Team Legato ETA Sat 14th at Marseille, France

by Team Legato/APP Sports News Ltd on 13 Apr 2001 IT PROVED A RACE TOO FAR FOR PETE GOSS AND TEAM PHILIPS BUT AGAINST ALL THE ODDS BRITISH SKIPPER TONY BULLIMORE LOOKS SET TO BRING 'TEAM LEGATO' HOME TO FINISH THE RACE (the ultimate non-stop sailing race around the world in formula 1 designed multihulls).

Tony Bullimore grabbed the headlines even before the start of The Race on
31.12.00 with 'Hijack on the High Seas' (The Sun) when a group of
journalists on-board for a day-sail from Bristol ended up in France.
Tony Bullimore became one of Britain's best-known sailors after a dramatic
rescue in the Southern Ocean during the 1996/97 Vendée Globe (single-handed
round the world race made famous by Britain's Ellen MacArthur).
Tony Bullimore took on a trans-Atlantic record-breaking challenge with
comedian Lenny Henry filmed for the BBC.

The multihull Team Legato skippered by Tony Bullimore will be the final boat
to complete the ultimate non-stop round the world race when he arrives in
Marseille (eta night of Friday 13th) after nearly 102 days at sea. For
Bullimore and his international crew it will be a momentous achievement made
greater by the odds against them. Nine days ago Team Legato nearly lost the
mast when the base bearing failed and yesterday crew member Slava Sysenko
broke his leg when the force of a wave knocked him over - a dramatic turn of
events that could have cost Bullimore The Race but this is just the final
chapter of an outstanding story.

The Race was a challenge to the world's best sailors to build the world's
fastest boats and race non-stop around the world. This challenge captured
the world's imagination before the start with Pete Goss and Team Philips.
The first racing boat to be named by the Queen, Team Philips spectacularly
lost its port bow and was lost at sea when the crew had to abandon the
catamaran during a test sail around Britain.




APP SPORTS NEWS ADVISORY - TONY BULLIMORE/THE RACE.


Bullimore re-mortgaged his house to buy the 102' multihull (previously ENZA
that set a round the world record in 1994 then renamed Royal Sun Alliance
for Tracy Edward's and her all-female crew who attempted another around the
world record unsuccessfully). An eleventh-hour sponsorship from US company
Legato put Bullimore into the fast lane recruiting an experienced
international crew who got the boat into racing shape. They were to take
on the world's latest high-tech multihulls built specifically for The Race -
Club Med (eventual winner), Team Adventure, Innovation Explorer and
Playstation.

Tony Bullimore has overcome difficulties and setbacks all along: he crossed
the starting line after protracted financial negotiations and crew
recruitment difficulties and throughout The Race Bullimore fought to keep
going losing three crew who stepped ashore in Wellington (New Zealand).
Even in the last days of The Race near mast failure and crew injury
threatened to thwart his efforts. But Bullimore is set to silence his
critics as Team Legato sails the final Mediterranean miles to the finish of
the 23,000-mile race in France.




Team Legato crew: Tony Bullimore (UK), Paul Larsen (AUS), Slava Sysenko
(UKR), Fred Dahirel (FRA), Kevin Pahl (US), Mike Gettinger (US).

APP Sports News will be provided a news feed from Marseille on the finish of
Team Legato. News feed details to be confirmed. Free pictures available
via satellite to UK. Please contact Lou Newlands, APP Sports News on 020
8964 4992 or 07769 697 387.


1. Club Med Finished Marseille (62 days) 3.03.01
2. Innovation Explorer Finished Marseille (64 days) 6.03.01
3. Team Adventure Finished Marseille (82 days) 24.03.01
4. Warta Polpharma Finished Marseille (99 days) 10.3.01
5. Team Legato 698 miles to finish - Crossed Equator 25.03.01
6. PlayStation - RETIRED 14.01

For further details on TEAM LEGATO, contact Barry Pickthall
Mobile Phone: +44 (0) 7768 395719
E.mail: ppl@mistral.co.uk Web site: www.teamlegato.com




