Rolex IMS Offshore World Championship - Day Three
by Kate Maudslay 5 Jul 2001 10:00 PDT
EXPOSURE'S RIG SNAPS IN 40 KNOTS
A 40-knot storm caused havoc in the long-distance race of the Rolex IMS Offshore World Championship 2001 off the coast of Spain on Wednesday night.
The Dutch boat Exposure, an IMS 50 just a few weeks old, came off worst
when her carbon rig snapped in two. Another brand new 50-footer, Vincenzo
Onorato's Mascalzone Latino, saw her mainsail rip as the wind climbed from
12 to 40 knots in a matter of minutes. But unlike Exposure, they were able
to complete the 110-mile race that began and ended in Valencia.
Bowmen spoke of having to peel one sail after another as the wind climbed
above the working range of their equipment. Some changed gear too late,
including Bribon, which saw two spinnakers blown to shreds.
Despite all the strong winds at the mid-point of the race, it was probably
the last few miles off Valencia that were most decisive. It was here, in
the early hours of the morning, that the breeze died away to a flat calm.
Niek Lamm and his crew on Exposure had not made a good start to the race
but in the closing stages she was thundering downwind under spinnaker, and
was pulling within striking distance of the leaders who now found
themselves becalmed.
That was when disaster struck. No one quite knows what happened but one
crewman thought that a backstay or runner may have been accidentally
knocked out of its cleat. With the mast already heavily loaded under a
straining spinnaker, it snapped like matchwood, he said.
Alexia, the only Maxi in the event, arrived long before the rest of the
64-boat fleet just before 0200 hours. Tactician Chris Larson (former Rolex
Yachtsman of the year) was very pleased with their performance. "We had a
lot more wind than we expected from the forecast, but we coped well with
the sail changes," he commented. "There was sometimes a little too much
wind for comfort but we didn't break anything."
Pedro Campos had predicted that either the biggest or smallest boat in the
fleet would win the offshore race, and so it proved. He was hoping the wind
would fall to his advantage, as skipper of the smallest boat in Class A -
the IMX-40 Telefonica Movistar. But in the end it was Alexia that took line
honours and race honours on corrected time. Alberto Roemmers and his
Argentinian crew won the race by more than four minutes from second placed
Grefusa III, a First 47.7.
Despite lying in 25th at the halfway point, Campos and his Movistar crew
turned in a barnstorming performance in the latter stages to finish third
on corrected time, just two seconds adrift of Grefusa III.
With the offshore race scoring double points, Spanish America's Cup
helmsman Campos now leads the big boat division after three races, ahead of
a series of 50-footers headed by Brava Q8 and Cam.
Another IMX-40, Salty Dog, beat the small boats in the offshore race by
over four and a half minutes from Ono, Inaki Castaner's new Nautatec 42.
Hans Hout's victory elevates him to overall leader of Class B, meaning that
an IMX-40 now heads up both divisions.
Sandro Pantaleo's IMX-40 Wind-Exploit has also climbed the rankings with a
good offshore performance, and stands in second place overall just in front
of Ono, the only non-IMX-40 in the top eight at this stage.
Today the fleet is resting or repairing before embarking on three final
days of inshore racing. The Rolex IMS Offshore World Championship 2001 ends
on Sunday 8th July.
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