September 23, 2002
2 minutes reading time
It|s Not Over Yet
As the around alone fleet head into the central Atlantic, there are two distict battles emerging in Class one:
As the around alone fleet head into the central Atlantic, there are two distict battles emerging in Class one:
Bobst Group-Armor Lux and Solidaires are tussling for first place, and there are three powerful boats, Hexagon, Garnier and Tiscali, only 200 miles behind fighting for third place.
Feeling the heat yesterday aboard Bobst Group-Amor Lux, alarm bells may have been ringing for Bernard Stamm, as Thierry Dubois, sailing slightly further south and about 5 knots faster, was reeling him in. Stamm, however, was still optimistic, ”It’s not over yet, the others are not on the same route as me, we are not in the same weather system.” and continued, ” Solidaires has been storming along in 35 knots of wind, which I will see soon, and then I’ll be on full throttle too.”
Tommy Hilfiger is continually streaking into the lead of Class 2, whereas back markers BTC Velocity, or as Alan Paris put it ‘BTC (with no) Velocity’ – and Spirit of yukoh are still struggling with the high pressure system. Bayer Ascensia is now in second place. Hard on John Dennis’ heels though is the top Open 40 skipper Derek Hatfield on Spirit of Canada, whose performance has been truly unparalleled so far in this leg. Tim Kent has had to learn the hard way and come back up North on Everest Horizontal but suffer losing significant ground and one place in the rankings as a result.
According to a US Navy forecast, the wind is due to go easterly and then south easterly. Bernard Stamm and the other fleet leaders are already beginning to slow up. Although we could begin to see the fleet start to finish on Wednesday evening and Thursday morning.
Leg one positions
Class One
| Boat | Time | Lat | Long | Speed | DTF |
| Bobst Group Armor-Lux | 09/23/02 11:20 | 48 43.920 N | 20 31.840 W | 10.11 kt | 813.91 nm |
| Solidaires | 09/23/02 11:20 | 48 14.400 N | 21 38.520 W | 11.71 kt | 857.64 nm |
| Hexagon | 09/23/02 11:20 | 49 15.520 N | 28 33.280 W | 14.50 kt | 1130.17 nm |
| Tiscali | 09/23/02 11:20 | 49 15.520 N | 28 35.400 W | 14.50 kt | 1131.44 nm |
| Garnier | 09/23/02 11:20 | 50 03.920 N | 28 42.560 W | 14.02 kt | 1136.13 nm |
| Ocean Planet | 09/23/02 11:20 | 48 04.200 N | 31 55.360 W | 9.40 kt | 1268.54 nm |
| Pindar | 09/23/02 11:20 | 47 25.760 N | 32 00.120 W | 13.76 kt | 1277.25 nm |
Class Two
| Boat | Time | Lat | Long | Speed | DTF |
| Tommy Hilfiger | 09/23/02 11:20 | 47 04.040 N | 34 11.480 W | 11.00 kt | 1368.86 nm |
| Bayer Ascensia | 09/23/02 11:22 | 44 41.120 N | 44 23.600 W | 6.48 kt | 1817.28 nm |
| Spirit of Canada | 09/23/02 11:20 | 46 08.800 N | 45 59.200 W | 5.73 kt | 1853.40 nm |
| Everest Horizontal | 09/23/02 11:20 | 43 17.680 N | 46 57.030 W | 5.01 kt | 1950.22 nm |
| BTC Velocity | 09/23/02 11:20 | 44 42.520 N | 50 20.160 W | 3.16 kt | 2054.66 nm |
| Spirit of yukoh, | 09/23/02 11:20 | 44 29.100 N | 51 30.660 W | 4.53 kt | 2106.31 nm |