Velux- Knox-Johnston makes Pit Stop in La Coruna

by Velux 5 Oceans Media on 27 Oct 2006 At 16:55 (local European time) on Wednesday October 25, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston (GBR) started his engines and suspended racing in leg 1 of the VELUX 5 OCEANS, the classic round the world solo yacht race.

The icon of single-handed sailing then motored a few hours into the harbour at La Coruña (Galicia, Spain), to arrive on the pontoons of the Marina Darsena at 20:00 local time. Sir Robin was met by media, friends and shore crew and will now make essential repairs to his boat Saga Insurance and get back on the water as quickly as possible to continue the race down to Fremantle, Western Australia.

Speaking as he stepped ashore, Sir Robin was in good spirits and fine form, 'I am delighted to be here, but of course I just want to get on with the repairs as quickly as possible. 48 hours is a tough call, but with the right team it should be no problem. The main issue to repair is the damage to the mast track – the other jobs are not major.' Under race rules, Sir Robin is allowed to resume racing in leg 1 of the VELUX 5 OCEANS at 16.55 (local European time) on Friday.

Commenting on his experience out in the Biscay, Knox-Johnston said, 'The storm was one of the worst I've experienced, conditions as bad as the Southern Ocean, but Saga Insurance handled herself extremely well and she felt really good. I was below sleeping with just the storm jib up as there was nothing more I could do and a wave simply rolled her over – I was suddenly upside down in my cabin hanging onto the nav table! Getting in here has been OK, but I am determined to get back out there as soon as I can and catch the leaders.'

Sir Robin is still in racing mode, but there will be an opportunity for media to listen and talk to the sailing legend about his experiences in this race so far during a special audio conference call to be held at 12:00 UK time today, Thursday 26th October. Details of the call will be sent out subsequently but media will be able to dial in and talk to Sir Robin directly, with recordings and transcripts available afterwards.

Meanwhile FICO World Champion Mike Golding (GBR), who has been in La Coruna since Tuesday, will leave the docks at 11:00 local Spanish time today, Thursday 26th October and head out to the waypoint off the coast where he suspended racing. He will re-commence racing in leg 1 at 14:00 after respecting the necessary 48 minimum time penalty to repair important damage to his mainsail, also sustained during the horrendous storm that hit the fleet of the VELUX 5 OCEANS after the departure from Bilbao on Sunday.

Commenting on his time in La Coruña and the repairs on his boat, Mike added, 'This race allows us to fully utilise the time in port and replace the broken items - solve the other issues and recharge my own batteries. I am pleased that I can leave directly on the 48 hour mark. The weather conditions the fleet encountered in the Bay of Biscay was a violent, dangerous and broadly unforeseen storm, I am delighted to see that everyone is OK.'

By this afternoon, 4 boats will certainly be back on the water racing towards Western Australia – Bernard Stamm (SUI) on CHEMINEES POUJOULAT, Kojiro Shiraishi (JPN) on SPIRIT OF YUKOH, Alex Thomson on HUGO BOSS and Mike Golding once he sets off again from La Coruña. This leaves Unai Basurko (ESP) with PAKEA and Sir Robin still making repairs in pit stops. Graham Dalton (NZL) is due to leave Bilbao for the delayed start to leg 1 later today and Tim Troy (USA) on MAGARET ANNA in La Rochelle making final adjustments to his boat to meet IMOCA requirements.




LAST POSITION – 6h30 UK time

Time Lat Long Crs Spd DTL

Cheminees Poujoulat 05:30:00 37° 13.0705 N 014° 11.2248 W 201° 13.1

Spirit of Yokoh 05:30:00 40° 52.1795 N 013° 58.6150 W 171° 12.5 219.72

Hugo Boss 05:30:00 43° 57.0448 N 007° 18.9062 W 310° 02.3 511.64

Ecover 05:30:00 43° 22.0587 N 008° 23.8442 W 202° 00.0 454.82

Saga Insurance 05:00:00 43° 22.0667 N 008° 23.8302 W 000° 00.0 454.83

Unai Barsurko 05:30:00 43° 20.2768 N 003° 00.9491 W 144° 00.0 629.