Oceanracing 2004 - The Global Challenge 2004/05 - Portsmouth-Kap Hoorn-Kapstadt-Portsmouth

The Global Challenge 2004/05
Portsmouth-Kap Hoorn-Kapstadt-Portsmouth
03.10.2004 - 17.07.2005
www.globalchallenge2004.com - zur Übersicht

04.06.2005
BG SPIRIT cross the line to win Leg 5
Andy Forbes and his team crossed the finish line at 08:24:10 local time (12:24:10 GMT)

UPDATE 1230 GMT: BG SPIRIT has completed the dream leg and finished in first place, 243nm ahead of Barclays Adventurer, currently lying in second. They crossed the line at 08:24:10 local time (12:24:10 GMT) and are making their way to what will be a rapturous welcome on the dockside in Boston. Their easterly flyer is surely set to go down in Global Challnge folklore...

UPDATE 1134 GMT: In a frustrating final twist for BG SPIRIT their boat speed has dropped to an average of 2.4 knots over the last 30 minutes with just 5 miles to go. Spectators on the top of the Boston Harbour Hotel can see the yacht as they approach the line and reports indicate the wind has died. The team will no doubt be doing everything possible to get over the line and meet friends and family waiting for them on the dockside.

BG SPIRIT is on the verge of winning Leg 5 by a margin of 250nm, now on their final approach to the line for an arrival just in time for breakfast, local time.
Currently 8nm from the line and travelling at an average speed of 8 knots they are expected to cross the line at approximately 1100 GMT.
In Global Challenge terms, this margin is incredible. At the end of the first leg, after crossing the same ocean from Portsmouth to Buenos Aires, VAIO were just 15 minutes behind Barclays Adventurer; the leg coming to a dramatic climax in the River Plate.

Going back the other way towards Boston, the racing has also been consistently close. For example, fifth place Imagine It. Done. and sixth place BP Explorer are still only 1nm apart in terms of distance to finish – nothing between them after well over 6000nm of hard racing.
For much of this leg, the leaderboard has seen movements every day – the lead swapping hands just as easily as teams see their fortunes slide by several positions in a matter of hours. But BG SPIRIT stubbornly held their easterly position, despite a very lonely ride with the index pack tightly bunched nearer the rhumb line, and won a runaway lead.

As the race viewer confirms this morning, the move has paid off and Andy Forbes and his team will shortly be arriving in Boston to celebrate their second leg win of the race. BG SPIRIT also won Leg 3 from Wellington to Sydney following another bold move from the team – they headed south when the rest of the fleet stayed to the north and the reward for their bravery was arriving first into Sydney Harbour; a particularly special achievement for the Australian skipper.

Soon they will be celebrating again as Boston welcomes them in as winners.
Samsung are providing two high-powered lights in the windows of the Rotunda (on Boston frontage).
The significance of the two lanterns is an historical reference to Longfellows poem, "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere" which commemorates the ride of Revere when he notified the citizens of the British invasion. As the story goes, there was to be one lantern if they were arriving by land and two lanterns if they were arriving by sea. When the fleet arrives, there will be two lights in the rotunda to signify that the British are 'invading' Boston by sea - just a bit of humour for a fleet of sailors, which is predominately British!

Educational link: http://www.cvesd.k12.ca.us/finney/paulvm/foyer.html
Read the poem here: http://www.nationalcenter.org/PaulRevere'sRide.html
Please note: BG SPIRIT are reporting their position manually as a result of technical problems with the automatic polling system. There are subsequently less Race Viewer updates than could normally be expected as they approach the finish line.
Dan Wedgwood