| Shiraishi Closing the gap on Stamm |
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 Kojiro Shiraishi, the Japanese skipper competing in the VELUX 5 OCEANS solo round-the-world yacht race has in the last 24 hours taken 100 miles out of race leader Bernard Stamm. Koji, aboard SPIRIT OF YUKOH has been flying along at an average speed of 15.75 knots, the fastest in the fleet by far. Stamm, who has led the fleet from the first week of the race, is encountering lighter conditions as Koji storms towards him en-route to Fremantle, Western Australia, 2,000 miles away.Mike Golding and Alex Thomson continue limping towards South Africa aboard ECOVER, presently 425 miles to the north. Both are safe and well and have had a chance to recount some of their experiences. Unai Basurko continues to experience problems with his port rudder and is sailing on port tack as much as possible, forcing him on a more easterly route than Sir Robin Knox-Johnston and Graham Dalton. This allows him to keep the broken rudder out of the water, relieving it from any pressure. He describes his game plan from here to Fremantle as being one of survival, rather than full racing mode. Unai is not alone in wishing not to push his boat too much – the events of last week have obviously reminded all of the skippers about the fragility of their environments. While Graham Dalton dodged an encounter with a commercial shipping vessel last night, Kojiro is constantly assessing worrying bulges which have appeared on his mast. In true style Sir Robin Knox-Johnston declares how self-disciplined he has been in taking four and a half weeks to consume all four bottles of whisky he took with him this leg aboard SAGA INSURANCE. A little of the alcohol had to be used to clean a wounded toe but the remainder of the last bottle was used for it’s intended purpose – “the manoeuvre deserved a tot…well three tots in fact”. Unai Basurko, Pakea: “I check the rudder every day, so far the damage hasn’t worsened. I pressed the screws of the rudder and the crack in the fibre is not bigger. I have to sail on the port tack as much as I can, always with the rudder up, so I relieve the stress, that’s why I have to go on the port tack and I’m doing a more eastern route than Sir Robin and Dalton. I think the boat can do all right if I don’t force it too much. So my priorities have changed, I can no longer put pressure on the boat or think of passing anyone. Now I have to do the opposite that my competitor’s head asks me to do, to reef before it is necessary and don’t let me enjoy the pleasure of going fast.” “Last night a fisherman’s net got stuck in the same rudder, and I had to use a long pole with a sharp knife to release it. I had to stop the boat from ten to three knots. In this area it’s normal to find objects floating in the water.” “What happened to Alex is part of the game. Those are very strong projects, with lots of money and experience, they have to push the boat to the limit, it is a real shame. About Mike it’s been also really sad, a perfectly fit boat and the mast broke down, but it was nice to hear him yesterday saying that it’s just a carbon tube, that there are much more important things, like safety.” Kojiro Shiraishi, Spirit of Yukoh: “Just before lunch the fog set in, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen it since I’ve been in the Southern Ocean. It’s come due to the warmer winds from the north. I can’t see anything in front of me and it’s kind of eerie. Today I passed the 45 degree longitude and I adjusted my clock one hour forward. The clocks always moves one hour every 15 degrees. And since I’m traveling East the clocks go forward. From UTC, local Japan time is nine hours ahead! As we get closer to Japanese time I’m slowly getting excited.” “The bulges at D2 and D3 on my mast are slightly worrying me. It’s loosening very gradually, the D1 is also becoming loose and I don’t think I should push the boat too hard. Seeing as I’ve come this far, I don’t want to have mast problems now. Currently I have 14 cans of fuel left, each one being able to hold 20 litres of fuel. I think it should easily be enough. However I don’t know what may happen so I’m being very efficient and trying not to be wasteful at all.” “The weather is really cold right now and I think that’s the reason why the battery’s life is not very long recently. Usually with 2 hours and 10 minutes charging time the battery would last 12 hours. But in this cold the battery only lasts a maximum of 9 hours. One theory is that in the Southern Ocean the rudder is put under enormous stresses and takes up more electricity to maintain a course. I’m planning on installing a generator in the Fremantle stop. Although it may be expensive, I know it’ll be valuable on the next long and arduous leg. It’s to conserve fuel and become safer. Earlier as I went back to get some fuel the autopilot continued to whirr. The autopilot works on it’s own without my help 24/7. That kind of admirable work brings a tear to my eye. I’ve suddenly felt a great sense of gratitude towards my autopilot. ‘Mr. Autopilot, you’ve endured so much to get us this far and you’ve been brilliant so far. We’re all so grateful for your endeavours! I’m counting on you from here on in as well!’” Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, Saga Insurance: “Yesterday was wet and miserable. The wind was strong in the morning, but eased later leaving a nasty slop and the only way to deal with that is to power up. There were a couple of cockpit floods as waves came inboard but no harm done. The wind came up during the night and I had to change down from Jib to Solent and take in the second reef. We were still getting long surfs of about 18-20 knots which sounds alarming down below where the noise is greatly magnified. I don't want to overpush but I am unsure where that point is. This race is about keeping going as much as anything. If you break something important you can be out of the race or losing time. With the examples of Alex and Mike so recent, and those two knew their boats well and had plenty of experience, it just makes one a little cautious. Admittedly, the top of a keel breaking off is a very unusual thing to go wrong, in fact I have not heard of that one before. It sounds like bad design, bad manufacture or metal fatigue. Mike's mast breaking, well we know they do break, but why would a well tried mast suddenly go like that? If items like a keel and a mast can go, anything might break and that makes one cautious.” “Nevertheless, this last few hours has seen us take distance out of Stamm and Kojiro for the first time in weeks, but they are in different weather conditions. We passed due south of Tristran da Cunha island just before 0800 this morning, but it was 55 miles away so no chance of a sighting. This is the fourth time I have been passed and never seen the island.” “The biggest event was the consumption of the last of the whisky. It’s taken four and a half weeks to consume four bottles which seems pretty abstemious. I had not allowed for medicinal usage and when it came to clean and dress the toe I decided the manoeuvre deserved a tot. Well three tots in fact. But it seemed silly to leave just a small sensation in the bottom of the bottle and it would have been a great tragedy if the cork had come out and spilt it, so better to drink it and avoid the potential disaster. The toe seems fine although a little more sensitive, probably because the nerves are sorting themselves out. It is heavily Salvon'ed, inside a sock inside a boot so quite well protected for the moment and not causing me any trouble and I have not needed pain killers or anything else.” “Got a nice message from Alex Thomson aboard Ecover. He sounded fine despite losing his boat which must have been awful.” Graham Dalton, A Southern Man-AGD: “Just had a very close call with a ship. As he closed from astern I tried calling on VHF but no reply. At one mile I let off a white hand held flare. Still he kept coming. Calling on the radio all this time with no response. Six to seven hundred meters and closing on a collision course another flare but to no avail. Emergency time. Called him up on VHF and told the officer on watch what I thought of him. Immediate response and he altered course within 400 metres. Related Items:
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