Set back for Tiscali

Good news for Emma Richards in as Around Alone fleet surgesup the Atlantic

The final 1,500 miles of leg 5 of Around Alone 2002-03 is shaping up to be the most exciting racing. Latest news is that Italian skipper Simone Bianchetti, currently in second place on Tiscali, and vying for 3rd place overall with Emma Richards on Pindar, has spent the last 24 hours repeatedly climbing up to the top of the mast after a segment of the mainsail track on the mast came away yesterday afternoon.

On the satellite phone Bianchetti sounded exhausted but determined to get the repair done: “It's not a problem at the moment with these light winds so I've decided to take advantage of this moment of calm to repair it in view of the stronger winds expected after the 20° parallel. My competitors are going faster behind me but I'm counting on getting back up to pace as soon as possible.”

The British skipper herself is on the attack and gaining on her main rival in their battle for the overall podium. Pindar is still positioned furthest to the east as Richards makes the most of the steady easterly breeze to catch up on Tiscali and remove a boat or to between them. "In the coming 24 hrs the wind will decrease and go aft until eventually we will be gybing and heading off to Newport on port gybe for a while… I have already seen my whole sail inventory in the last 36 hours and I'm sure will see them all again a few times before the end of this race, plenty of work (and opportunities) to come."

According to distance to finish American Bruce Schwab on Ocean Planet and Frenchman Thierry Dubois on Solidaires lie in between Emma Richards and her target still. Schwab is hand-steering his narrow Open 60 over to the west, still making 9-10 knots boat speed: "A bit more wind now and hoping that Thierry and Emma to windward of us will be slowing down in the next position report. They should be entering a light zone soon, and I'm keeping my tired fingers crossed!" On the course, these three boats are actually spread west to east as the fleet approach their biggest obstacle of the leg - a low pressure to the east of Bermuda generating headwinds bang in the middle of their route.

Class 1 leader Bernard Stamm on Bobst Group-Armor Lux is off the Bahamas and looking ahead at this system, and also the conditions right in front of his bow: "If I can cut through the wind coming off the depression 500 miles to my north, things will be okay. Just ahead there is a huge bank of clouds, strung right out because of the tropical storms, bizarre conditions and hard to read, but I have gone past the point where I was in fear of getting caught in the calms that generate these lows."

In Class 2, leader Brad van Liew on Tommy Hilfiger Freedom America and Tim Kent on Everest Horizontal are still under 180 miles apart, as they both pursue their big American brother Schwab on Ocean Planet over to the west. Kent has put in a better overall performance in the last 24 hours with 252 miles against van Liew’s 235 mile run as the leader slows inevitably coming out of the trade winds. However it is Japanese skipper Kojiro Shiraishi on Open 40 Spirit of yukoh who is setting the pace, clocking the best 24hr run in the entire fleet of 258 miles, and as they enter the second stage of leg 5, only 1,100 miles separates Bobst Group - Armor Lux from last boat, Open 40 BTC Velocity.

Canadian Derek Hatfield on Spirit of Canada has been hand sewing his mainsail and reconstructing the lazy jack system as he hits calmer waters off the Argentinian coastline: "Salvador is dead up wind and there is a big high pressure system hanging about between here and there so it will be a bit slow and frustrating sailing for the next two days. I'm starting to monitor my fuel and water just in case it takes longer than expected."

POSITIONS AT 1400GMT 23rd APRIL 2003

Class 1
Boat Lat Lon AvgBsp AvgHeading DTF

1. Bobst Group-Armor Lux 22 11.200 N, 52 43.280 W, 81.65 nm, 10.21 kt, 332 °T, 1489.96 nm
2. Tiscali 19 02.300 N, 50 28.450 W, 36.41 nm, 4.55 kt, 322 °T, 1717.11 nm
3. Ocean Planet 14 22.220 N, 53 57.700 W, 71.98 nm, 9.02 kt, 315 °T, 1860.75 nm
4. Solidaires 16 35.800 N, 48 48.600 W, 63.46 nm, 7.94 kt, 358 °T, 1891.74 nm
5. Pindar 16 54.900 N, 46 31.000 W, 70.08 nm, 8.75 kt, 358 °T, 1950.87 nm

