Fedor Konioukhov © Foto Billy Black
Fedor Konioukhov © Foto Billy Black
Fedor Konioukhov crossed the finish line just half a day before a noon deadline on Saturday would have disqualified him from the rest of the race. He had bad luck till the very end, as he drifted windless about 10 miles from finish line for over eight hours.
© Foto Richard Konkolski
Almost four hours before he actually crossed the line, race officials and press went out
to greet him by they could not find the 60 foot boat and turned back. Konioukhov spotted
them and was disappointed to see them leave. When he finally arrived, it was already
Saturday morning. He was the last competitor to come to Cape Town in this race.
Fedor Konioukhov © Foto Marek Slodownik
He spent 62 days, 7 hours, 20 minutes and 14 seconds at sea. He placed sixth in Class I.
His time for the leg was slow. His 60-foot boat was designed by Nandor Fa and took part in
1990-91 BOC Challenge. Nandor Fa did the first leg in 44 days and 15 hours. But Koniokhov
himself had said that he is not a racer.
Konioukhov with his wife © Foto billy
Black
The 46-year-old adventurer from Moscow had already stood at the top of Mt. Everest, skied to the North and South Poles, and sailed nonstop single-handedly around the world. During his qualifying sail, he spent three days lashed to the cockpit with 100-knot winds when Hurricane Danielle caught him. The race officials were worried about his participation in the rest of the race but he was determined to finish.
Fedor Konioukhov © Foto Billy Black
Early in the race he had problems with his water-ballast system and he could not sail
close to the wind. He made a very slow progress in the Doldrums. When he finally got south
of the equator, leaky keel bolts forced him to manually pump each hour for the rest of his
trip to Cape Town. Problems with his electronic self-steering gear were required that he
steer by hand most of the time. He also hit a whale.
© Foto Richard Konkolski
Place |
Skiper |
Boat |
Latitude |
Longitude |
Dist. to go |
Speed |
Dist. to first |
Time |
1 |
Golding |
Team Group 4 |
Cape |
Town |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
Autissier |
PRB |
Cape |
Town |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
Thiercelin |
Somewhere |
Cape |
Town |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
Hall |
PRB |
Cape |
Town |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
Soldini |
Fila |
Cape |
Town |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
Konioukhov |
Mod Univ Human |
Cape |
Town |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
7 |
Reidl |
Project Amazon |
Retired |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Place |
Skiper |
Boat |
Latitude |
Longitude |
Dist. to go |
Speed |
Dist. to first |
Time |
1 |
Mouligne |
Cray Valley |
Cape |
Town |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
Garside |
Magellan Alpha |
Cape |
Town |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
Van Liew |
Balance Bar |
Cape |
Town |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
Stricker |
Rapscallion III |
Cape |
Town |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
Yazykov |
Wind of Change |
Cape |
Town |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
Petersen |
No Barriers |
Cape |
Town |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
7 |
Saito |
Shuten-dohji II |
Cape |
Town |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
8 |
Davie |
South Caroline |
Cape |
Town |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
9 |
Hunter |
Paladin II |
Cape |
Town |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Copyright © Richard Konkolski
Return back to First Leg