Day 03, Monday April 13, 1999

008.jpg (24674 bytes)
© Photo Richard Konkolski

Using his spinnaker pole as an emergency mast, Van Liew set up a jury rig and hoisted a staysail for a foresail, and his storm trysail for a main. Almost 24 hours later after the dismasting he was 51 miles from Punta del Este and making about four knots. By the end of the day wind dropped, leaving him less than 30 miles from Punta.

"It has been a difficult and dramatic start from Punta del Este", reported Jean-Pierre Mouligne. "As soon as we turned the corner heading north-northeast we got nailed by a very nasty northeaster and started to beat in short and steep seas. The banging was horrible - tacking all the way to the beach, then going offshore again. I was sailing very conservatively with the storm jib and a triple-reefed mainsail when I heard that Brad had dismasted. I was 18 miles to windward of him and I bore off to go and assist him."

BBCrayValleyTrimmed2.jpg (23895 bytes) Mouligne's Cray Valley © Photo Billy Black

"When I got to his position however I received a message from race headquarters that he had been able to cut his rig and was heading for Punta. The visibility was bad and I could not see Balance Bar so I turned Cray Valley north again and resumed my course. It was a hellish night with lots of traffic everywhere."

Neal Petersen who was at the rear end of the fleet reported: "Yesterday's news of Balance Bar's dismasting did nothing to lift my spirits. If anything, it made me depressed. I was seasick, in very rough seas and had taken the mainsail down. The winds had gusted to near 50 knots and I was glad that I had only the staysail set as more sail would have resulted in knockdowns. All day and night I did not care for the boat in my mood, and for a long time I even sailed away from the finish line, with no purpose. This morning I pulled myself together a bit."

Viktor Yazykov reported tough sailing as well: "The pounding last night was so bad, we could carry the inner jib only. Fuel tank leaking right from the start of the leg. Broken reef lines first night. Robertson pilot does not work. For two days the boat was handling the steering herself very well. Now autohelm 4000 is in work."

BourliveLong.jpg (24943 bytes)

Positions:

Class 1

Place Skipper Boat Latitude Longitude Dist. to go Speed Dist. to first Time
1 Thiercelin Somewhere 31 18S 048 34W 5290 10.7 0 2140
2 Soldini Fila 3123S 048 59W 5307 10.7 17.1 2140

Class 2

Place

Skipper

Boat

Latitude

Longitude

Dist. to go

Speed

Dist. to first

Time

1

Garside

Magellan Alpha

 31 46S 049 38W 5346 10.9 0 2144

2

Mouligne

Cray Valley

 31 35S 050 00W 5350 10.5 4.3 2144

3

Yazykov

Wind of Change

 32 30S 049 58W 5391 10.6 44.5 2144

4

Saito

Shuten-dohji II

 33 19S 050 54W 5458 7.7 112 2144

5

Hunter

Paladin II

 33 25S 051 26W 5480 6.3 134.3 2144

6

Van Liew

Balance Bar

 34 59S 054 44W 5662 3 316.3 2144

7

Petersen

No Barriers

 34 52S 051 49W 5559 0 117.1 2144

Copyright © Richard Konkolski
Return back to Fourth Leg
Return back to Third Leg
Return back to Second Leg
Return back to First Leg
Return back to Sailing Round the World Races
Return back to Seven Oceans