12.02.2007
VELUX 5 OCEANS - Leg 2, Day 30 Report
BRAVE SIR ROBIN ADVANCES UP THE FLEET INTO FOURTH PLACE
* Sir Robin Knox-Johnston (GBR) moves into 4th place and finds bonus whisky stocks
* Kojiro Shiraishi (JPN) repairs broken ballast valve
* Bernard Stamm (SUI) reaches fast and furious up the South Atlantic
A significant development over the weekend has been in Sir Robin taking fourth place off Graham Dalton. The British sailing legend has been taking a more northerly track east to his rivals. The boats continue to sail in considerable wind albeit from the west, the isobars squeezed up between a massive high pressure system to their north and a depression to their south. These conditions look set for the next few days, although the high is forecast to move south causing the wind to back to the southwest, making for a fast reach for the skippers towards the Horn.
If the separation between the first three boats in the VELUX 5 OCEANS is enormous, this is not true of boats the last three boats who now have just 80 miles between them. All three are now past the western end of the second ice 'waygate' some 1680 miles to the west of Cape Horn. Still in third place Unai Basurko passed the imaginary mark at 52degS 115degW at around 1600 UTC yesterday and was followed by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston on Saga Insurance at around 2000 UTC and finally be Graham Dalton on A Southern Man AGD at around midnight.
Bernard Stamm and his Cheminées Poujoulat reindex the only of the five boats competing in the VELUX 5 OCEANS to rounded Cape Horn, now on the 'home straight' north up the Atlantic. Sailing north up the South Atlantic is often the most tactically challenging part of a round the world race, and one of the few parts of the race course competitors will inevitably find themselves sailing upwind.
For Stamm, this morning some 900 miles east of Buenos Aires, this has yet to happen, but to achieve this the Swiss race leader has had to sail a circuitous route around a giant area of high pressure currently to his east. This morning the forecast is looking even more favourable for Stamm with the high set to move in a more southeasterly direction thanks to a depression that has formed off the Brazilian coast. As he passes into the northeastern quadrant of he high he is waiting for the wind to shift from the southwest to the southeast enabling him to sail a more direct route north. With the formation of the depression Stamm says he is expecting the wind to build too.
It is looking highly possible that Bernard, who has had the luck of the Gods weather-wise this leg, may be able to make it all the way up to Recife, the easternmost part of Brazil with favourable following winds.
Exciting times for Japan's Kojiro Shiraishi on board second placed Spirit of Yukoh. Over the weekend he has not only been able to make a 40 mile in road into Bernard's 1700 mile lead, but he is now rapidly approaching Cape Horn, the famous landmark that marks the beginning of the home straight for competitors. This morning the Horn reindexs 323 miles away and so Koji can expect to be round and into the Atlantic some time tomorrow (Tuesday) afternoon. His rounding should be a lively one. At present the forecast charts have him being chased by a Southern Ocean depression and this is set to close on him as he approaches the Horn bringing gale force winds.
However, early this morning the wind dropped and turned into headwind. Shiraishi discovered that the valve shaft that controls the flow of water out of the ballast tanks, that provide the Open 60 with vital stability and trim, had sheered. After hours of work Shiraishi has made a temporary repair but is now unable to disperse water out of his rear ballast tanks. This will slow him down in lighter airs but should not be too cause for concern in his imminent and potentially very windy rounding of Cape Horn.
Kojiro Shiraishi, SPIRIT OF YUKOH:
"It was a tough job and I was very glad for my engineering training. I am not originally a sailor, I am a marine engine mechanic. It was Tada san who taught me the first points of yacht building. So even before I did any sailing I spent many years fixing and repairing boats. It's almost like together with Tada san we mending and fixing all of the OKERA boats from various pieces we had to hand at the time. This background has been a great help to me over the years."
Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, SAGA INSURANCE:
"Having dispersed to their various pastures, the white horses are gathering again. Not sure where from, the last forecast I received is now 24 hours old from NZ, and nothing is coming in from South America, so all I really know is that there is a high north of us but last I heard it was extending so to be avoided. SAGA INSURANCE and I are clear of the last wayline so can set what course we wish again towards Cape Horn."
"Good news, found two more bottles of whiskey which I had hidden in my spare boots and forgotten, so supplies are ok. 4 bottles consumed in 4 weeks which is abstemious and may not be good for my health but got to make them last."
Boat Positions as at 10:20 UTC 12 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
38° 03.96 S
037° 30.60 W
44
13.1
5442
52.5
245.8
10.24
11.82
2
Spirit of Yukoh
Kojiro Shiraishi
55° 53.72 S
074° 18.16 W
79
16
1720
7162
72.3
244.1
10.17
10.05
3
PAKEA
Unai Basurko
52° 43.92 S
110° 25.88 W
136
12.3
3019
8461
54.2
241.8
10.07
9.26
4
SAGA Insurance
Sir Robin Knox-Johnston
52° 49.76 S
111° 24.36 W
88
13.2
3054
8496
52.6
265.9
11.08
10.25
5
A Southern Man-AGD
Graham Dalton
52° 53.20 S
112° 43.28 W
140
12.1
3101
8543
53
215.3
8.97
8.58
- END -
For more information on VELUX 5 OCEANS please visit www.velux5oceans.com , or contact:
Tim Kelly / Justine Ozoux / Kate Fairclough
RACE PRESS OFFICE: + 44 20 7494 1616
E: tim.kelly@pitchpr.com / justine@pitchpr.com / kate@pitchpr.com
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