BACKFirst boats are in; Paris due Oct 6
By Don Burgess
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The first boats are in for the Around Alone Race, but Alan Paris is looking at another week of being out on the water. Swiss sailor Bernard Stamm has won Leg 1 of the Around Alone. Public relations officer Mary Ambler said the best guess that they have on Paris’ arrival in BTC Velocity is sometime on October 6. She said he was caught up in a high pressure system that left him without any wind. Paris is currently in fifth place in Class 2 and overall he is in 12th place out of 13 boats. Ambler said when Stamm crossed the line in Armor Lux, he threw his arms into the air and smiled broadly. “Stamm looked tired but jubilant as he waved at the crowds assembled on the docks to welcome him in. Stamm clocks up 10 points as the Class 1 winner for Leg one. It was two bites at the cherry for Stamm, who earlier this morning also established a new solo monohull transatlantic record when he passed Lizard Point off the southwest coast of England at 08:42:22 local time. His official time for the crossing from Ambrose Point to Lizard Point will be ratified by the World Speed Sailing Record Council on Thursday, but his unofficial time was 10 days, 11 hours, 57 minutes and 19 seconds from Ambrose Light. His time will become a benchmark record for all future solo Atlantic crossings. A fast crossing for a single-hander compared to the crewed transatlantic record that he broke last year on the same boat, which was just 38 hours less at 8 days, 20 hours and 55 minutes. “I am very excited to hold a new record and to win this first leg of the Around Alone race. My team and I have been preparing the boat for the last year and the hard work has paid off,” he said. Ambler said Stamm must be especially happy to step off the boat in Torbay after losing all his power from the on board electrics two days ago, forcing him to hand steer for the remainder of the trip. “I am very tired from steering my boat by hand and looking forward to getting some rest, but now I am too excited to sleep. Maybe later.” Second place finisher is set to be Frenchman Thierry Dubois on Solidaires, who is due to arrive 8pm Bermuda time last night. Thierry was disappointed not to have been able to close the gap on his friend Bernard after encountering light winds last night, and so was still 109 miles behind when Bernard finished. As Around Alone is won on points, Thierry nevertheless is happy to be taking the second spot on the podium. Who knows which boat in Class 1 will end up on in third as it is a four boat race between Tiscali, Garnier, Hexagon and Pindar…more on this drama later, but these boats will be arriving in Torbay over the weekend. |