Flyer still leads

Press, 26 November 1981, Page 36

Flyer still leads

PA Auckland The leaders of the Whitbread round-the-world yacht race. Flyer and Ceramco New Zealand, were still hard on 'the wind in fresh northwesterlies early yesterday — less than. 1000 nautical miles from Cape. Reinga. with Flyer edging away: Ceramco’s skipper, Peter Blake, said by radio telephone that Flyer had put 12 miles on him in the last 24 hours and now had a lead of 58 miles.

“We’re going as high as we can without slowing the boat," said Blake. “But Conny (van Rietschoten) has got that big, heavy keel working for him and Flyer has been going 5 degrees higher. “It’s not all bad. though. They probably expected to put 40 miles on us in this stuff and we must get a chance soon.”

Boats and men were getting knocked around in big, confused seas: “We’re doing a lot of low flying as we come

out of waves and we’re certainly testing every weld on the boat. She’s taking it all okay, though, and we’ve no problems,” Blake said. Ceramco was 330 miles to the south-west of Puyseugar Point, on the south-western tip of Fiordland, as Blake spoke. “We’re getting over to the eastern side of the Tasman and feel that we could see the Southern Alps in a couple of days, but I hope we don’t have to come over that far.” Flyer was 58 miles closer to Cape Reinga, according to Blake’s positions — “a big, heavy boat, she’s managed to climb out to weather. So what happens next is in the lap of the weather god.” “Last night was a real rocky horror ride, gut-bust-ing stuff as we pounded along.” There was no word on the rest of the fleet. Blake reported communications were fine to the north and east but impossible to the south and west.

“With a bit of luck the

boats behind are going to hurt a bit more than us,” he said. “We’ve got this stationary front running north to south to the east of Tasmania with a big high in the Australian bight starting to push through. “We should start to get the benefits in 24 hours or so, but the boats behind could have trouble with that high.” Blake elaborated on Ceramco’s broken main boom which gave way at a series of fatigue cracks under the boom vang fitting. “It’s all strapped up like a broken arm,” he said, “and we’ve had to replace the hydraulic vang with a block and tackle. But it’s no problem. We didn’t even have to lower the mainsail while we repaired it.” Blake shied off a predicted arrival time, in the Waitemata: “Who knows in these conditions and with the weather pattern that’s shaping up — but it should be some time Saturday night or Sunday.”