Velux 5 Oceans - Alone-Round the World Yacht Race www.velux5oceans.com - Übersicht Tuesday 5 December, 2006 BERNARD STAMM CELEBRATES IN STYLE with a belated birthday party * Defending champion Bernard Stamm (SUI) enjoys warm Fremantle hospitality and aboriginal welcome * Graham Dalton (NZL) moves into third place as he passes south of Sir Robin * Sir Robin Knox-Johnston (GBR) goes for a swim in the Southern Ocean * Kojiro Shiraishi (JPN) 600 miles from Fremantle - expected to arrive in 48 hours * Unai Basurko (ESP) continues to suffer from rudder problems off Africa Foto: www.w-w-i.com/velux_5_oceans Victorious in leg one of the VELUX 5 OCEANS, Bernard Stamm has finally had a chance to relax and enjoy himself after 42 days 23 hours and 18 minutes at sea. Stepping off CHEMINEES POUJOULAT after one of the toughest ocean legs in solo racing, the defending champion was met by family, friends and his shore crew. Many supporters from the region came down to the Fremantle Sailing Club, the base of the race in Western Australia, welcoming in the sailing hero after what was a flawless and impressive leg from Bilbao (Basque Country, Spain). The crowd included the commodore of the yacht club and representatives of the Swiss consulate in Perth. Bernard was treated to a traditional indigenous greeting on the pontoons. As he broke open the champagne to celebrate his historic victory, local aboriginals performed a traditional dance, accompanied by a didgeridoo. Tourism Western Australia and the Fremantle Sailing Club organised a surprise Birthday bash in the clubhouse, with local dignitaries and guests. As a special treat, a celebrated Swiss baker in Perth (Chez Jean Claude Patisserie) prepared a host of traditional delicacies and cheeses in Bernard's honour. Stamm and all the POUJOULAT team then enjoyed an Aussie BBQ, with beers provided by the local Gage Roads brewery and wine from Ferngrove, all organised by Celebrate Western Australia. Second-placed Kojiro Shiraishi on SPIRIT OF YUKOH is currently 604 miles from the finish line and is expected to arrive in Fremantle after Thursday afternoon, December 7. The Japanese hero's world was thrown into turmoil when a rogue wave laid SPIRIT OF YUKOH flat on her side yesterday. After 11,000 miles of high-endurance sailing, the Japanese Open 60 has sustained further sail damage and twisted, buckled stanchions as the boat dug into the Indian Ocean. Finally, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston (SAGA INSURANCE) is back underway after he took to the water to free his boat of the fishing net that had ensnared itself on his keel. The sailing legend spent the night contemplating the only solution: getting wet. After some creative tactics, Sir Robin jumped into the freezing Southern Ocean water and succeeded in freeing his boat from the constraint. At the same time, with the retirement of Mike Golding, Graham Dalton, sailing the only Open 50 in the fleet A SOUTHERN MAN AGD, overtook Sir Robin and moved into third place overall. The Kiwi skipper has made good ground since he pulled into Porto Santo for repairs early in leg one, out pacing the 60 footers of Knox-Johnston and Basurko. The Basque skipper has been making slow progress as he struggles with his damaged port rudder. Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, SAGA INSURANCE: "A fishing net got caught round the keel yesterday morning. The trouble is that it was 4.5 metres below the surface and so very hard to get at. I tried for six hours yesterday but to no avail. Admittedly the seas were still big so trying to get a knife down on the end of some pieces of lashed together battens was almost impossible." "But today SAGA INSURANCE and I are on our way again. I spent the night thinking but knew that there was only one way I could really get at the problem and that was by going swimming. I put on a sailing dry suit, then a harness, attached it to a nice long line, and went over the transom. I swam out as far as my safety line but could not get down to the index anchor line. I got its partner though and brought it back on board. Interesting watching the boat from maybe 100 feet away. She was rolling horribly. I was also not too excited about the sudden attention of three Albatross who clearly saw my floundering as some sign of potential dinner in an hour or two!" "Back aboard SAGA INSURANCE I winched in the line I had and because it was twisted round the index line, it brought that close to the surface. Using an empty cooking propane container as a float, I attached a line to it, and then pushed it down with a batten to the up tide side of the line and then let go. It floated nicely up the other side of the line. Now it was just down to brute force, hauling in on my messenger until the index anchor line was at the surface at which point I was able to reach down and cut it with a hacksaw. I then spent 20 minutes slowly removing the turns between the two lines with the aid of a batten, and was able eventually to pull it clear of the keel. We are now sailing again but not very aggressively at the moment as I am tired and still feel very cold." Boat Positions as at 10:20 UTC 5 December 2006 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 FINISHED 2 Spirit of Yukoh Kojiro Shiraishi 38° 51.92 S 106° 38.12 E 43 16 604 71.2 363.5 15.15 15.15 3 A Southern Man-AGD Graham Dalton 47° 43.32 S 013° 13.48 E 98 9.1 4472 4500 44.6 247.1 10.3 9.76 4 SAGA Insurance Sir Robin Knox-Johnston 44° 07.51 S 013° 23.06 E 94 7.1 4578 4586 9.8 63.1 2.63 2.27 5 PAKEA Unai Basurko 32° 21.24 S 005° 45.60 E 111 6.3 5274 5275 29.6 75.7 3.15 3.12 6 ECOVER Mike Golding RETIRED 7 HUGO BOSS Alex Thomson ABANDONED - END - Copyright © 1996-2016 - SEGEL.DE