Betreff: WHERE THE REAL SAILING ACTION IS STILL ALL ON Datum: 28. Feb 2003 21:11 WHERE THE REAL SAILING ACTION IS STILL ALL ON SOLIDAIRES HITTING TRAFFIC LIGHTS Ahead STAMM ALREADY CATCHING 'BOISDU' ON WATER PLAYING THE NUMBERS GAME FOR THE PODIUM OCEAN PLANET PUTS INTO FALKLANDS CLASS 2 PULLING OUT THE STOPS Southampton, England - 28th February 03. After 20,000 miles of ocean racing for over 6 months around the world, surviving every physical and technical challenge in all conditions and oceans, the 11 strong Around Alone Open Class boats in both classes are now closing ranks as they race around Cape Horn and up the South Atlantic towards Salvador, Brazil. Both man and machine are battle weary, however these circumnavigators are still crunching out the numbers - both performance and points - in order to determine the podium positions going into the final leg to Newport, RI. Around Alone is now raced on points, which is proving to hold the excitement - and eventual outcome - of this 8 month marathon sprint until the very end. The dilemma for leg leader Thierry Dubois on Solidaires is the complex weather lying ahead. "The different weather sources I study are confused, and so am I! The way ahead is not blocked but full of pit holes to slow me up, which is normal for this transition area between the conflicting weather systems of the Southern Ocean and the South Atlantic High. I am just hoping those behind will also have the same problems. Right now my computer tells me the best route to Salvador is to cut across land, so I better go and ask Bernard how to best lift up the keel!" The dilemma for current overall leader, Swiss skipper Bernard Stamm on Bobst Group-Armor Lux, is whether he can still end up with even a one point advantage over French skipper Thierry Dubois on Solidaires going into the last leg. To do this he must either take line honours or make sure he finishes ahead of 4th placed Emma Richards on Pindar inclusive of his 48hr penalty. "Emma and Simone could still come back on me pretty quickly, but I have my hands tied to do anything against their moves. My eyes are fixed on 'Boisdu' (Thierry). The rest of the leg is not that long and in pure boat speed it will be tough to reach him. It is all down to tactics from here." And saying that, Stamm has steadily eaten 50 miles into Dubois' lead in the last 24hrs on a direct Northerly route from the Falklands in 25 - 30 knot North Westerly winds on the inside track. Emma is 479nm behind on the water, which is not a comfortable enough distance for Stamm right now. The British skipper has been able to rest a bit after rounding Cape Horn and hopes her Westerly option will also pay dividends: "This second half of the leg is going to be just as challenging as the first but in very different ways. The wind is forecast to come back to a good fast reaching angle within 6 hrs, which will be nice if it's right!! Looking forward to the warm weather and less clothesÂ…" Currently third on the water, Italian skipper Simone Bianchetti on Tiscali is caught up in the middle of these numerical permutations and must not be forgotten. On the satellite phone today his voice was pumped up and he is clearly recovered from his ordeal through the Southern Ocean. "This is the sailor's story; to come from dismasting at the early stages of the race, to now competing for third place on the podium. I am pushing my boat hard, the sails are nearly new and I am confident about my strategy for the last 2,000 miles." Bianchetti and Richards could be going into Leg 5 on equal points, something Simone would not have contemplated 4 months ago. American Bruce Schwab on Ocean Planet is pulling in to Port Stanley this afternoon in order to fix his boom, which incurs the 48hr penalty and drops him to last place again. But he is by no means out of the running and feels nonetheless rewarded to have seen how well his radical boat performs in a range of conditions and to have got round Cape Horn after 3 years of hard work. He also makes an interesting comment about this extreme end of the sport: "Ocean racing is like trying to box by mail as you rarely, if ever, see the competition aside from the little dots on the skipper's computer screens. Generally speaking, it IS more exciting than watching America's Cup racing on TV right nowÂ…" Representing the Kiwi nation in this race, Graham Dalton has quickly got back into the hunt after spending nearly a day sheltered in the archipelago just round from Cape Horn getting the carbon sleeve fixed onto Hexagon's boom with the help of his shore manager, despite his Solent ripping beyond repair in the process. "Pindar