French yacht loses mast

Press, 23 November 1981, Page 38

French yacht loses mast

NZPA staff correspondent London The French yacht, 33 Export, has pulled out of the Capetown-Auckland leg of the Whitbread round-the-world race after being dismasted, but the crew hopes to' have the yacht back in the final leg from Mar elPlata to Portsmouth. The 57 foot aluminium yacht reached the Kerguelen Islands, north-west of Heard Island, under jury rig. The yacht will be shipped back to Marseilles, hopefully by January 20, in time to be reequipped for the fourth leg. Thomas Phillips, 33 Export’s co-skipper, describing the dismasting in a report to race headquarters, said that he was in the pulpit when a backstay block broke and the mast crashed forward, trapping him underneath. Two of the crew helped him out unhurt before the mast fell through the pulpit and over the side. Meanwhile the battle for line honours between the Dutch yacht Flyer, and Ceramco New Zealand, is hotting up, with Flyer reporting on Saturday that she was 40 miles ahead of Ceramco, which had four miles on the Dutch yacht at the previous report. Flyer is now first on the water, ahead of Ceramco, Euromarche, and F.C.F. Challenger.

Peter Blake’s Cerameo is still ahead on handicap, followed by Flyer, Bisque D’or, and the South African challenger, Xargo 111. Digby Taylor’s Outward Bound is 13th on handicap.