03.05.2007
VELUX 5 OCEANS - Leg 3, Day 15
NAIL BITING FINISH FOR SIR ROBIN & BASURKO
* KNOX-JOHNSTON (GBR) to finish in the early hours Friday
* BASURKO's (ESP) ETA Saturday am
* DALTON (NZL) still in Norfolk
The VELUX 5 OCEANS 10:20 UTC position poll shows that Sir Robin
Knox-Johnston is now 140 miles from the Leg 3 finish line, 50 miles off
the north coast of Spain, due north of Cape Penas, the peninsular just
west of Gijon. Leading fourth place Unai Basurko by 171 miles, Sir
Robin's ETA to cross the finish line of the VELUX 5 OCEANS race is
currently 04:00 local Spanish time (02:00 UTC/03:00 BST) on Friday
morning. He will arrive into Bilbao in daylight at approximately 08:00
local Spanish time (06:00 UTC/07:00 BST).
A bird flew into Sir Robin's cabin last evening. Black on top, white
underneath with a red and brown face and has stowed itself away. Mother
nature has sent dolphins too, who played around his boat for about 10
minutes as he was crossing the Finisterre to Ushant traffic lane.
Meanwhile Unai Basurko feels like he is spiritually closer to home and
he is now sailing in familiar waters. Yesterday he made radio contact
with the marine radio at Cape Finisterre and they have warned him that
he is sailing into some busy waterways. But his target is a point on the
Spanish coast called Estaca. When he turns this corner he feels as if he
will be on the home run and is anticipating that he will be into Bilbao
in the early hours of Saturday morning.
While trying to unhook algae from his rudder this morning Basurko was
visited by a school of dolphins. In an ethereal mood Basurko commented
that he was enjoying the sailing, was very happy and moved by the
experience. With 3 dots on the radar alerting him to passing ships so he
is reindexing vigilante but is eagerly anticipating his first sight of
land, which is currently being engulfed in mist.
ETA Sir Robin Knox-Johnston Friday morning 0800 Gexto Marina, Bilbao
ETA Unai Basurko Saturday morning 0800 Gexto Marina, Bilbao
In overall elapsed time Basurko leads Knox Johnston by 1 day 16 hours.
Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, SAGA INSURANCE
"Would I do this again? No. This was my last realistic chance to try and
be competitive on the solo circuit and it has certainly sharpened me up
but in four years time I do not see myself doing the VELUX 5 OCEANS race
again. I do not feel a desire, like my good friend Minouru Saito, to go
round solo again. He did it two years ago and is planning to go again at
74 years of age. If I go again it will be in a cruiser to see places
I've enjoyed in the past and pothers I have always wanted to see,
although the opportunity to make a Jules Verne attempt and get back the
record Peter Blake and I won in 1994 is about the only thing that could
interrupt that.
On balance I have enjoyed the sailing and always enjoy that feeling of
freedom you get at sea, but been frustrated by little things in the
racing. One of my happiest recollections is from the team supporting me
for this venture and the camaraderie that has built up and those
friendships will, I am sure, endure. And my worst memory, well apart
from that awful period in the South Atlantic when the weather
predictions were all over the place, the passage into the Beagle
Channel."
Unai Basurko, PAKEA
"It is essential to reindex realistic. I am taking the race step by step.
At the moment the numbers are very favorable but the sea is not
foreseeable and it is necessary to be generous and know that everything
can happen. I am very happy and very moved... I have sailed in these
waters so many times that the boat almost knows how to find it's own way
home."
- END -
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