Stamm maintains blistering pace in Velux 5 Oceans

by Tim Kelly on 25 Jan 2007 Bernard Stamm claims he is sailing his Open 60 CHEMINEES POUJOULAT 'conservatively'… And yet the race and leg leader has been rocketing through the Southern Ocean at a blistering pace, clocking over 400 miles a day for the last few position reports. Riding in front of a low pressure system, the Swiss skipper has been sailing at an average speed of over 17 knots, five knots faster than any boat in the fleet. But on the daily radio vacation, the defending champion claimed to be sailing conservatively to preserve the boat and that he could be throttling along at 25 knots if he was pushing. An impressive rhythm from the experienced solo sailor.

CHEMINEES POUJOULAT is now hurtling through ‘Iceberg Alley’, the cold and treacherous expanse of Southern Ocean beyond New Zealand. Although Stamm is yet to spy an iceberg, the skipper spends the days on deck and the nights down below trusting his radar. Looking ahead, Stamm expects that he and Shiraishi will get through a high pressure system, cutting them off from the rest of the fleet who will be left with strong upwind conditions. Not ideal for the Southern Ocean.

Kojiro Shiraishi, currently 465 miles behind Stamm in second place, has experienced the tougher side of the Southern Ocean after a few days of unusually kind conditions. Left floundering with no wind, the huge swells of the seas below New Zealand rocked the yacht violently from side to side, risking damage and making life horrible below deck. The Japanese skipper then received a blast of 40 knot wind from the north, which then swung round to a westerly. The constant sail changes and wind movements have meant a tiring and difficult days sailing for the skipper of SPIRIT OF YUKOH.

Back in the fleet, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston on SAGA INSURANCE is hoping to overtake Unai Basurko on PAKEA. Although 44 miles separate the two yachts with respect to DTL, Knox-Johnston is positioned 150 miles south. However the sailing legend is expecting gale force winds to hit him tomorrow which may jeopardize his bid to move from last place. In third place, kiwi Graham Dalton continues to impress in his 50 foot yacht A SOUTHERN MAN AGD, around 1,000 miles behind Stamm and 500 miles ahead of the back markers.

Bernard Stamm, CHEMINEES POUJOULAT:

'The conditions have been better than forecast. South from New Zealand the situation was a bit tricky and I had to gybe a lot to find some wind and in the end I managed to catch the wind that is pushing me right now. It is quite tough, but I still really try to sail in a conservative way. I try my best not to break anything. It is not easy as the boat could really do more and sail at 25 knots but I have to find the balance between sailing well, keeping the wind and not breaking anything. Especially as these machines could sail really fast, but everything can also end really quickly. It’s hard to find the balance but without pushing like crazy, I think I have found my rhythm now. And I enjoy some quite impressive surf.'

'I keep my eyes on the radar. I am in what the sailors call 'Iceberg Alley.' I have most chance to see some but still haven’t seen any today. It is dark now so I keep my nose on the radar. I think I am too far north to see any. Kojiro and I are still in the same weather system. He is behind the low pressure when I am ahead. A high pressure system will form itself and Kojiro should be able to pass it as well. But after this the other competitors should be sailing upwind with some strong north easterly wind. Now I have between 35 and 40 knots of north westerly wind, sailing between 18 and 24 knots.'

Kojiro Shiraishi, SPIRIT OF YUKOH:

'Today has been a tiring day. The morning brought absolutely no wind. It is maybe interesting to explain what happens here when we have no wind in Southern Ocean. Even though there is no wind, the large swell does not stop soon and the boat rolls violently. Because the boat is no longer being pressed by the wind we rock terrifically side to side. The main sail flaps from side to side and makes a loud slapping noise. It’s not at all good for the sails. We were rocking like this for a good few hours and life below is very tiring.'

'While I was working on the compass, a strong breeze blew in from the North. It was nearly 40kts. So in order to get sail in good shape, I sailed to upwind although off course for a while. After bashing upwind for a while, the wind turned from the west. With all this wind changing I have to gybe a few times but at least it is progress. In order to go direction we need to go it’s not easy. Already this morning that was a lot to do. Outside it’s a completely a grey world. The southern ocean is not so sweet today.'

Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, SAGA INSURANCE:

'A long night, with frequent squalls, waiting for the wind to veer. Even with third reef and storm jib SAGA INSURANCE still hardened up in the squalls so I was steering a lot of the time, but by push button! The wind appeared to veer just after dawn so I gybed, but from 140 degrees we could only make 50 on the other gybe so something wrong there and I don't think we gybed on a wind shift.'

'It is due to go NW to-day and then W or SW when an approaching front comes along tonight or tomorrow with gale force winds so I am staying heading NE waiting. We are dodging all over the place on wind shifts because I can no longer download the detailed weather.'

'It was cold last night, but got the cabin warmed when I charged the batteries, dozing on the navigation bench fully clothed. The pilots use a lot more power in these large swell and sea conditions. I found the reservoir of the hydraulic pilot nearly empty and oil everywhere. Refilled the reservoir but have not found a leak which is today’s worry.'

 

Boat Positions as at 10:20 UTC 24 January 2007

	Yacht	Skipper	Latitude	Longitude	Course (°)	Speed (knot)	DTL (nautical miles)	DTF (nautical miles)	Dist - last Pos (nautical miles)	Dist - 24h (nautical miles)	Average speed - 24h (knots)	VMG - 24h (knots)
1	Cheminées Poujoulat	Bernard Stamm	51° 50.72 S	179° 40.92 E	92	17		10311	87.7	410.9	17.12	16.87
2	Spirit of Yukoh	Kojiro Shiraishi	52° 38.88 S	166° 24.88 E	70	11	465	10776	63.7	274.5	11.44	11.43
3	A Southern Man-AGD	Graham Dalton	48° 07.60 S	153° 07.56 E	109	11.1	1037	11348	45.4	215.9	9	8.81
4	PAKEA	Unai Basurko	44° 52.40 S	142° 54.72 E	45	9.4	1504	11815	42	230.8	9.62	9.52
5	SAGA Insurance	Sir Robin Knox-Johnston	46° 46.88 S	139° 51.72 E	81	9.3	1548	11859	50.3	211.4	8.81	7.81