Absender: "Aroundalone"
Empfänger: redaktion@segel.de
Datum: 16. Jan 2003 07:47
EMMA ROUNDS OUT CLASS 2
Once the wind finally filled in, Emma Richards sheeted the sails in tight and headed for the finish in Tauranga. What started as an uneventful morning soon turned into a spectacular one as the wind slowly increased and Pindar started to haul towards the end of Leg 3. By the time the line was in sight Pindar was streaking though the water at 12 knots and once finally over Emma threw her hands in the air in joy and relief. The passage from Cape Town had been a tough one and definitely a leg she was glad to have behind her. If she was unhappy with her sixth place finish, the smile on her face masked any trace of disappointment.
Looking aloft at the massive expanse of Pindar sails one thing was quite evident. There was one thing that had ruined EmmaÂ’s chances of a decent finish in the leg. Just below the third reef, stretching from one side of the sail to the other, was a hand sewn patch, the result of many hours of difficult, nail breaking work. The sail had split in half south of Tasmania and so began a marathon stitching session to get it back together again. While Emma may have had a hard time finding her stride in the early stages of the leg, the ruined indexsail did nothing to help in the latter stages. It was tough work in freezing conditions, but the repaired sail is a testament to the tenacity and never-give-up attitude so typical of Emma.
Leg 3 for Pindar was also plagued by autopilot problems that had the boat crash-gybing without warning. A crash gybe in the Southern is a scary thing and perhaps one thing that led to the sail becoming fatigued. Shortly before the indexsail came apart Emma was less than 50 miles astern of Simone Bianchetti on Tiscali, and closing fast. Given that Bianchetti was able to move into third place for a short while must have Emma wondering what could have been. That said nothing can be taken away from Bruce Schwab who sailed a great ending to the leg. Emma will have to be happy with her sixth place and the knowledge that she has conquered a long Southern Ocean leg alone.
--- Brian Hancock great.circle@verizon.net
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