Elvis reaches Newport

Thierry Dubois finishes second in Around Alone complete with pork chops

On a bright sunny afternoon here in Newport, Rhode Island, Frenchman Thierry Dubois and his Open 60 Solidaires powered across the finish under large spinnaker. Although he finished third on this last leg, a string of second places and a win on points, following Bernard Stamm's penalty on the penultimate leg, left him a secure second in Around Alone's overall tally.

Knowing that he would finished regardless of where he came on this leg - provided he finished - Dubois decided upon different tactics for this final leg. "Yes, I made a different course with Emma [Richards] - we visited a different part of the Atlantic and we had to fight to come back," described Dubois upon his arrival.

Early in the race Dubois had chosen a route further to the east than the other competitors, but in the end this had proved to be a losing choice.

"I know I can stay close to Bernard [Stamm], but it is not easy to stay ahead of Bernard," explained Dubois. "During the first two days we are sailing together. We can see each other’s lights during the night, but we can't finish the race like this. So I wanted to try to do something different. I know - because we are going to go to Newport and not Charleston - this is not the same way to finish Around Alone. Newport is north and east and in a different wind - as you can see over the last two days. It is interesting to stay east sometimes. But in fact I discovered there was a big mistake before the Doldrums. The tradewinds of the southern hemisphere are going down and down and it was not normal. I didn’t have the southeast wind in the southern hemisphere. I had a light southeast wind and I couldn't come back on the other course."

This easterly choice which Dubois hoped would ultimately give him a better wind angle and more pressure as he crossed the northeasterly trade winds in the North Atlantic, effectively killed the leg from both him and Emma Richards. Not only were the trades not established in the south Atlantic, but the Doldrums were not easy to pass through at 32degW. "The crossing of the Doldrums didn't work at this position, which is strange because if you check the statistics it is one of the places that works all the time," he said. "To cross the Doldrums close to the coast can be dangerous, because of the local winds."

At one point was more than 500 miles astern of race leader Bernard Stamm.

Despite the east not being a paying option and their inability to head west, Dubois tenaciously stuck to his guns. "We came out from the Doldrums, Emma and me, hundreds of miles after the others and in fact it is too late but it works [the northeasterly trades]. We had good average speed, sometimes better and after that I wanted to follow this choice to the east. But it is hard to say I will stay in my place and it will work later. In a big high pressure system, we had no winds and you see others with wind. Then we came out of the high pressure and into a low pressure system and my choice was clear. I don't want to finish only to finish. I want to pass the maximum number of guys."

During this time Dubois pulled out all his tactical cunning and pushed his boat much harder than he had at any part of the race previously. "The last night was very hard, because for a few days I wanted to push the boat to pass the others. This is not exactly my way of sailing. It is not easy to do this while at the same time to have this very bad weather. I could break my boat and I don’t want to do that. But in the night, I don't want to stop the boat and to let the others pass me." At the time, to the northeast of a depression, they were experiencing powerful south southeasterly winds.

"I push like I never did," he admitted. "For me I have sailed for eight years on 60 footers and I am very clear level of using sails. 15 knots of real wind is the maximum for the big spinnaker singlehanded. Yesterday I stopped using the big spinnaker in 30 knots of wind!"

Rather than sail the direct course to Newport, Dubois says he sailed a long parabolic course further to the north, and never came across headwinds as a result. He is unable to say how much true wind he saw yesterday because his true wind instruments were not functioning.

By this tactic over the course of yesterday Dubois overtook Bruce Schwab to move into third place. He admitted upon his arrival that he had also got pass Bruce Schwab by duping him in the position reports - heading west and then immediately gybing north after the sched.

This is the third round the world race Dubois has attempted but significantly the first he has completed whilst still being in the race - in the previous Vendee he was disqualified for stopping in port to effect repairs. He also joked that it is only races that finish in Newport that he is able to complete (the last was the Europe 1 New Man STAR in 2000).

Now Dubois is retiring from singlehanded ocean racing. Solidaires is up for sale and he is keen to stay on as part of the shore team for whoever buys it. Meanwhile he has another project up his sleeve. He wants to build another boat - also 60ft - in which he intends to explore some of the world he has always sailed by but never stopped at. This includes the Antarctic and Arctic. He envisages the boat to be classic in her looks, presumably with long overhangs but of robust construction in strip planking reinforced with Kevlar.

As with his singlehanded sailing, the boat will be used to promote causes such as Amnesty International and he very much wants to use the new boat to do good such as taking children sailing and exploring, who might otherwise not get this opportunity.

In Dubois' retirement the sport will lose one of its greatest characters and one who has fastidiously shied away from involving companies in his campaigns, instead using his exploits to promote good causes.