Oceanracing 2002 - Around Alone

4th May 2003
EMMA ROUNDS OUT CLASS 1
Latest update: At 08:00 local time Tim Kent on Everest Horizontal was 10 miles from the finish drifting in light conditions. He has had a very quiet, slow night but looks forward to crossing the line mid-morning (or as soon as some wind fills in). Derek Hatfield on Spirit of Canada is safely in Salvador.
Latest update: At 21:00 local time (22:00 Brazil time) Derek Hatfield on Spirit of Canada was at the Barra lighthouse 4 miles from the finish in Salvador doing 4 knots in squally conditions. He is expected to finish Leg 4 within the next hour. The CENAB organisation, including the famous Dayse with her caipirinha for Derek, are waiting in the pouring rain for him to finish.
Original story: Emma could not have scripted a more perfect arrival. A sunny, almost warm Sunday afternoon in early May is about as good a time as ever to complete a solo circumnavigation and she took full advantage of the great conditions to enjoy the herself to the fullest. The wind had turned light during the day making the final few miles a bit tedious, but in the end Pindar caught a fair breeze and scooted across the finish line. The finish gun was symbolically fired by Andrew Pindar's father. Emma waved and smiled at the large armada of spectator boats and threw her arms in the air. This long marathon was suddenly over and by completing the course Emma becomes the youngest sailor and first British female to complete the race. Both are remarkable achievements.

Emma erhält einen großen Empfang

Emma Richards schließt Klasse 1 ab

The final leg of the Around Alone was not the easiest for the Scottish skipper. Emma is intensely competitive by nature and to be languishing at the back of Class 1 must have been extremely frustrating. Unfortunately a couple of small tactical errors early in the leg compounded into a big problem and Emma found herself out to the east of the fleet with only Thierry Dubois on Solitaires for company. Between them they found every light spot in the wind and both skippers watched in frustration as the rest of the fleet sailed away. In the end Emma gained ground on the boats ahead, but it was not enough and both Thierry and Bruce snuck into Newport ahead of her.
Finishing in Newport marks the end of Emma’s solo sailing career, or at least that’s what she said at the post race press conference. "I love sailing," she said, "but I really want to sail with crew from now on. You will not find me doing another Around Alone or a Vendee Globe." Emma is a very sociable person and was able to compartmentalize the solitude as part of the job, but she was adamant about the single-handed sailing. "Double handed for sure," she said. "But not alone."
With Emma’s finish all the Class 1 boats are now in Newport. The second Class 2 boat, Tim Kent on Everest Horizontal was 51 miles from the finish at 20:00 local time. There are light patches ahead and Tim has given a tentative ETA of 07:00 on Monday morning.
--- Brian Hancock great.circle@verizon.net
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