Velux 5 Oceans - Alone-Round the World Yacht Race www.velux5oceans.com - Übersicht 13.11.2006 BRITISH SAILORS BATTLE WITH ISSUES AS THE SOUTHERN OCEAN GETS CLOSER Strong winds batter British "Sir" in his race alone around the world * Sir Robin Knox-Johnston (GBR) reports 2-3 days of repair after he was hit by a 32knot squall * Alex Thomson (GBR) believes he has keel and rudder problems under control but still has to climb his mast * Mike Golding (GBR) eating miles on race leader Bernard Stamm (SUI) who is now less than 200 miles ahead * Unai Basurko (ESP) in high spirits, aiming to catch Graham Dalton and Sir Robin Spirit of Yukoh in guter Fahrt Sir Robin Knox-Johnston wishes he could have had a relaxing Sunday. Yesterday afternoon, while he was working down below, he was hit by a 32 knot squall. As the autopilot couldn't deal with the strength of the gust, Sir Robin got back on deck as quickly as he could but SAGA Insurance was already on her side. While he struggled to get things under control the situation on board continued to get worse. The reacher (a type of headsail) that Sir Robin was trying to furl jammed and in order to fix it and stop it destroying itself by flogging in the strong winds, he had to move forward to the front of the boat. As he left the cockpit the boat went into a Chinese gybe which broke all of the batons in the indexsail, some in three places. After 40 minutes of battling with the reacher, Robin managed to get the sail below deck and the indexsail down to two reefs but he believes it will take up to three days to fix the index sail problems and get the boat back to full speed. Like his mentor, Alex Thomson was experiencing some problems onboard HUGO BOSS. Firstly he reported yesterday his keel seemed to have gone a little limp but by adjusting the pressure relief valve, he now believes that the problem is fixed. Alex had also encountered problems with his starboard rudder which was creaking. As the young skipper couldn't see anything on the rudder, he will need a little time to investigate and keep his ears open to any strange noises that could help diagnose the problem. The idea of having a "dodgy rudder" in the Southern Ocean is definitely not enticing. The last job on Alex's list is that he needs to climb the mast in the next couple of days as he hasn't yet had a weather window to do it. On paper it has been a good day for Alex who has made 150 miles on the race leader in 24 hours, however he believes he is likely to loose these miles again as he has to make his way around a high pressure system that is heading for. While the two Brits are having problems, the third one is concentrating on making gains on race leader, Bernard Stamm. Only 197 miles behind Cheminées Poujoulat, Mike Golding is working hard on drawing in the distinctive yellow boat. As the conditions are still unstable, Golding, The Fico World Champion, hasn't managed to get much sleep and with an uncomfortable swell he has been using his best seasickness cure - he spends most of the time at the chart table, eating crystallized ginger!! While he is making good progress on Bernard Stamm, Mike also watches his back to check what Alex is doing. If Alex Thomson thinks he is going to lose miles in the next days, this is not a prediction echoed by Mike who sees an opportunity for him to sail all the way round the high pressure system and to make some considerable gains. In contrast, Kojiro Shiraishi (SPIRIT OF YUKOH) seems like he is having a great time. Last night, he saw more stars than he has ever seen and he took time to enjoy the moment and relax - he even put on some classical music. Seeing that Ecover and Cheminees Poujoulat manage to sail two or three knots faster than him, increasing the gap, he is still a happy a man. Even though they have faster boats, more experience than him and he admires them, the Japanese sailor wouldn't swap his Spirit of Yukoh for any other boat. Kojiro believes the preparation; the team who worked on it and the whole story of his project make her the best for this experience. "Mike and Bernard have not gotten to this stage easily. They needed many years to reach this level of knowledge and organization. It is a level to admire and one which demands respect. I am still a trainee here." Unai Basurko (PAKEA) was in really high spirits today. Talking back about his first stopover, he still couldn't understand why the autopilot broke after only a couple of days when he never experienced problems before. Basurko is now getting more and more used to the boat. He is really happy with her as he is now heading straight south, downwind with a northeast breeze between 10 and 15 knots. The Basque hero reported that apart from a small electronic problem, everything was well onboard. Still 2500 miles away from the race leader, Unai Basurko is now pushing hard for Graham Dalton only 209 miles ahead. Concentrating on his weather strategy he really doesn't want to be the last one to cross the finish line. Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, Saga Insurance: "You would not want to be around this boat at the moment. She is like a seagull with a broken wing and I am in a murderous mood. Every batten in the indexsail is broken and having got across the Inter Tropical Convergence zone, when we ought to be making about 12 knots into the SouthEast Trades, we are limping along at four knots with at least two days of repairs to do. There goes my chances of seeing the test match and, of course, the longer this takes the more pressure there is on my fuel supplies." Alex Thomson, Hugo Boss: "The South Atlantic has been so different from the North Atlantic - one with wind and the other with none, no prizes for guessing which one I prefer! I have had a few problems to solve with the aid of my team over the last 24 hours. The first is my keel, which seems to have gone a little limp but can't be because of age, as it hasn't even reached its first birthday! This is definitely not good, and the boat quickly becomes overpowered, and tries to fall over. The other major issue is the starboard rudder which has started creaking like a staircase in a haunted house." Mike Golding, Ecover: "It's been a strange night as I was pretty much becalmed and just making 2-3 knots at one point. I then tried to get some shut eye but quickly woke up with the boat tipped over on it side with 20-25 knots of wind and I had code sails up and god knows what! But I actually had a fairly quick and easy recovery and got the boat back on course but since then it's been quite hard going upwind with solent and full index. There has been a huge swell coming in which is under our lee bow, which has the effect of, well.... Suffice it to say 3 times I've been on my side now this morning which is pretty boring. It seems like every time I shut my eyes that's when it happens so I haven't really had much sleep for about 24 hours now." Kojiro Shiraishi, Spirit of Yukoh: "Last night I saw so many of the stars that I can usually never see. It was time to put on with some classic music - of course it was Karajan conducting "The Planets" as loud as my speakers would play while I was on deck simply admiring the beauty before me. It is a fantastically dynamic piece of music. Cassiopeia was on the horizon but just visible on the horizon. Orion was upside down (from how I normally see her). I seen so many stars I am not used to seeing that I really know I am in the southern hemisphere for sure. Although we have no land as a reference we have the stars to let us know where we are. Next year when we come back here the Big Dipper will be visible and we will know we are back. From here on the Southern Cross will get higher in the sky and we hope that she continues to look over us." Unai Basurko, Pakea "My index goal is to arrive to Australia, my second goal is to catch Dalton and Sir Robin and to wait for them with a cold beer in Australia instead of having them waiting for me. So far I'm more or less following their route. I still have 600 miles before the Equator, so I plan to cross around Thursday and hope it will be before Dalton. At the moment, I try to spend the hours of heat (from 11 am to 5pm) inside the boat. Temperature is around 30 degrees, but I have good ventilation and it is still cooler than outside. If there is shade on deck then I go outside, otherwise I try to avoid direct contact with the sun." "I read a lot and just finished Sir Robin's book about his first circumnavigation and it's amazing. I admired him a lot, but now I admire and respect him even more. I understand how difficult that trip must have been." - END - Copyright © 1996-2016 - SEGEL.DE