19 Skippers Entered

The 31st March entry deadline for The Around Alone yacht race entries just passed, the line-up now boasts an impressive 19 skippers from 11 countries, with 8 in Class I, 10 in Class II, and 1 Venturer Class entry.

Although there are 166 days still to go, these skippers are firmly in the starting blocks for the gun on 15th September 2002. Late entries are considered until August 1st.

The deadline alert brought in another two entries last week. Australian campaign, Global Quest Yachting, headed up by renowned ex-BOC Challenge skipper Kanga Birtles, has just appointed Spanish lawyer-cum-skipper Unai Basurko De Miguel as their entry into Class I. Secondly, professional short-handed yachtsman, 35 year old Australian Adam Lambert, has signed up in Class II.

Around Alone 2002/3 is certain to witness some closely fought battles for the podium in Classes I & II. European might underpins Class I in the shape of veterans Marc Thiercelin & Thierry Dubois (FRA, Class I), with a twist of Swiss competition from Bernard Stamm (SWI, Class I) in his transatlantic record-holding yacht ‘Bobst Group-Armor Lux’. However, Italy is defending her victorious colours under Simone Bianchetti (ITA, Class I), the first Italian skipper to finish a non-stop, solo round the world yacht race. He is racing to win on the fast Lombard-designed Open 60 previously helmed by Catherine Chabaud, now ‘Tiscali Global Challenge’. Challenging this European dominance are the all-American Open 60 ‘Ocean Planet’, skippered by Bruce Schwab (USA, Class I), and two major boat campaigns from down under: Unai Basurko with Global Quest Yachting and Graham Dalton (NZ, Class I) with HSBC, the latter at the helm of his powerful, new Open 60 ‘Hexagon’.
Class II has a strong North American contingent, with 6 out of the 10 skippers from the USA and Canada, all thirsting for victory on competitive Open 50’s and 40’s. Ex-Around Alone giant Brad Van Liew (USA, Class II) will be leading his fellow countrymen against formidable Eastern opposition from Viktor Yazykov (RUS, Class II) and Kojiro Shiraishi (JAP, Class II). Also, three yachts to watch, which were built for this kind of event in the last 4 years, but on their first attempt at Around Alone, are Bob Adam’s Open 40 ‘Perseverance’ (USA, Class II), a sister-ship to 1998 entrant ‘Wind of Change’, Tim Kent’s (USA, Class II) state-of-the-art Open 50 ‘Everest Horizontal’, and Open 50 ‘Great Circle’, now under John Dennis (CAN, Class II).

Entries Listed by Class
CLASS I – OPEN 60
Skipper LOABoat NameSail No.Country

Bernard Stamm60’Bobst Group Armor Lux7Switzerland
Bruce Schwab60’Ocean Planet5USA
Gildas Iauch60’Dyanamicdiabetic.com 23France
Graham Dalton60’Hexagon8New Zealand
Unai Basurko 60’Global Quest YachtingAustralia
Marc Thiercelin60’TBCFrance
Simone Bianchetti60’Tiscali Global Challenge100Italy
Thierry Dubois60’Solidaires 50France

CLASS II – OPEN 50 & 40
Skipper LOABoat NameSail No.Country

Adam Lambert50’TBAAustralia
Alan Paris40’BTC Velocity441Bermuda
Bob Adams 40’Perserverance 461USA
Brad Van Liew 50’Mission America 34USA
Derek Hatfield 40’Spirit of Canada 84Canada
Duncan Gladman50’Canada ChallengeCanada
John Dennis50’Bold Statement69Canada
Kojiro Shiraishi40’Japan
Tim Kent50’Everest Horizontal512USA
Viktor Yazykov50’TBC540Russia

CLASS III – VENTURER
Skipper LOABoat NameSail No.Country
George Stricker60’Tin Can217US Virgin Islands