The Sea © Photo Richard Konkolski
The Sea © Photo Richard Konkolski
The weather turned rough for the finishing boats. A very difficult weather pattern was developing over the region from North Cape all the way to Auckland with E to ESE winds of 30-40 knots gusting up to 50 knots. Neal Petersen who was 37 miles behind Saito reported: "The mileage is coming down slowly. Too slowly. I have less than 100 miles to the tip of North Island, but I have strong headwinds and punching into a nasty sea. The finish line is 320 miles away, but if I have to beat to get there, it might as well be the far end of the world."
Pascal Conq © Photo Marek Slodownik 
At the same time Groupe Finot designer Pascal Conq held a conference at Auckland. Six boats in leading places of this Around Alone race were designed by the French naval architecture company Finot-Conq. Very interesting fact mentioned in the meeting was the news that the smaller 50 foot boats were only 2% slower than their 60 feet long sisters. There were fewer 50 footers designed with less testing done, but with greater opportunity for improvements.
Team Group 4 © Photo Billy Black
There were some details on Mike Golding's grounding. He was doing 15 to 17 knots when he hit a sandbar three times quite severely and three more times not as hard. Things could have been worse. He could have lost his boat. It seems the flexibility of the keel cushioned the impacts and spread them out somewhat. To give you an idea of how hard the boat hit, the keel's hydraulic rams were bent, and they are solid stainless steel, nearly three inches thick! It might have been possible to repair the boat's damage before the start of the third leg, but there was no way that anyone could be sure that the keel itself was intact. Continuing with the race was too risky, hence the decision to ship the boat home on a freighter.
© Photo Richard Konkolski
Place |
Skipper |
Boat |
Latitude |
Longitude |
Dist. to go |
Speed |
Dist. to first |
Time |
1 |
Soldini |
Fila |
Auckland |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
Thierceli |
Somewhere |
Auckland |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
Autissier |
PRB |
Auckland |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
Hall |
Gartmore |
Auckland |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
Konioukhov |
Mod.Univ.Human. |
35 42S |
162 32E |
678 |
6.3 |
678.4 |
2140 |
6 |
Golding |
Team Group 4 |
Retired |
Auckland |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Place |
Skipper |
Boat |
Latitude |
Longitude |
Dist. to go |
Speed |
Dist. to first |
Time |
1 |
Mouligne |
Cray Valley |
Auckland |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
Garside |
Magellan Alpha |
Auckland |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
Van Liew |
Balance Bar |
Auckland |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
Yazykov |
Wind of Change |
Auckland |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
Saito |
Shuten-dohji II |
34 04S |
172 58E |
185 |
5.9 |
185.4 |
2144 |
6 |
Petersen |
No Barriers |
33 57S |
171 55E |
222 |
5.5 |
222.3 |
2144 |
7 |
Hunter |
Paladin II |
36 32S |
167 14E |
469 |
4.2 |
468.8 |
2144 |
8 |
Davie |
South Carolina |
44 59S |
145 44E |
1561 |
3.5 |
1561.1 |
1813 |
9 |
Stricker |
Rapscallion III |
Retired |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Copyright © Richard Konkolski
Return back to Second Leg
Return back to First Leg
Retyrn back to Sailing Round the World Races
Return back to Seven Oceans