Second leg ‘boring’ race

Press, 5 December 1981, Page 64

Second leg ‘boring’ race

PA Auckland The orange bow ties the crew of FCF Challenger wore into Auckland last evening at the end of the second leg of the round-the-world yacht race were more than just for show — they were what was left of one of the yacht spinnakers. “We had no sails and no wind. It was an absolutely boring race,” said the Welsh skipper of Challenger, Leslie Williams. A fortnight out of Cape

Town the boom of the 80footer broke. Repairs were made with scraps of aluminium and nuts and bolts taken from less important fixtures on the yacht. Although Challenger failed to get any really strong winds she blew out her mainsail and four spinnakers several times. “An Aucklander, Brian Bennett, kept us on the road,” said Williams. “We took him off watch duty and all he did was repair sails as

fast as they blew out. “On at least seven days we were becalmed for several hours.” said Williams. Three days ago the French 62-footer Kriter IX caught up to them near the Three Kings Islands and since then the pair have been neck and neck in a slow motion race to the finish. Kriter crossed the finish line at 5.58 p.m. yesterday, with Challenger just behind her at 6.09 p.m. "It was lovely sightseeing,”

said Kriter’s skipper, Andre Viant. “We could see the coast quite clearly. But it was no good for racing.” Licor 43, which overturned and lost a mast in mountainous seas in the Southern Ocean, is not giving up the race, according to Mr Peter Oborne, who represents the boat’s Spanish agents. The crew is battling to get the yacht to Hobart for repairs which they hope will get them to Auckland in time to join the others in the third

leg of the race. The only Spanish yacht in the race, Licor 43 was lying fifteenth and was 18 days out of Auckland when the storm struck, said Mr Oborne. Winds of 80 miles an hour and huge waves caught the yacht broadside on, spun her round 180 degrees, and capsized her. The mast broke off at deck level. Only the boom was left. The radio was also damaged when the yacht capsized but later repaired.