Day 58, Sunday January 31, 1999

Fedor Konioukhov © Photo Billy Black

Fedor Konioukhov finally arrived in Auckland. He missed the deadline just over a day. However, he would be preparing for the next leg. The race committee has latitude to make allowances for racers to continue in "exceptional circumstances." His sailing time was 57 days, 10 hours, 35 minutes and 40 seconds.

Konioukhov with his wife Irina © Photo Marek Slodownik

With his wife Irina by his side he was happy to be there. He said he would continue if necessary even as an unofficial entry. His main aim was to make a third circumnavigation. He never claimed to be a sailing racer.

Still, getting to Auckland was a victory for him. On February 4^th he was expecting to meet the legendary New Zealand mountaineer and first Mt. Everest conqueror, Sir Edmund Hillary. Konioukhov said this is one of his reasons for coming to Auckland, to meet his hero.

© Photo Richard Konkolski

Notice:

There was an open forum with many for and against opinions on continuity of racing for Konioukhov and Davie on the oficial Around Alone webside. I also expressed my view on this matter, but for some reason it was not published. For the readers of this webside I am including my letter with my personal view on this matter:

Should Konioukhov and Davie continue?

I would suggest going back into the history of this race and looking into the basis and goals on which this race started, and on which it was run in the past. I am pretty sure that anybody who has intention to preserve the Great Spirit of this hard competition will without any hesitation let Konioukhov and Davie continue.

Before I present my points, I would like to mention that I was personally involved in the creation of this race. Couple of years before the BOC provided their sponsorship, I committed myself to provide a trophy for this race (in the end it was presented to Bertie Reed from S. Africa), and to be able take part in this race I had to defect from my country of origin.

Anybody who wants can get more detailed information about the start of this race on http://SevenOceans.com/ (Solo Round the World Races / How It All Started). I would like to mention, that the idea came from a sailor David White and was brought to life mainly by James Roos with help of Peter Dunning and other enthusiastic people. The original name "Around Alone" itself expresses the main idea - it was the race around the world. The compiled time of each leg decided the winner and final placing of each competitor. In all four previous races there was no limitation on time needed to finish each leg and in my opinion it should have stayed that way.

In the first BOC Challenge Richard McBride spent one month on the rocky beach of Falklands Islands. He finished months after the final price-giving ceremony - but he still finished the race. In the second BOC Challenge John Hughes lost his mast, came very late to Rio de Janeiro and to Newport, but he still finished the race. And there are more examples from the past like this. Personally I had trouble in the Indian Ocean and had to stop at Perth for repairs during the first BOC Challenge. I finished in Sydney after the fleet went for another leg. I started 8 days behind and still won the leg and finished third in overall classification. By the new rules I would have had no chance to finish the race at all and neither would many of my colleague competitors, without whom the race would not be what it is today.

Even two time winner of the race Philippe Jeantot once came late for a start, but by the will of the competitors he was allowed to go for the race without any penalties and he won. The mandatory waypoint was already established by "competitors gentleman's" agreement in Cape Town during the first BOC Challenge. One competitor did not hold his word and he was still recognized as a finisher.

The conclusion? The race is successful for many reasons. One of them is based on the comradeship and the strong will to overcome obstacles. The time restriction on the length of the leg is contrary to all traditions and by my opinion this race rule should be removed. Removing it will not do any harm to any competitor right now. The accumulated length time of each leg should be the main criteria for final placement, as it always was in the past. There should be a few day mandatory stay at each stopover, as before, for the competitors to get ready for the next leg. Konioukhov should get some time penalty for not passing the waypoint. How much? That should be decided by the race committee with the cooperation of all the competitors. The time penalty should be based at least on time length which Konioukhov would need to pass the point, plus some penalty for not doing so.

I would like to see the race continuing in the old spirit, because the old spirit made the race. If we put more and more rules in place, only the well sponsored would be able to race and sailors like me would probably rather turn to sailing on a computer monitor.

Richard Konkolski
Ex twice BOC Challenge finisher

Positions:

Class 1

Class 2

Copyright © Richard Konkolski
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