is my closest rival and in order to beat Emma, not only will I have to physically overtake her, but also because of my 48 hr penalty, I will need to arrive in Salvador at least 400 miles ahead of her. That is going to take a lot of sailing. I will need to think carefully about my tactics." Already clocking up the fastest average boat speed of 13 knots and making gains to the West of the Falklands, Dalton has the boat to bring him throughÂ… Class 2 skippers, from leader Brad Van Liew on Tommy Hilfiger Freedom America to back marker Derek Hatfield on Spirit of Canada, are all pushing out impressive performances, the Open 40's consistently clocking over 200 mile days. These skippers are the real soldiers of the south for spending double time in the punishing conditions of the world's roughest and most remote waters. American Tim Kent - incidentally racing a 50 footer in the 50th parallel aged 50yrs old - expressed what all their dreams have been about: "Cape Horn is the Everest of Everest Horizontal, one of two summits of this mountain of a race. The other, of course, is the finish line. But it is Cape Horn that is the draw, the goal of every sailor in this event. Sailing solo across the Southern Ocean has been frightening, exhilarating, breathtakingly beautiful, and awe-inspiring. Crossing this storied ocean took a leap of faith in my own abilities and the safety of the boat that we have prepared. And we are almost to the gate out of here, into the Atlantic and the promise of home." Not one of these skippers has got cold feet - well not metaphorically speaking. Kojiro Shiraishi is turning into a natural improviser of equipment to repair parts of Spirit of yukoh along the way: "The reindexing fins on the end of the wind indicator have gone flying off again from the top of the mast! Why! After risking all that to go to the top of the mast to re-fit it. I will wait until we are around the horn and then I will make some homemade fins and fit them then. This is going to be tough, especially if there is a big shift in direction the chance of a wild gybe is high." The Bermudan skipper Alan Paris on BTC Velocity and Canadian Derek Hatfield on Spirit of Canada have another week until they reach the Horn. Both boats are indextaining speeds of between 9 - 11 knots, making quicker work of the arduous 7,880 nm leg than expected. Hatfield describes the conditions: "A big sea swell is rolling by with waves up to 20 feet. Spirit of Canada is sailing along at 10-12 knots, and with the surfs, the boat goes up to 16 knots, with one reef in the indexsail and big jib. I feel I'm sailing the boat quite fast without pressing it too much." He has only 125 miles to make up to Alan's position, and the bets are on that they will round Cape Horn together. Paris concluded: "Here we are racing our hearts out in the Southern Ocean. How about that for two lucky guys having their dreams come true." POSITIONS AT 1400GMT 28th FEBRUARY 2003 You can track the race boats using RayTech 4.1 navigational software by going to the Positions page online and clicking on the link to the Raymarine website at the top of the index chart. Class 1 Boat Lat Lon AvgBsp Avgheading DTF 1 Solidaires 42 49.190 S, 47 19.480 W, 96.44 nm, 12.06 kt 4 °T, 1857.36 nm, 2 Bobst Group-Armor Lux 44 16.570 S, 51 52.570 W, 99.42 nm, 12.42 kt, 15 °T, 2021.22 nm 3 Tiscali 46 57.140 S, 56 33.380 W, 85.67 nm, 10.70 kt, 40 °T, 2262.53 nm 4 Pindar 49 46.570 S, 60 49.400 W, 88.78 nm, 11.10 kt, 25 °T, 2500.61 nm 5 Ocean Planet 51 46.430 S, 57 44.430 W, 77.50 nm, 9.69 kt, 46 °T, 2527.44 nm 6 Hexagon 50 59.020 S, 62 09.700 W, 107.27 nm, 13.42 kt, 24 °T, 2588.98 nm Class 2 Boat Lat Lon AvgBsp Avgheading DTF 1 Tommy Hilfiger 53 23.280 S, 60 34.430 W, 85.65 nm, 10.71 kt, 52 °T, 2665.80 nm 2 Everest Horizontal 56 11.090 S, 81 34.310 W, 85.72 nm, 10.70 kt, 144 °T, 3424.55 nm 3 Spirit of yukoh 55 00.700 S, 86 51.280 W, 79.89 nm, 9.99 kt, 133 °T, 3612.70 nm 4 BTC Velocity 53 49.450 S, 100 06.190 W, 72. 01 nm, 9.01 kt, 115 °T, 4075.62 nm 5 Spirit of Canada 53 59.590 S, 104 00.140 W, 72.31 nm, 9.03 kt, 120 °T, 4201.18 nm International Media Relations: Mary Ambler - Email: mambler@clipper-ventures.com - Mobile: +44 (0) 7887 643 583 Around Alone TV - APP Broadcast Andrew Hawthorn - Email: ahawthorn@appbroadcast.com - Mobile NZ: +64 (0) 21 352 169 APP Broadcast London Office - Tel: +44 (0)208 964 4992 Official Photography - Marinepics International distribution: Ali McKichan - Email: info@marinepics.com - Tel: +44 (0) 1489 573753 Official Schools' Programme: HSBC Glocal Education Challenge - www.education.hsbc.com Copyright © 1996-2016 - SEGEL.DE