Oceanracing 2002 - Around Alone

Betreff: THRASHING ACROSS THE TASMAN
Absender: "Aroundalone"
Empfänger: redaktion@segel.de
Datum: 05. Jan 2003 21:02

In der Tasman See
While Emma stitches her way across the bottom of the world, Swiss sailor Bernard Stamm is making short work of the Tasman Sea. At this mornings poll he was over a third of the way between Tasmania and the north cape of New Zealand having just cracked another day’s run over 300 miles; 323 to be precise. He has lost a little ground to rival Thierry Dubois on Solidaires who managed to cut the corner on Tasmania, but with just under 300 miles separating these two crack sailors Stamm’s lead is still secure. Both Bernard on Bobst Group Armor lux and Thierry on Solidaires are taking advantage of a high pressure system that has formed over eastern Australia. They are sailing along the bottom of the high where favorable winds from behind are allowing them to carry full sail and romp north towards Cape Reianga, the next turning mark. The forecast is for the high to move to the east. If this is the case these two front runners can expect the tail winds to transport them all the way to the top of New Zealand. Unfortunately for those behind, if this is the case they could be facing headwinds by the time they get past Tasmania. Only time will tell.

Die Flotte in der Tasman Sea
Graphic representation of the boats rounding Tasmania (looking south) - courtesy Voyager 2020

Further back Emma Richards on Pindar is still managing to hold on to her lead over Bruce Schwab on Ocean Planet. Schwab is having problems of his own and has worked his way north in search of smoother water where he made an attempt to repair his bent boom vang strut.
Unfortunately the repair was not a success as Bruce describes in his daily log. "My plan was to get the bent vang strut down and to wedge the bent stainless shaft into the keel box," he wrote. "Then I could use the strut itself as a lever to try to bend the stainless straight enough to use. It took a while to get the strut down as I had to climb a up the mast and then try not to drop it on the deck after taking the clevis pin out. I then took the keel box deck lid off (only about 30 screws....) and gave it a shot. Unfortunately, the stainless has gotten too stiff after having been bent too far, and all I managed to do was crack the end of the carbon tube, so I had to call it quits. So, I put the keel lid back on and then I put the strut back up (much harder than getting it down) since it helps keep the indexsail on the boom. This means no vang for the rest of the way to Tauranga." After trading emails with Emma,the two skippers joked about having a no-indexsail race to New Zealand.
At the front of Class 2 Brad van Liew on Tommy Hilfiger Freedom America is steaming towards the Tasman Sea. "Happy 2003 from 50 South," he wrote. "It’s cold down here and I have been flying along at 15+ knots. I have been powered-up for a couple days now of great reaching conditions, but everything has just recently slowed down. I’ve just finally jibed, so I will go no further south for now. I’m waiting on some nice northerlies to roll in and pick me up again into the teens of speed!" The Tasman has not been kind to Brad in the past. Four years ago during the Around Alone he sat becalmed for most of his transit of the Tasman shouting at seagull and cursing the wind gods. He is hoping for an easier trip this time.
The rest of Class 2 is stretched out behind Tommy Hilfiger Freedom America all the way to Alan Paris on BTC Velocity at the back of the pack more than 1300 miles astern. Paris has not yet made the longitude of Cape Leeuwin on the south coast of Australia. He is sailing a sure and steady race pushing his boat as hard as it will go and enjoying the experience and the adventure. The quote of the day comes from one of many written on the coach roof on Everest Horizontal. Tim Kent sent it to Emma Richards after hearing of her indexsail problems. It’s a quote written by Tim’s 10 year old daughter Whitney and reads, "The difference between an adventure and an ordeal is attitude." It’s a quote we all, including Alan at the back of the fleet, Tim in the middle and Bernard at the front, can live by.
Brian Hancock great.circle@verizon.net