Day 40, Wednesday January 13, 1999

Fedor Konioukhov © Photo Marek Slodownik  

Almost two days ago, Konioukhov passed 120 E and missed a mandatory waypoint. At present time he was at 48.20 S, 127.20 E and heading farther south. Unless he returned and rounded the mandatory point, he was facing disqualification from Leg 2 and possibly from the race.

The waypoint forced everybody to go north of 46 degrees south anywhere between 105 degrees and 120 degrees east. It was set to keep the fleet within reach of rescue authorities. This trouble for Konioukhov came out two days after he reported the loss of both his main engine and electrical generator.

Race Director Mark Schrader sent a note to Konioukhov via Konioukhov's son Oscar confirming that the Race operations in Charleston had confirmed that the Modern University did not sail the required course by observing the waypoint described in the Sailing Instructions. Note underlined that the waypoints listed are mandatory for each skipper and that the Race Committee will determine whether missing the waypoint means that Modern University receives a DNF (did not finish) for Leg 2; or whether it is a disqualification from the race. The Racing Rules are clear on this issue and Konioukhov may correct this error as long as he does so before he finishes the leg. But he did not show any sign of returning.

© Photo Richard Konkolski

This was Konioukhov's third time sailing solo around the world, but his first time in a race. He climbed the seven highest peaks in seven continents, including Mt. Everest; bicycled from Vladivostock to Leningrad; and skied to the North Pole. For now it looks like he will not finish this expedition.

Email from Oscar Konioukhov offered some explanation for his father's actions: "The latest e-mail that I got from Fedor was 3 days ago. He told us that he left all the attempts to fix the engine while it is gusty, up to 40 knots over there. He was badly knocked down two times and he decided to wait for more calm weather. He did not forget about the waypoint, it is written down in his skipper's book, he wrote it down on the meeting with Mark Schrader on the start day (8 December) and he missed it not intentionally. As he ran out of power his 2 main GPS (one above the chart table) and (one in the pilothouse) are disabled, and he uses small, portable GPS GARMIN with his own power which sometimes shows not enough satellites on its display in this area. He also reported that his ballast system is disabled due to the lack of power and he will not be able to sail straight towards waypoint, with the wind direction W, the boat will drift away. His autopilot is out of power also. The wind (west) allows him to tune the boat by the sails, he is carrying two foresails on the butterfly position, main sail is down. Fedor's shore crew in Moscow hopes that ROC will take these difficulties into account when they will make a final decision about the missed waypoint."

Returning back was out of the question. He had 2,300 miles still to go and must finish by noon on January 30 or he will be disqualified from the race anyway. Even without returning he would have to average 155 miles a day, some 25 miles more than he was doing so far.

Konioukhow with his wife © Photo Billy Black

The race technicians in Charleston reported that they continued to receive three out of four Konioukhov's daily position reports. This indicates loss of power during night with no sunlight. He might have some power to his laptop for navigation purposes.

At the same time, Petersen cut down the gap on Saito to only 73 miles. Peterson reported: "It has been a hectic day in the field office. Did not get much rest last night with the wind shifting and closing the Tasmanian coast. Sighted land about 2 hours after daybreak. On this leg I rounded 3 of the four famous Capes... Cape of Good Hope, South Africa; Cape Leuwin, Australia; and this morning South East Cape, Tasmania. Now all that is left is Cape Horn and I will have sailed the world's most famous Southern Ocean regions."

© Photo Richard Konkolski

Positions:

Class 1

Class 2

Copyright © Richard Konkolski
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