myself take a bunch of miles from Tommy Hilfiger Freedom America, but we will give them all back and more before the finish. It's going to be a real battle to the finish, with the the boats behind closing in as well..."
After enjoying a record setting run for the last 30 hours, the speed on leader Tommy Hilfiger Freedom America is finally dropping as the wind moves more into the west and the waves drop from their peak of 15 feet, to around 10 feet. Brad Van Liew expects to have to gybe and is concerned about a ridge of high pressure between where he is sailing, and the finish line.
Brining up the rear of the three Open 50's is Bayer Ascensia, and Canadian skipper John Dennis is on "payday", some 250 miles from his rival Open 50's: "after several good days of sailing one expects to pay with a not so good day. From sunrise I reached across a line of light rain showers never quite hitting them. I must have shifted water ballast more than 20 times keeping the boat trimmed. This is not Brad's 300 plus mile day but I will take it and hope tomorrow is a faster straighter day in the right directionÂ…"
A sorry tale from 6th placed Alan Paris as well. Despite the light conditions suiting his Open 40 BTC Velocity, he realised today "what happens when a tight pack of 3 boats turn a corner on this imaginary line (Ed: theoretical route to finish) and the distances measured go from an equally imaginary point in the ocean to actual the finish line in Cape Town ??? You guessed it. The boat furthest to the West all of a sudden loses some major comparative mileage. Who was furthest to the West. ME."
Both Hatfield and American Bruce Schwab on Ocean Planet, the latter currently sailing at 34 degrees South, had their first sighting of the Southern Ocean's most beautiful creature: the Albatross. Schwab was mesmerised: "WOW!! There was no mistaking this fabulous creature, first for its enormous size and wingspan (easily over 6ft) and also its spectacular speed and aerial ability. I was so amazed by the spectacle I hooted and hollered for a good while watching its maneuvers around the boat. It didn't stay long and soon jetted away along the long ocean rollers that they seemingly use like magic for speed and lift. The distances these birds can cover must be vast, even without ever flapping their wings."
On land, skippers Bernard Stamm, Emma Richards and Thierry Dubois attended an event at the V&A Waterfront hosted by Amnesty International in honor of the children of South Africa, with Thierry as the special guest. For the past decade Dubois has been sailing the world with a message emblazoned on the side of his Open 60 yacht 'Solidaires'. It reads simply; "Human Rights Around the World." Sitting under the hot Africa sun surrounded by children of all races was a fitting setting for such an important gathering.
Children from nearby schools performed for the crowds. There was gumboot dancing, a form of dancing that originated in the gold mines of South Africa. That was followed by a song of freedom and a welcome by the mayor of Cape Town, Ms Noindexdia Mfeketo. Then Dubois spoke. It was clear to all listening that human rights is something Thierry is passionate about. "I am sailing around the around the world to bring attention to the plight of children in this world," he said. "The fact you are here this afternoon tells me that you all care about human rights, especially the rights of children." Since he arrived last Thursday Thierry has been paying daily visits to schools in the area to talk to the children about his sailing adventures and inspiring them to care about each other and their country. "Children are our future. We need to honor and respect them so that we can honor and respect ourselves," he said.
There was also a small prize giving ceremony where winners of an arts competition were awarded prizes. The competition was among the youth of South Africa, and the winning painting will be duplicated on a spinnaker on board Thierry's boat, Solidaires. This spinnaker already has a painting from a similar competition run in France before the race started. There will be human rights events held in New Zealand and Brazil, but I am sure that none will be as symbolic as a call for human rights held in Africa, a region of the world with a legacy of abuse.
Provisional Results, Leg 2: Class 1
1st: Bobst Group-Armor Lux finish time 09:59:45 GMT - 29 DAYS 22HRS 59 M 45S
2nd: Solidaires finish time 19:42:55 GMT - 30 DAYS 8 HRS 42 M 55S
3rd: Pindar finish time 03:27:13 GMT - 30 DAYS 16HRS 27 M 15S
4th: Hexagon finish time 02:54:12 GMT - 31 DAYS 15HRS 54 M 12S
Positions at 1400hrs GMT 21st November 2002
Class 1
Boat Lat Lon AvgBsp Avgheading DTF (nm)
1. Ocean Planet, 34 36.170 S 10 49.100 W 7.37 kt 133 °T 1523.05 nm
2. Tiscali, 6 27.260 N 25 43.220 W 10.75 kt 188 °T 4398.15 nm
Class 2
Boat Lat Lon AvgBsp Avgheading DTF (nm)
1. Tommy Hilfiger 35 11.340 S 10 15.050 W 6.54 kt 88 °T 1523.63 nm
2. Spirit of Canada 30 51.720 S 21 05.800 W 7.33 kt 169 °T 2007.20 nm
3. Everest Horizontal 33 10.920 S 22 14.340 W 10.08 kt 188 °T 2055.06 nm
4. Spirit of yukoh 26 38.310 S 22 48.290 W 6.61 kt 140 °T 2168.21 nm
5. Bayer Ascensia 24 40.580 S 23 57.070 W 6.90 kt 151 °T 2277.13 nm
6. BTC Velocity 24 30.879 S 27 15.224 W 6.04 kt 155 °T 2516.40 nm
Click on Cape Town Page in Race Route section on official website to find out more about Cape Town, South Africa.
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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