BT Global Challenge - LG Flatron Wins Leg 3
by Editor 16 Jan 2001 10:16 GMT
Photo ©: Ali McKichan/Marinepics
In a very close finish LG Flatron overtook Olympic Group in the last few miles of Leg 3. Winds were gusting up to 50 knots and Olympic Group suffered from a torn headsail that was then impossible to take down in the high winds.
The Wellington stopover will be very welcome after 5000 gruelling miles and 36 days of racing. Throughout the leg the leading boats have been tightly packed in this one-design fleet of yachts.
LG FLATRON BATTLE TO THE END TO WIN LEG 3 OF THE BT GLOBAL CHALLENGE
LG FLATRON has fought an exhausting and thrilling battle over the last 12 hours to snatch victory from the leader Olympic Group in Leg 3 of the BT Global Challenge in what has been the closest finish of the race so far.
The closing hours of this leg from Buenos Aires through the Southern Ocean to Wellington has produced some of the most gripping sailing yet. Olympic Group looked set to be the first into Wellington to win the leg after a tactical decision to remain north after passing Waypoint Charlie, gave them the advantage. As morning broke over a cloudy and windy Wellington, Olympic still had a comfortable lead of 15 miles over LG FLATRON and were celebrating their victory, but after tacking north, the distance between the two leading boats was reduced to only one mile and the duel for the finish line commenced.
‘Windy Wellington’ lived up to its name as 70 knot westerly gales blew right onto the yacht’s nose forcing a tacking battle between Olympic and LG FLATRON. These treacherous conditions proved too much for Olympic Group’s No 3 Yankee sail which shredded with the pressure, leaving an opening for LG FLATRON to slip through. Skipper Conrad Humphreys needed no second invitation and with all hands on deck, soon stretched out the lead to eight miles to leave Olympic Group floundering in their wake.
After 36 days, 10 hours and 53 minutes at sea, with never more than 50 miles separating the front of the fleet, LG FLATRON crossed the finish line at 04:53 GMT to scoop victory in the hardest leg so far.
Jubilant ex-Whitbread sailor and skipper Conrad Humphreys expressed his delight at winning the leg: “Unbelievable - we did not think we’d close on Olympic Group but the wind helped us and we were more organised in getting our sails down and then gradually saw them on the horizon. Olympic Group had a storm trysail up and was massively overpowered, we were match racing in 65 knots of wind! We just had a little more speed and sailed away from them, it was absolutely tremendous. I was amazed we pushed past in those sort of conditions. I have never seen anything like it. My crew never gives up - they don’t like quitting and they just stuck in there and persevered. It was a wild, wild race.”
With this victory LG FLATRON consolidates their place as overall leader in the BT Global Challenge (43 points).
The LG FLATRON crew now face a well deserved opportunity to rest and recuperate after a journey in which the power of the Southern Ocean has taken its toll. Crew volunteer Tim Farnell faces uncertainty having possibly cracked a couple of ribs in a fall, whilst another member of the crew has broken their wrist. Yet the time spent in Wellington will enable the crew to patch themselves up and prepare for Leg 4, a relatively short sprint across the ocean to Sydney.
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