Absender: "Aroundalone"
Datum: 23. Dec 2002 13:40
TROUBLE DOWN SOUTH
The Southern Ocean is dishing up its usual dose of difficult conditions and they are taking their toll on the Around Alone fleet. Strong winds continue to lash the yachts as they dive deeper south and the relentless conditions have taken their first casualty. John Dennis, skipper of Bayer Ascensia, announced this morning that he was turning back for Cape Town with more problems to the boat.
"I have diverted and I am now heading to Cape Town as the bearings on the shaft for the alternator and ballast pump have ceased," he wrote in a brief email to race headquarters. "I feel that it is unsafe to proceed if I am not able to charge batteries or pump water ballast. I would like assistance in looking into shipping to Australia or New Zealand so that I can do the last two legs." In his typically abrupt manner John Dennis made a major announcement and promptly turned his boat around to point once more in the direction of South Africa. "Once I get to port I will take stock of the situation and decide then what the best course of action might be." Race rules require the yachts to be sailed between each port for the competitor to reindex an official entrant, so in order for John to reindex in the race he will need to fix the boat and set off once again for New Zealand. ItÂ’s a blow to his campaign. Dennis is a terrific sailor and a great competitor, and to be let down by faulty mechanics is a harsh blow at this stage of the race.
John Dennis is not the only competitor having a difficult time. Early this morning Tim Kent on Everest Horizontal sent a short email: "I have a major problem. Every battery on the boat is dead and I cannot start the engine. That means I will have no electrical power. I will see if solar panels can provide enough power to start engine once daylight arrives." Without any means of charging his batteries Kent would be forced to stop to make repairs. Open Class yachts are fairly simple sailboats, but they do require power for electronics and more importantly, for the autopilot. A few long hours passed until we received a second email. "Hi guys," it read. "Well, the longest hours I have had since the race began are over - the motor is running and I have electricity again. If I had not installed those solar panels in Brixham it would be another story altogether." A phone call to the boat confirmed that Tim was back up and running and raring to cat ch the yachts ahead of him.
While John and Tim deal with mechanical problems, the rest of the fleet are dealing with the strong winds. "ItÂ’s rather scary right now," wrote Bruce Schwab on Ocean Planet. "Wind gusts to 45 knots. Third reef in index only, but speed sometimes steady at 20 knots. Howl of keel deafening. Consequences of wipeout nerve-wracking." Fortunately the wind is from behind and Ocean Planet is careening along on the edge of control while Schwab prepares for a long day ahead. Alan ParisÂ’s report from BTC Velocity was even more to the point. "Two knockdown to 90 degrees in the past 3 hours as wind dies to 30 knots from 40 yet sea state is way up !! All OK just a little messy."
The strong winds are forecast to moderate in the next 24 hours, and the next front is quite far to the west. This should allow the yachts time to regroup and to sort out the mess on board. We will keep you posted on John DennisÂ’s situation and bring you any important news as it happens.
--- Brian Hancock great.circle@verizon.net
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