Day 30, Sunday October 25, 1998

Thiercelin yesterday could see Autissier but couldn't raise her on the VHF-radio. He contacted race headquarters via a COMSAT-C satellite message and asked officials to send her a note requesting that she switch her radio on.
Somewhere © Foto Marek Slodownik

Isabelle Autissier later responded: "So yesterday I look back, and who do I see, astern and upwind of me? SOMEWHERE! After 30 days of racing, that really is terrific... Its mainsail looked as if it was raised all the way, and judging by the boat's speed everything seemed to be going well. I had a small crisis last night, when the strap that connects the boom to the mainsheet broke. I wasted a good bit of time putting in three reefs and struggling to control the mainsail, which was flapping wildly. Then I went out to the end of the boom to make repairs. The repair job I did is butt-ugly, but it should hold."

However Thiercelin later overtook Autissier and got back the top post. He had been and still was sailing with damaged mainsail, which he was unable to fully hoist. It was questionable for how long he could keep the lead, because he also damaged his genoa. "It's been blowing hard the last 48 hours," he said. "The seas are coming from ahead and the boat is on a permanent 40-degree heel. I live life on an angle aboard this high-tech engine made of carbon. The noise is unbelievable, it's like living in a drum."

© Foto Richard Konkolski

Italian sailor Giovanni Soldini displayed great sailing performance on his 60-foot FILA. They covered 381.8 nautical miles and set a new record for the fastest day's run. He was averaging 15 knots and cutting down the distance between him and the leaders.

Mike Golding and Josh Hall were battling for third and fourth place. Hall noted that the two French boats remain a frustrating 100 miles ahead and that they needed a bit of weather luck during the next 10 days.

Josh Hall © Foto Billy Black

Golding reported, "This is a time for a big push as our courses slowly bend around towards Cape Town. The lead boats are plunging southwards in the search for westerly breeze. As we head south very slowly we are being lifted onto the course, but rather than take the lift we are easing sheets and continuing to power reach to the south."

In Class II Cray Valley was still in first followed by Balance Bar, which has trouble with the rudder bearings, requiring the use of stronger autopilot which in turn needed more electricity.

Further back the boats were still suffering from the Doldrums and unstable winds. Still north of the equator were Paladin II, Shuten-dohji II and Wind of Change Russia and the Class I Fedor Konioukhov aboard Modern University for the Humanities. The leaders of that fleet headed further east than the boats ahead of them to clear the bulge of Brazil and the strong current.

© Foto Richard Konkolski

Positions:

Class 1

Class 2

Copyright © Richard Konkolski
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