Knox-Johnston back in the game - Velux 5 Oceans

by Event Media on 25 Jan 2007 At the rear of the VELUX 5 OCEANS fleet, the backmarkers are in an Indian Ocean gybing duel. Fourth place Unai Basurko took his Open 60, Pakea, north-east yesterday, passing within 60 miles of Tasmania's southern tip, then gybed away from land overnight before returning to a northerly heading in this morning's 05:32 UTC position poll.

South-west of Basurko, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston continues his descent through the Roaring Forties, levelling his dive with a hefty gybe north-east overnight. His team have reported this morning that the onboard satellite system is functioning again and their indomitable skipper is now receiving weather information. Although the two yachts are split by 270 miles of ocean with the British yacht holding a favourable southern position, in terms of Distance To Finish, Knox-Johnston and SAGA Insurance trail the Spanish yacht by 42 miles.

Mid-fleet, Kiwi skipper, Graham Dalton on Open 50, A Southern Man - AGD, is 483 miles east of Knox-Johnston on a shallow gybe south. Dalton is currently 390 miles south-west of New Zealand, 665 miles from Kojiro Shiraishi and Spirit of Yukoh in second position. Yesterday, Shiraishi quickly terminated a call to the race office, dropping the satellite phone handset and rushing on deck to rescue the remains of his shredded Code 6 headsail. Overnight, Koji scraped just north of Campbell Island, the mandatory ice waypoint, and reports 30 knot westerly blasts at 52° South this morning. Damage to the yacht's main reaching headsail is the probable cause of 66 miles lost to the race leader, Bernard Stamm, since yesterday afternoon and Spirit of Yukoh now trails the Swiss skipper by 563 miles.

At the head of the fleet, Bernard Stamm continues to produce the highest average speeds at a little under 17 knots, but this is likely to change: 'Temporarily finished with the big surfs and high speed,' he reported from Cheminees Poujoulat this morning, 'The front is catching me and for the moment, I still don't know for sure what to do next.' As Stamm heads deeper into the Southern Ocean, his environment is becoming increasingly oppressive and hostile: 'It is always dark grey,' he noted before signing-off.

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