Leg 5 of Global Challenge gets going

by Rachel Anning on 20 Jun 2005 Leg 5 of the Global Challenge set sail from Boston, USA this afternoon, at 1300 hours local time, on their 3000 nautical mile race to La Rochelle, France, expected to last between 13 and 17 days.

Team Stelmar approached the start too quickly at the pin end of the line. Despite attempts to reduce boat speed, but the tide was with them and carried the yacht over three seconds early.

Their OCS breech meant they had to perform two 720-degree penalty turns after exiting the Boston Harbour Precautionary Area.

As a result, BP Explorer was the first team to cross the line legally and soon overtook Team Stelmar, clearly eager to get a good start, having been penalised three points by the International Jury at the protest hearing in Boston.

The penalty knocked BP Explorer off the top of the overall table, so they are particularly keen to stay ahead of first overall, BG SPIRIT and also with Spirit of Sark, who shares second place overall with BP Explorer.

Second over the line was Samsung, then SAIC La Jolla, Me to You and Imagine It. Done. Barclays Adventurer chose to take the middle ground, crossing the start line in clean air and making good speed.

It looked as though the latter would take an early advantage as a result, but was subsequently headed. Moving inshore to try and keep the speed up, it eventually slipped to ninth on the way out of Boston Harbour.

The fleet started in around 8-10 knots from the north-east, culminating in a shy reach from the start, before teams made their way from the inner harbour, down the narrow channel between the airport and the mainland towards Deer Island, and then out to sea.

Just over an hour into the race, winds started to ease before dropping to a frustrating 3 knots, making progress slow. Positions were changing regularly as teams crossed tacks.

Two hours into the race, VAIO was the leader, but only by a matter of metres.

In other news, BP Explorer was protested in Boston by Imagine It. Done for a luffing at night incident during Leg 5.

Following a protest hearing in Boston, they were penalised by three points. BP Explorer had originally been in joint first place with BG SPIRIT, but the protest hearing meant they dropped a place to lie in joint second place with Spirit of Sark.

The Global Challenge 2004/05 ends on the 16th July 2005. Thousands will welcome the fleet home to Gunwharf Quays, Portsmouth, UK.

www.globalchallenge2004.com