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Around Alone

Thierry Dubois takes place 2 in Cape Town

Emma Richards finishes third

jeudi 14 novembre 2002 – Information Velux 5 Oceans

Celebration was in the air last night in Cape Town, South Africa as both Frenchman Thierry Dubois on Solidaires and British skipper Emma Richards on Pindar came romping across the finish line to take 2nd and 3rd spots on the podium for Leg 2 of Around Alone 2002-03 and record pace-setting times of just over 30 days for completing the 7,000 mile leg from Torbay, England.


A spectacular finish by veteran French circumnavigator Thierry Dubois on Solidaires who stormed across the finish line in a strong breeze at 19:42:55 GMT (21:42:55 local time) 13th November, his boat lit up by the city lights in the background. He completed the leg in 30 days, 8 hours, 42 mins and 55 seconds, just over 9 hours after winner Bernard Stamm on Bobst Group-Armor Lux.

Dubois fought a tough race to finish second. Trailing in Pindar’s wake for most of the second half of the leg, he throttled up after Emma’s problem with her broken mainsail halyard slowed her down, and blew past the British sailor. From then on it was a head-to-head battle to the end, and both sailors looked worn out from their close combat right to the line. Dubois revealed later that only one rudder was working fully and he had also suffered a broken central daggerboard early on in the leg, which compromised his upwind performance mainly in the Southern Atlantic. He kept this from his competitors until the day before the finish, but no doubt for him this was a worthy 2nd place finish, and he trails Bernard Stamm by only 2 points after 2 legs. As both skippers will tell you ; there is a lot of sailing left in this race.

It was another pale pink early morning arrival for 28yr old Emma Richards on Pindar. Just as the dawn lit the sky over Cape Town, and a small tablecloth was tumbling over the edge of Table Mountain, Pindar sped across the line at twelve knots. Bernard Stamm and Thierry Dubois both cheered to her from the NSRI lifeboat that went out to greet her. Her official finish time was 03:27:13 GMT (05:27:13 local time) for a passage of 30 days, 15 hours, 27 minutes, 13 seconds.

The only female in Around Alone, Emma is finally getting to know her boat after two legs. "I am looking forward to the next leg," she said. "I can’t wait to see what this boat does down south. But first I want something cold to drink and hot to eat." After popping the cork off a magnum of Champagne Mumm, Emma disappeared into the nearest restaurant for a full breakfast along with Thierry & Bernard.

Emma’s performance on this leg should surely confirm her talents as one of Britain’s top female sailors. Since leaving Torbay, England she has sailed a fantastic race, holding her own in 2nd place for the majority of the leg. Sandwiched firmly between the two highly experienced solo skippers, Emma survived 70 knot plus winds during a severe Atlantic storm, manoeuvred through the unpredictable squalls and calms of the Doldrums, to then gamble cutting the corner on the Southern Atlantic High, all the time keeping the pressure up on Stamm and Dubois right through to the end. Plagued just days from the finish by first a damaged gooseneck (vital fitting which holds the boom to the mast) and then a broken mainsail halyard, which saw her make a death-defying mast climb and subsequently drop one place, at sea Emma never gave up on getting back into second, but once on land was still content to have ended up on the podium. "I am happy with the way I sailed. It was a long, tough leg, harder than I thought it would be, but I don’t think I could have sailed any better." Looking up at the top of her mast one could only imagine how tough going aloft to reeve a new halyard must have been. Emma just smiled and said, "It had to be done."

While there is no official record for this passage between Torbay and Cape Town (this is the first time that the Around Alone has sailed from England to South Africa), these top three boats covered the 7,000 mile course in an incredible time of 29 + 30 days. Last year the winning Volvo 60 sailed much the same course in 31 days and 6 hours. Granted they started in Southampton and had to round Isle Trinidade as a mark of the course, but the V60’s are raced fully crewed by some of the best sailors on the planet.

Four years ago the time for the leg from Charleston, SC to Cape Town was a new record of 34 days, 18 hours. The leg from England to Cape Town is much longer and regarded by most to be much tougher. Which ever way you look at it, the leading skippers in Around Alone deserve to be recognised for such remarkable performances.

Provisional Results, Leg 2 : Class 1
– 1st : Bobst Group-Armor Lux finish time 09:59:45 GMT
– 2nd : Solidaires finish time 19:42:55 GMT
– 3rd : Pindar finish time 03:27:13 GMT

Positions at 0600hrs GMT 14th November 2002

Class 1
– Boat Lat Lon AvgBsp AvgHeading DTF (nm)
– 1. Hexagon 34 05.240 S, 14 54.190 E, 9.57 kt, 72 °T, 176.23 nm
– 2. Ocean Planet 20 56.461 S, 28 45.308 W, 10.62 kt, 193 °T, 2743.01 nm
– 3. Tiscali 31 01.280 N, 13 20.520 W, 9.55 kt, 181 °T, 6027.26 nm

Class 2
– Boat Lat Lon AvgBsp AvgHeading DTF (nm)
– 1. Tommy Hilfiger 23 59.880 S, 30 26.280 W, 4.84 kt, 188 °T, 2626.56 nm
– 2. Spirit of Canada 9 21.560 S, 28 17.240 W, 8.17 kt, 178 °T, 3427.55 nm
– 3. Everest Horizontal 9 03.960 S, 28 46.740 W, 8.96 kt, 171 °T, 3447.41 nm
– 4. Spirit of yukoh 4 49.070 S, 27 47.280 W, 7.25 kt, 192 °T, 3698.21 nm
– 5. Bayer Ascensia 3 08.380 S, 27 55.280 W, 6.20 kt, 188 °T, 3799.12 nm
– 6. BTC Velocity 3 09.100 S, 28 25.100 W, 7.13 kt, 196 °T, 3799.78 nm

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