APP SPORTS NEWS - TONY BULLIMORE/THE RACE/CREW BIOGS

Tony Bullimore (GBR - 61) Skipper
Tony Bullimore is one of Britain's best known sailors with more than 250,000
ocean racing miles under his belt. His many racing successes include the
Round Britain & Ireland Race, single-handed Transatlantic race, the
Quebec/St
Malo transatlantic race, Plymouth/Vilamoura Race, Round the Island Race,
Round Europe Race and 2-man Transatlantic Race. In 1985 he was voted
Yachtsman of the Year, jointly with Team Legato's, designer Nigel Irens
after they won a succession of races with Bullimore,s 60ft trimaran
'Apricot'. In 1997 he secured world fame for tenaciously surviving 5 days
in the
freezing conditions of the Southern Ocean inside his capsized yacht during
the Vendée Globe solo round the world race.

Mike Gettinger (USA - 37)
Mike Gettinger knows Team Legato inside out, having crewed on her during
whilst still in her ENZA colours. The 37 year old American, gained his first
blue water experience on the maxi circuit, racing well known yachts like
Congere, and Matador,. In 1993 he joined Bernard Perrin on the former
Whitbread maxi Merit, before racing on Mike Slade's British challenger
Longobarda. In 1998 he spent time sailing on the top French trimaran
Primagaz,. Highly experienced in all forms of big boat racing, Mike has a
key role to play during THE RACE.

Fred Dahirel. (FRA - 37)
Fred Dahirel brings a wealth of multihull experience to the crew. After
racing aboard Alain Gabbay's 1989/90 Whitbread challenger Charles Jourdan,
the 37 year old Frenchman joined up with Florence Arthaud aboard her 60ft
trimaran Groupe Pierre 1er, and sailed aboard Jean Maurel in the 1992 Quebec
St Malo race. In 1996, he won the Round Europe Race on Loïck Peyron's 60ft
trimaran Fujicolor and sailed with Francis Joyon on Banque Populaire in the
1998 Round Europe Race. In between time, he skippered the 60ft monohull
Clause Jardin in the 1994 Route du Rhum solo transatlantic race, and sailing
with Jean Maurel, he won the Transat Jacques Vabre two-handed race in 1997.

Kevin Pahl (USA ^ 47)
Kevin Pahl and Tony Bullimore go back a long way - and even further as far
as Team Legato is concerned. The 47 year old American was one of the
Canadain building team which produced the Nigel Irens design back in 1982.
He then joined Tony aboard the 60ft trimaran Apricot a year later when she
won the 1983 Round Europe Race. In 1987 he spent the season racing Dupon
Duran before re-joining Tony on Spirit of Apricot in 1988. In 1995 he raced
with Bullimore in the 2man Round Britain & Ireland race and stayed on to
prepare his 60ft monohull Exide Challenger for the 1997 Vendee Globe Race.


APP SPORTS NEWS - TONY BULLIMORE/THE RACE/CREW BIOGS

Slava Sisenko (UKR - 47)
Slava Sisenko is a veteran from the Whitbread Round the World race, having
competed in the 1993/4 event aboard the first Ukrainian entry Hetman
Sahaydachny,. He has remained in the West ever since carving out a career
and reputation as a top professional yachtsman. Now a veteran of four
trans-Atlantic crossings, he competed aboard Pierre Fehlman,s Merit Cup, in
the Round Europe and Rhum Race in 1995/6. A year later, he progressed to
competing on the Maxi One Design yachts for their world championship series
that took in the Round Europe Race and Fastnet classics.

Paul Larsen (Australia - 30)
Paul is one of two crew members to join from Team Philip,. A sailor since
13, he jumped aboard Bruno Peyron,s Explorer, with Skip Novak in 1998 for
the delivery to Japan and stayed aboard for the successful Trans-Pacific
record attempt to San Francisco. He came to Europe two years ago and got
involved with the refit and sailing of Spirit, (formerly Tony Bullimore,s
Spirit of Apricot, in the Round Europe Race, where he met Pete Goss. He
joined Team Philips, in September 99 for an attempt at The Race, which
ended when she was abandoned in the North Atlantic earlier t