23.11.2006, 15:00
KOJI & GOLDING RACE TO THE RESCUE
Mike Golding was enjoying one of his finest moments yet in the Velux 5 Oceans as he was closely rapidly on Bernard Stamm's lead. He had just covered a staggering 446 miles in 24 hours, and had reduced the deficit by hundreds of miles when suddenly - his priorities changed. Golding was requested by Race HQ, along with Koji Shiraishi further to the west, to divert towards Alex Thomson's stricken Open 60, Hugo Boss. Thomson has made a formal request to abandon Hugo Boss and for him to be rescued by one of his two competitors. At the time of Thomson's request, Shiraishi was estimated to be 18 hours away while Golding was estimated to be 8 hours away.
So the most likely scenario is that Ecover will be first to make visual contact with Hugo Boss. Having said that, Golding will have to sail upwind in 30 knots of wind and big seas to rendezvous with Thomson. Plans to rescue Alex from his yacht are being formulated. Any mid-ocean transfer in such big seas and high winds will be far from straightforward.
Golding will now be fully focused on rescuing his compatriot, a far cry from where his focus had been earlier this morning when he was travelling at break-neck speeds and making ground hand over fist towards Stamm. Speaking before he had been alerted to Thomson's plight, Golding commented: "It's good surfing conditions, and a bit scary at times, but nonetheless it's doing the job," he said. "Doing 446 miles. That's up there with my fastest days, definitely. Last night my top speed was 32 knots, so I've exceeded my 31 knots previous top speed.
"It looks very much like we're going to compress on Bernard, it's obvious we are closing the gap and we're about to join the same weather system. This is an important breakthrough because it really opens up some opportunities. I think it puts us back into contention to win the race, not that I've ever thought we couldn't, it's just that as the gap got wider it became harder to see how we could do it. Now we have been given a really good chance. But Bernard is sailing a really good race, and it's one thing to compress up, it's another thing to actually get past him."
For now, though, the race is not to Stamm or to Fremantle, but to rescue Alex Thomson from Hugo Boss. For Thomson, Golding and Shiraishi these next 24 hours will demand every ounce of skill and courage that they can muster.
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