9 Dec 2003 17:50 GMT
Nach 11 Tagen hat die erste Yacht den Zielhafen in St.Lucia erreicht
Today saw the arrival of the first family boat and the first double handed crew, both of which have made excellent time against the rest of the fleet.
Very early this morning, Mustique and her crew of two,skipper Albrecht Wackerhagen from Germany and Carlos Martinez from Spain, arrived in Rodney Bay tired and weary but delighted to be here. Determined to race with only 2 crew on board, owner and skipper Albrecht commented on how tough the trip had been; “We knew to be competitive with our high rating we had to push the boat hard, so we both put in 16 hours a day and agreed to only bring the spinnaker down between midnight and 5am if the wind was above 23 knots. In fact we had the winds above 23 knots for 10 days of the trip, so it’s been really tiring.” Managing a 250 mile day 3 days in a row aboard their Finot designed Giro ‘34, Albrecht and Carlos are delighted they are the first double handed crew into St. Lucia and the 2nd boat over the line in Class B. Carlos summed up the trip by saying; “Muy duro y muy rapido, buen trabajo y buen resultado!”. We wait to see how they have faired against the rest of the fleet. (Read more about their trip in the special website feature soon to be posted).
Conversely, Aurora, the first family boat to arrive who took a more southern route to Mustique, found the trip to be quiet and uneventful. Father David Bernhard who sailed in the ARC with his family last year said; “We sailed conservatively last year as it was our first Altantic crossing, however this one was our third and we were ready for a more boisterous ride. So, I’m a little disappointed as it was very calm with light winds the whole way across.” With 5 hours of schooling each day during the crossing, daughters Jessie and Alicia had little time to be bored and in fact enjoyed the trip greatly, including the fishing; “We caught loads of fish this time round, 5 Dorado, 3 Kingfish and a white Marlin, which we threw back.”
Stormbird, White Heather and Roxy 9 all arrived last night, White Heather with some great photographs of their crossing which are soon to be posted on the gallery. Close after midnight Eva of Hamble finished with Roulette, an Oyster ’56 arriving in the early hours of the morning. An ARC regular, the Swan ’51 Northern Child had a close fight to the finish against fellow Swan ’56 Apsara this morning. Even though Apsara used their engine a little to get them through the light winds, Northern Child who sailed all the way still pipped them at the line, finishing 10 minutes before them. Owner Julian Sincock was very happy; “I think out of the 6 ARC’s I have done, this has been the best crossing. Great conditions, just enough puff but not too much and I’m hoping we could have done quite well in the Swan fleet.”
A good local breeze seems to be picking up now, a welcome sign for the many boats that are still out there suffering with the prevailing light conditions.
Sue Richards
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Deutschland+Spanien
Mustique-Erste double-handed
Aurora- Erste Familiencrew
Ankunft Aurora in St.Lucia
Rumpunsch für die Schnellsten
Spirit nach 11,5 Tagen am Ziel
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