Class 2
Boat Lat Lon AvgBsp AvgHeading DTF

1. Tommy Hilfiger 13 49.200 N, 53 25.700 W, 62.34 nm, 7.79 kt, 325 °T, 1904.01 nm
2. Everest Horizontal 11 40.160 N, 51 00.300 W, 70.50 nm, 8.82 kt, 323 °T, 2082.95 nm
3. Spirit of yukoh 9 40.880 N, 44 11.300 W, 84.45 nm, 10.54 kt, 317 °T, 2386.68 nm
4. BTC Velocity 6 11.600 N, 41 37.000 W, 74.00 nm, 9.26 kt, 315 °T, 2645.23 nm

Tim Kent sends these deep thoughts from on board Everest Horizontal :

11.26.52n 50.50.50w

6:26 am Central, 11:26 GMT Wednesday, April 23, 2003

2,099 miles to Newport

Check out that longitude reading - more symmetry. 50 years old on a 50 foot boat, crossing 50 degrees of longitude. I wish I could get this computer to download images from my camera; I've got the GPS reading captured digitally there.

The wind has eased up significantly in the last hour or so. I had wind speed in the neighborhood of 20 knots all last night, and 20 to 25 all day yesterday. This morning they are down to 12 to 15 knots and boatspeed is falling with them. I am sailing with full main and the big Code 5, but one can only go so fast in falling breeze.

I will have a bit of a problem with that Code 5. When it was unfurling, somehow the furling line jumped up and caught the furling unit. The basket is simply held onto the bowsprit by its tack line, so when the furling line caught the basket, it traveled up and furled itself around the base of the sail instead of inside the basket. This is complicated by the fact that my bowsprit is a round pole; I can not walk out onto it like I would be able to on every other boat in the fleet. Later today when the wind has dropped
further, I will lasso the sail, ease the tack line and bring the basket aft to the deck. I will tie it down there and unwrap the line from the sail and wrap it back up on the furler. That done, I'll take back up on the tack line and get the sail back out on the end of the pole where it belongs. Sounds easy...hope it works.

Just 100 miles short of the half way point on this leg, some 2,100 miles to go. It seems amazing to me, as I look around this cabin, which has grown so familiar over the last seven months, that this race is coming to its conclusion. Bernard on Bobst Group is some 1,500 miles from the finish; he'll cross the line within a week. We will probably be a week or so behind him. Great and lasting images cross my mind of the finishes of each of these legs, of the hair-raising moments during them, of the incredible people I have met, of the irreversibly changing course of my own life and those close to me as a result of all of this. This began as an idea, then a conversation, then action, became a group effort made up of hundreds of people, some of whom I know, most of whom I don't, and I find myself here, 2,100 miles from the finish. Two and a half years after the idea was spoken, it is coming close to a conclusion. I find the reality of it to be almost larger than I can grasp.

Tim

Bruce Schwab sends this from on board Ocean Planet

Wednesday, April 23, 2003 1200gmt
Lat: 14 10N Lon: 53 42W

Last night was a beautiful one, but very long. The wind dropped down, necessitating the big masthead kite which I put up around midnight. Tried to get some quick winks under autopilot but was unsuccessful, as I pretty much have to drive to get the most out of it in light air. A bit more wind now and hoping that T & E to windward of us will be
slowing down in the next position report. They should be entering a light zone soon, and I'm keeping my tired fingers crossed!

Are any of you going to Pacific Sail Expo in Oakland this week and weekend? Our friend and the builder of Ocean Planet, Steve Rander and Schooner Creek Boat Works will have a booth at the show through Sunday. They will be happy to give us some space to take orders for our team gear and pitch folks for donations which we desperately need! I have to admit that a few folks meeting us at the finish in Newport will be wanting a bit more than to shake my hand...if you know what I mean and I
think you do...;-) Get into the show free, buy some team gear and help keep Ocean Planet alive! Call Schooner Creek Boat Works and they will tell you how to get in touch with Steve: 503-735-0569. Also, give my partner Jeanie a call for order forms and Team gear: 510-638-3278 (eve)

Wish I could be there as I love the show. In 1997 my old boat "Rumbleseat" was featured at the show and my rigging seminars were well attended. Then, if you missed it, in 2001 Ocean Planet was christened at the show by none other than Ellen MacArthur! Now, THAT was cool!

Gotta go, it's really tricky typing and pressing the autopilot buttons at the same time to keep the boat going properly.....big kite is still up!

Hoping the wind picks up so I can change sails and get a nap,
Bruce and Ocean Planet