VELUX 5 OCEANS - Day 60 Report
Wednesday 20 December, 2006
DALTON BACK ON TRACK AND HUNTING DOWN KNOX-JOHNSTON
* Graham Dalton (NZL) leaves the Kerguelen Islands and sets sights on Fremantle
* Sir Robin Knox-Johnston (GBR) hangs onto a gale but faces a tricky route home
* Unai Basurko (ESP) continues his progress towards the finish after 59 days at sea alone
* Cheminées Poujoulat back in the water as Bernard Stamm (SUI) keeps busy
Graham Dalton, the experienced skipper sailing his Open 50, A SOUTHERN MAN AGD, has resumed racing in the VELUX 5 OCEANS after leaving the Kerguelen Islands at 09:30 UTC yesterday, December 19. The brave Kiwi skipper was forced to make a pit stop at the remote islands to re-fuel and sort out his torn headsail. Having made the necessary repairs, Dalton headed straight out onto the race track to chase Knox-Johnston and hopefully arrive in Fremantle (Western Australia) before the year ends. Dalton suspended racing for more than 48 hours, so he has already served the necessary penalty for receiving outside assistance. His pit stop lasted 56 hours in total, after he stopped at 01:00 UTC on Sunday, December 17.
At the latest position report, A SOUTHERN MAN AGD still had 2,087 miles to go until the finish of leg one. Graham will be met by his wife Robbie on the docks. It was 12 months ago that Graham and Robbie's son Tony sadly died of an incurable cancer. Graham had promised Tony that he would complete the VELUX 5 OCEANS and now sails in his memory, naming the boat in his honour and carrying an image of his son of the bow of the boat. There are few other skippers in solo ocean racing more determined to complete the global circumnavigation that Graham Dalton and the other skippers look forward to welcoming him in Fremantle.
Meanwhile, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston<(B>, now lying in third overall, is only 1,259 miles from the finish in Western Australia. The last 24 hours has seen the sailing legend pick up some breeze and higher speeds, eating up over 250 miles a day as he closes in on the target. However, a large high pressure system lies in his way that will cause the experienced seaman to loose pace. Although his current speeds would see Sir Robin arrive on Christmas Day or Boxing Day, it may be a struggle to make it to shore for these celebrations. But the grandfather of two is determined to do his best, spurred on by a call from his family back in the UK yesterday, wishing him a Merry Christmas.
Although his family are unable to make it to Western Australia, Sir Robin has a host of presents onboard from them all and will celebrate with his last reindexing drink of orange juice. Knox-Johnston will be met by a large shore team in Fremantle, ready to get SAGA INSURANCE ship shape for the challenging 14,000 mile, Southern Ocean leg round Cape Horn to Norfolk, Virginia (USA). Before getting back to work though, the sailing icon is looking forward to sharing a drop of whiskey with his shore team and friends on the ground.
Bernard Stamm and his shore team returned Cheminées Poujoulat successfully back to her rightful place in the water. After examining the hull for a few days, the team were happy to put the hull back in the water. The defending champion is still examining the mast and other areas of work, but will be taking a day out on Friday to experience the magic of Western Australia as they visit the famous sand dunes of Lancelin, north of Perth. Bernard, along with his family and all his shore team, will get to quad bike, 4 wheel drive and sand board across the beautiful dunes, as well as relax on the crystal white beaches and enjoy a special lunch at the Inn.
Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, SAGA INSURANCE:
"The gale forecast for just south of our position decided to expand and caught Saga Insurance for most of yesterday. Although I moved north to avoid it, it obviously likes me and has moved up with me. We also did some almost alarming surges, 27.6 knots on one occasion. That's very exciting, but it's alarming because you are totally out of control and have to rely on the common sense of the boat to keep hurtling in a straight line and not decide to sheer off."
"So now we are onto the tactics for finding Fremantle. It was straightforward, just sail for it, but the weather has thrown its dice unfavourably yet again. Not only do we have this high between us and Fremantle, it is moving east and just when I ought to be within fast striking distance of that port the high is going to create quite strong easterly winds along the Australian west coast. The magic computer programme has just predicted our arrival on Christmas Day, but I note it has us doing 15 knots to windward for 2 days so it has obviously got our polar diagram confused with something else. All this probably means I am going to have to sail the two side of the triangle, not the hypotenuse, and there will be a period of light winds in there as well. So arrival on the 27th December now looks a bit unlikely I am afraid. I think it is the Australians trying to keep an avid England cricket supporter away from the ashes series, but as they have won the thing anyway, this seems a bit vindictive!"
Boat Positions as at 10:20 UTC 20 December 2006
Yacht
Skipper
Latitude
Longitude
Course (°)
Speed (knot)
DTF (nautical miles)
Dist - last Pos (nautical miles)
Dist - 24h (nautical miles)
Average speed - 24h (knots)
VMG - 24h (knots)
1
Cheminées Poujoulat
Bernard Stamm
FINISHED - 42 days 23 hours and 18 minutes
2
Spirit of Yukoh
Kojiro Shiraishi
FINISHED - 46 days 2 hours and 00 minutes
3
SAGA Insurance
Sir Robin Knox-Johnston
44° 22.77 S
093° 58.81 E
95
11.3
1259
49.4
234.1
9.75
9.47
4
A Southern Man-AGD
Graham Dalton
48° 38.76 S
074° 51.24 E
71
10.3
2087
46.6
116.2
4.84
4.84
5
PAKEA
Unai Basurko
41° 17.80 S
068° 09.48 E
115
10.1
2328
55.7
260.6
10.86
10.73
6
ECOVER
Mike Golding
RETIRED
7
HUGO BOSS
Alex Thomson
ABANDONED
- END -
For more information on VELUX 5 OCEANS please visit www.velux5oceans.com
About Fremantle (Western Australia)
At the mouth of the Swan River, the vibrant port town of Fremantle is located 20 minutes' drive southwest of Perth, Western Australia. Rich in heritage buildings and attractions, maritime history and culture, visitors are guaranteed to enjoy the relaxed outdoor lifestyle, some of the country's best beaches, bustling markets, nightlife, unrivalled sporting facilities and amazing marine adventures. The VELUX 5 Oceans Race Village will be at the picturesque Fremantle Sailing Club, where the race crews will be able to make use of the world class facilities used during the recent Clipper 05-06 round the world yacht race, and Whitbreads of the past.
www.westernaustralia.com
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