Day 44, Sunday November 8, 1998

Remaining seven still racing boats were still located in the Western Hemisphere. The fleet was led by ex-U.S. Marine George Stricker. He was able to pass Robin Davie and his rudderless South Carolina. He still had 937 miles to go.

Rapscallion © Foto Billy Black

Yazykov was only 58 miles behind Davie. He had a problem with rigging but still sailing fast and it looked like he might overpass Davie soon. Neal Petersen, sailing 50 miles behind Victor, reported: "Last night was exhilarating sailing. The winds were very fresh. We were surfing up to the maximum of 14 knots, but our average speed remained close to 8 knots. At about 2 a.m. GMT, conditions eased off rapidly when the cold front came through with its deluge of water. It must have rained solidly for 90 minutes. After the front passed through, the wind direction changed and I had to tack the boat over. Soon thereafter the wind died away and we drifted till sunrise going nowhere."

No Barriers © Foto Marek Slodownik

Neil Hunter was closing the fleet of Class 2 boats. He wrote: "Well, here we are, just over the halfway mark of the 1st leg. Having crossed the equator with approx. 2,000 miles, as the albatross flies, to go to Cape Town."

Still behind him was Konioukhov, with leaky keel bolts. "This night I lost some miles, the wind changed direction and power. I had some problems to tune the boat by the sails (autopilot is working strange, it does not want to keep the boat on the course I need). By midnight the wind had eased to 8 knots but it was still a crosswind. This morning wind increased to 15 knots and I was doing 10- to 11-knots. Two bolts on the keel are letting 50 liters of water inside the boat each day. That's it for now."

Fedor Konioukhov © Foto Billy Black

Unfortunately, by morning Konioukhov's speed had again slowed to four knots. Would Fedor Konioukhov make it to Cape Town in time to be able to continue the race? That was still an unanswered question. By race rules, a boat must finish Leg 1 at least 7 full days before the restart. Konioukhov must arrive in Cape Town by noon on 28 November to stay in the race. With 20 days left to go, he should be able to make it in time.

Konioukhov's son Oscar reported: "I talked to Fedor yesterday and if nothing will happen with the keel, he is planning to come to Cape Town by 25th of November. If he will come later than 28th of November he will take 10 days to prepare the boat and rest a little then he will continue this race by doing Leg 2 from Cape Town to Auckland even if it would be out of score."

© Foto Richard Konkolski

Positions:

Class 1

Class 2

Copyright © Richard Konkolski
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