Start on Wednesday

Leg three start of the Velux 5 Oceans rescheduled

Having reviewed all the latest weather models, and following regular consultation with the skippers and their teams, Race Director David Adams today set a new start date and time for the final leg of the Velux 5 Oceans. Leg three eastwards across the North Atlantic from Norfolk, Virginia to Bilbao is now scheduled to commence at 10:00 AM local time (14:00 GMT) on Wednesday April 18.

The storm which has been savagely battering the whole of the Eastern seaboard of the United States since Sunday is expected to intensify overnight into Tuesday before beginning to weaken through the day tomorrow. Race organisers and the sailors felt that a start on Wednesday morning offers the best solution to guarantee the safety of the fleet and allow the competitors to get away as soon as possible from Norfolk.

The start is still expected to take place in a strong northerly wind with large seas, and the event organisers in Norfolk are advising spectators not to go out on the water to watch the yachts depart for Europe. With the start gun set to fire at 10:00, the boats will leave their home in downtown Norfolk in the early hours of the morning before heading up the Elizabeth River to the line, positioned in open water off the Virginian coast.

With the fleet itching to get underway, Wednesday morning can’t come quick enough for the solo sailors. The postponed start has also played into the hands of Graham Dalton, who is now less than 1,000 miles from the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay. The Kiwi skipper is expected to arrive here Friday, within race rules, and set off for Bilbao after a required 72 hour stopover.

Former competitor Tim Kent writes:

Tim Kent here. While you are waiting for some breeze, I’ll fill you in on the weekends’ goings-on in Norfolk, VA with the VELUX crowd. The organizers, in their wisdom, flew in as many crotchety old USA and Canadian veterans as they could find to add a nice, moldy veneer to the proceedings. I was dismayed that some of the “older” vets from earlier races are actually younger than I am. Hmmm. Race Manager David Adams and his team had to make a tough call on the weather, postponing the start to avoid battering the fleet with what turned out to be a serious nor’easter that buried New England under a ton of rain and very high winds. I would say they made the right call.

Bernard is in fine form as always, eager to get sailing and looking forward to his new boat (ex- Virbac) which is in the paint shed at the moment becoming a visibly Bernard boat. Koji has done a great job moving from his underpowered 40 to his 60 footer. In spite of the diminished fleet, his perseverance through the initial storm Biscay alone earned him the right to be in second place. Sir Robin is cheerful with his new whiskey sponsor, Old Pulteney, which has plied him with a healthy supply of their wares which he as more than ready to share about. I met Unai only briefly; he seems eager to contest third overall with Robin. Of course Graham is still making his way to Norfolk after his many stops, miscues and mishaps.
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Saturday evening David Adams, himself a two-time BOC/Around Alone/Velux competitor, hosted a dinner with the current and former skippers in attendance, including original race founder David White and former skipper and serial Race Director Mark Schraeder. JP Moligne was not able to attend because of canceled flights due to the weather and Brad van Liew was busy managing Charleston Race Week - they were missed. There was a lot of sailing history in the room; this event has been held every four years for the last 25 years. David encouraged stories from people more than happy to tell them. It was a great evening, even without Demi Moore in attendance.

Velux did a very fine job of the weekend, with employees and customers from across the USA and Canada in attendance. On Sunday morning they had a very cool event on board the HMS Ocean, moored in the Norfolk Navy base. It is a helicopter assault ship that is the biggest ship in Her Majesty’s Navy. Velux had a big party in the ship’s hangar deck with their customers, employees, sailors, support crew, etc all in attendance. Cool marching bands, expensive and dangerous-looking helicopters, bagpipes, all Very British. Of course, it was a sendoff for sailors who were not leaving that day, but a good time was had by all. I would say that Velux is pleased with their sponsorship, and they certainly have a couple of very worthy sailors at the front of their fleet.

Did I mention that Demi Moore was not able to attend?

Tim

PS: No Tim, she was otherwise engaged with us last night