Kiwi burns in Around Alone battle

by Brian Hancock on 10 Mar 2003 Latest update: At the 14:00 GMT poll Bobst Group Armor lux had overtaken Solidaires and was currently 5 miles closer to Salvador. It's the first time Bernard Stamm has moved back into the lead since stopping in the Falkland Islands to fix his keel.

Latest update: Derek Hatfield on Spirit of Canada has arrived in Ushuaia and will start to assess his options first thing Sunday morning. There have been many offers of help including spare masts, sails and money. Graham Dalton on Hexagon has also arrived on land. He made landfall in Argentina on Saturday and he too is assessing his options.

Here in Salvador the heat is searing and the samba music blaring as the port gears up for the arrival of the first boat, but the question on everyone’s lips is, 'which boat is going to get here first?'

It’s a good question and the answer will not be revealed until the first boat crosses the finish line in the next few days. At the moment Thierry Dubois is still holding onto a slim lead over Bernard Stamm, but the margin is diminishing daily. At the 06:00 poll this morning Solidaires led Bobst group Armor lux by 32 miles. Eight hours later that gap had been reduced to just 17 miles.

The relentless pace being set by Stamm has Thierry Dubois resorting to some unorthodox means for changing his luck. Who can blame him? Desperate times call for desperate measures and for the French skipper these are indeed desperate times. Thierry’s log reveals just how far he is prepared to go in his effort to be the first boat into Brazil.

'I had to make a sacrifice to appease the wind gods,' he wrote. 'It was him or me!'

With that declaration Dubois retrieved a small stuffed kiwi bird from below and took the toy on deck in preparation for the sacrifice.

'So why him, the poor kiwi toy?' he continued. 'Because the daily suicide of flying fish is not recognized as a ritual sacrifice. And because he has not stopped bugging me, always passing comments that his (New Zealand) mate Graham Dalton was going faster than us...without a mast!!'

With that the hapless kiwi bird was strung up and set alight. Unfortunately it does not seem to have helped.

The indomitable Stamm continues his charge sailing further offshore, perhaps in a little more wind, while Dubois scours the beaches for a sign of new breeze. Had he not already shaved his head, he might just have pulled all of it out by now.

Both boats are sailing close hauled with a light wind coming from the northeast.

They are in tropical waters and the temperature both above and below decks is sweltering. Thierry’s log continues. 'It’s too hot...both the temperature on the boat, and the battle to stay ahead. I think I'm going to go to the beach! Now even more so because it is getting tighter. We are attacking the headwinds in tropical conditions. One tack to the east, one to the west, but never heading directly to the finish.

It’s a story of having to endure paradise. I can tell you, hell is better. The heat inside the cabin is choking me and I am burning up on the deck too! Well, enough typing on the computer - I am dripping sweat on the keyboard.'


It’s still too soon to tell if Bernard Stamm will overtake Dubois. He has come this close before only to have Solidaires sail away again, so until the first boat crosses the finish in Salvador there is no saying who will take line honors.

In the end Stamm will have to accept his 48-hour penalty for stopping and will be pushed down in the rankings for the leg, but it’s the honor of being the first boat in that counts.

Further back Simone Bianchetti on Tiscali and Emma Richards on Pindar are also sailing hard. Emma’s push for third place seemed to fade as soon as Tiscali got new wind that eluded Pindar, but their race is still far from over.

Both skippers will be looking to finish within 48 hours of Bobst Group Armor lux in order to beat Stamm. The next few days will be really interesting as these four competitors struggle with the final few miles of this leg.