Velux 5 Oceans - Alone-Round the World Yacht Race www.velux5oceans.com - Übersicht 23 February, 2007 VELUX 5 OCEANS - Leg 2, Day 41 Report HMS EDINBURGH BOOSTS SIR ROBIN'S MORALE NEAR FALKLAND ISLANDS * Sir Robin Knox-Johnston (GBR) declines whisky * Bernard Stamm (SUI) crosses the equator and gathers rainwater to drink * Kojiro Shiraishi (JPN) boils in the Doldrums hell * Graham Dalton (NZL) leaves Port Stanley to rejoin race SAGA INSURANCE has sailed passed Port Stanley and back into 4th place with a 45 mile lead this morning. Sir Robin is now just 372 miles behind 3rd placed Unai Basurko having already gained 128 miles since re-starting the race near Ushuaia. Unai Basurko is struggling with northerly headwinds and averaged only 1.2 knots in the last few hours of the VELUX 5 OCEANS race. Sir Robin is also being affected by the light winds, which are forecast for some time. The traditional Atlantic snakes and ladders game begins as gains and losses are made due to constantly fluctuating conditions. Bernard Stamm unangefochten an der Spitze Foto: onEdition At 1500 UTC yesterday Sir Robin received a visit from the Royal Navy destroyer HMS Edinburgh, a batch 3 type 42 Destroyer, which was patrolling the Falkland Islands. The rendez-vous took place within 10 miles of Sea Lion Island, off the South Eastern corner of the Falklands when HMS Edinburgh launched a RIB and a Lynx helicopter and passed Sir Robin to leeward. Bernard Stamm, the VELUX 5 OCEANS race leader, continues to reach north-west through the North Atlantic, sailing parallel to the coast of South America. Sitting firmly in the North-East Trade Winds, Swiss Open 60, CHEMINÉES POUJOULAT has indextained a speed of just above 13 knots over the past 24 hours; almost double the most recent fleet average. At 05:00 UTC yesterday morning, Stamm crossed the Equator and entered the North Atlantic after an exhausting period in the Doldrums. Onboard the unstoppable Stamm is still suffering without his watermaker, an essential piece of equipment, which turns seawater into drinking water. But ever the stoical, enduring solo pragmatist he is making the most of the erratic Doldrums conditions and is collecting fresh rain water to see him through. The Doldrums or the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) is a belt of low pressure around Earth at the equator. It is created by the vertical rise of warm, moist air from the latitudes above and beneath the equator. The moist atmosphere and heat combined mean that it rains for more than 200 days a year and thunderstorms are very common feature. However, within the ITCZ the normal winds are slight and early sailors called this wet desert of calm the doldrums because of the low spirits they found themselves in after days of no wind. To find oneself becalmed in this region in a hot and muggy climate could mean death in an era when wind was the only major motive force. Nowadays, fortunately, it just tends to make them irritable and depressed. It has been a dreary day for second place for a despondent Kojiro Shiraishi, who is boiling down below in the sweltering heat and light airs of the Doldrums, is extremely frustrated that the light wind is coming head on from the direction he wants to sail in. During this north-easterly nightmare, Shiraishi has dropped 47 miles to the race leader overnight and SPIRIT OF YUKOH now trails CHEMINÉES POUJOULAT by 2,100 miles. For Shiraishi, the immediate future is bleak and he anticipates he will be struggling all the way to Rio de Janeiro. In light airs with the relentless equatorial sun preventing any extended period on deck, Shiraishi was feeling heat as he ran the yacht's diesel as temperatures soared onboard. Despite this obvious discomfort and the prospect of slow progress upwind, he still managed to congratulate race leader Bernard Stamm, over 2,000 miles to the north for crossing the equator. In third place, 1,180 miles behind Spirit of Yukoh, Basque solo sailor, Unai Basurko is struggling with northerly headwinds, north of the Falkland Islands. Basurko has elected to take PAKEA away from land, flat-lining east into the South Atlantic on port tack. Dalton's vital pitstop has incurred a 48 hour time penalty but at 10.20 UTC today resumed racing as he takes his place at the back of the fleet. But difficult conditions for PAKEA and SAGA INSURANCE are hampering both boats as they record a dramatic drop in speed and so, as A SOUTHERN MAN - AGD re-joins the tournament, there is everything to play for. Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, SAGA INSURANCE: "It was a nice example of professionalism. Cdr Scott Verney RN and the ships company are to be congratulated. He kindly offered to send over a bottle of whisky but cognisant of our strict race committee, and that someone might protest as it would have been good for my morale, which it certainly would have been, I had to decline, but he says he'll keep it in his cabin until we meet again, now there is an Officer and a Gentleman! They certainly brightened my day. They are probably the last people I will see for a month." Bernard Stamm, CHEMINEES POUJOULAT "Today, I spoke to my ship, I told CHEMINÉES POUJOULAT, we cannot continue like this. I need to take some rest. To sleep, even one hour, but a little bit of rest, otherwise we'll not be friends anymore. To finish the leg, it reindexs two weeks to spend together and it is better if it should be friendly." Kojiro Shiraishi, SPIRIT OF YUKOH: "Since last night, the wind has dropped to below 10 knots, the wind is coming from the exact direction in which I want to sail. Even as I tack, I am facing 110 degrees from where I want to be traveling. The temperature has risen to over 30 degrees Celsius, as the batteries are still being recharged by the radiating engine, the conditions inside the cabin could be described as an incandescent hell. I hear Bernard crossed the Equator and into the Northern hemisphere. Congratulations! I really take my hat off to his outstanding sailing. There simply aren't any words to describe this feat." Boat Positions as at 10:20 UTC 23 February 2007 Yacht Skipper Latitude Longitude Course (°) Speed (knot) DTL (nautical miles) DTF (nautical miles) Dist - last Pos (nautical miles) Dist - 24h (nautical miles) Average speed - 24h (knots) VMG - 24h (knots) 1 Cheminées Poujoulat Bernard Stamm 04° 16.36 N 041° 14.40 W 320 11.4 2748 64.3 316.8 13.2 13.05 2 Spirit of Yukoh Kojiro Shiraishi 26° 54.44 S 043° 17.08 W 100 9 2139 4887 39.3 168.8 7.03 5.87 3 PAKEA Unai Basurko 45° 10.95 S 052° 30.35 W 5 10.1 3318 6066 28 118.7 4.95 4.64 4 SAGA Insurance Sir Robin Knox-Johnston 50° 23.00 S 057° 31.00 W 19 6.4 3690 6438 28.6 165.4 6.89 6.87 5 A Southern Man-AGD Graham Dalton 51° 39.48 S 057° 43.72 W 37 6.1 3759 6507 4 4 0.17 0.15 - END - About Norfolk, Virginia (USA) Norfolk, which is home to Naval Station Norfolk, the largest military station in the world, can host hundreds of vessels at one time including cruise ships, destroyers and submarines and once made history when it berthed five nuclear aircraft carriers at the same time. The port will provide the skippers and ground crews of the VELUX 5 OCEANS with world class facilities. The City is bordered by the Chesapeake Bay and the Hampton Roads Harbour, one of the most famous sailing areas in the USA which attracts hundreds of thousands of yachts and sailing fanatics to the area every year and has played host to some of the world's major sailing events including the Volvo Ocean Race and the Mount Gay Rum Sailing Week. The situation of the City also makes it an idea venue for the VELUX 5 OCEANS providing unique opportunities to watch the fleet arrive from vantage points on the coast and on the water. Copyright © 1996-2016 - SEGEL.DE