A DISMAL DAY FOR DALTON Absender: "Aroundalone" Empfänger: redaktion@segel.de Datum: 02. Mar 2003 02:34 ---------------------------------- A DISMAL DAY FOR DALTON 1st March 2003 Just when it looked like things may be back on track after a short pit-stop in Tierra del Fuego, life took a massive turn for the worse aboard Hexagon when the mast came toppling down ending Leg 4 for the New Zealand skipper. It was mid-morning aboard Hexagon and Graham Dalton was going about his usual routine navigating, analyzing weather charts and planning a way to get past Emma Richards, when the boat suddenly lurched and the mast fell down. With a crash it landed in the water bringing with it the hopes and dreams of the skipper. Dalton immediately sent a message to Race HQ and then phoned his partner Robbie to tell her the news. To say the skipper was upset and disappointed was an understatement. The location of Hexagon this morning when the mast came down 3D image courtesy of Voyager 2020 www.voyager2020.com DaltonÂ’s immediate concern was to get rid of the mast before it punched a hole in the boat causing more damage. A dismasting is one thing; holing the boat and having it fill with water is quite another, but cutting a mast away is easier said than done. The wind was picking up and the boat was lurching around in the lumpy seaway without sails to steady it. Race HQ immediately contacted fellow competitor Brad Van Liew on Tommy Hilfiger Freedom America and asked him to divert to HexagonÂ’s position to offer assistance. There was not much Brad could do to help Graham get rid of his mast, but the concern was that the boat would be holed and Dalton might need rescuing. In the true spirit of the race Brad altered course without a blink, and moments later was heading for the stricken yacht on a close reach. With Tommy Hilfiger Freedom America diverted and Graham cutting away at his rig, there was not much for the rest of us to do other than sit and wait. For race organizers itÂ’s nail-biting time. The phone went unanswered while Dalton slogged away on deck so we polled Tommy Hilfiger Freedom America to check on BradÂ’s progress and noted that at the speed he was sailing it would take 10-11 hours to reach HexagonÂ’s position. Finally Graham called back with the news that the mast was gone and the boat was relatively undamaged. He had started his engine as was heading for Mar del Plata in Argentina. With that news Van Liew was asked to resume racing and was told he would be given compensation for the time spent sailing towards Hexagon. For now the future of HexagonÂ’s participation in the Around Alone is sketchy. This is the second broken mast, the first happening right at the start of DaltonÂ’s qualifying sail across the Atlantic last summer. Mar del Plata is about 650 miles away from HexagonÂ’s current position and Graham is not sure if he has enough fuel to motor the whole way there. He is safe, the boat is sound and despite the grim circumstance those are two important pieces of information. Tomorrow will be a new day for Dalton. He and his team will be looking at various options for continuing in the race, but as always the clock keeps ticking. Making it to Salvador in time for the restart on April 13 with a new mast will take more than a giant influx of funds. It will take a highly coordinated effort, but if there is one thing Graham Dalton has shown us over the last few months itÂ’s that he is no quitter and if itÂ’s at all possible he will be there to race to the finish in Newport. We wis h him the best and offer our condolences for this misfortune. To hear Graham Dalton describe what happened when the mast came down and what his future plans are in a three part interview, cut and paste the links below into your browser. rtsp://video.aroundalone.com/aroundalone/daltoninterviewpart1.rm rtsp://video.aroundalone.com/aroundalone/daltoninterviewpart2.rm rtsp://video.aroundalone.com/aroundalone/daltoninterviewpart3.rm --- Brian Hancock great.circle@verizon.net Betreff: AROUND ALONE 02-03 LEG 4 NEWS FLASH: HEXAGON DISMASTED NW OF FALKLANDS Absender: "Mary Ambler" Datum: 01. Mar 2003 18:27 LEG 4 NEWS FLASH: HEXAGON DISMASTS NW OF FALKLANDS Southampton, England – 1st March 03. New Zealand skipper Graham Dalton, currently in 5th place on the water in Leg 4 of Around Alone, informed the Race HQ at 13:50 hrs GMT on Saturday 1st March that his Open 60 Hexagon dismasted at 48 07S 59 29W approximately 250 miles NW of the Falklands. The skipper is safe, and has not reported any hull damage. At 14:30hrs GMT, Class 2 leader, American skipper Brad Van Liew on Tommy Hilfiger Freedom America, was diverted from his position at 50 degrees South and 56 degrees West in order to standby to assist Dalton if required. At 16:15hrs GMT Van Liew was 156 miles from Hexagon, roughly 15 hours away from Dalton’s position. We will bring you further updates as we get any new information or go to the official website at www.aroundalone.com POSITIONS AT 1400GMT 1st MARCH 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 39 37.500 S, 45 32.480 W, 67.11 nm, 8.39 kt, 29 °T, 1649.70 nm, 2 Bobst Group-Armor Lux 40 53.310 S, 46 18.000 W, 104.71 nm, 13.08 kt, 56 °T, 1732.79 nm 3 Tiscali 43 08.020 S, 54 10.000 W, 69.44 nm, 8.68 kt, 30 °T, 2017.47 nm 4 Pindar 46 59.120 S, 56 01.420 W, 97.72 nm, 12.21 kt, 49 °T, 2251.55 nm 5 Hexagon 48 07.000 S, 59 29.000 W, 102.71 nm, 12.84 kt, 59 °T, 2390.26 nm 6 Ocean Planet 51 41.000 S, 57 49.000 W, 0.32 nm, 0.04 kt, 13 °T, 2524.45 nm Class 2 Boat Lat Lon AvgBsp Avgheading DTF 1 Tommy Hilfiger 50 23.260 S, 56 36.330 W, 63.35 nm, 7.92 kt, 22 °T, 2434.36 nm 2 Everest Horizontal 55 57.260 S, 74 46.500 W, 83.58 nm, 10.44 kt, 123 °T, 3198.71 nm 3 Spirit of yukoh 56 15.640 S, 80 58.410 W, 67.50 nm, 8.44 kt, 127 °T, 3404.28 nm 4 BTC Velocity 53 34.260 S, 94 12.360 W, 70.92 nm, 8.87 kt, 86 °T, 3883.96 nm 5 Spirit of Canada 53 36.120 S, 97 54.520 W, 75.00 nm, 9.37 kt, 78 °T, 4007.15 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