LEG 3: THIRD VICTORY FOR CLASS 2 LEADER ON ONE FINE DAY

VAN LIEW SCORES HAT TRICK ON TOMMY HILFIGER FREEDOM AMERICA
OCEAN PLANET BEATS PINDAR TO THE FINISH BY UNDER 3HRS
TELE-PRESS CONFERENCE WITH CLASS 2 LEADER
TAURANGA - MEDIA INFORMATION

Tauranga, New Zealand – 16th January 03. It’s three in a row for American skipper Brad Van Liew as he crossed the finish line at 15:05:56 local time (02:05:56 GMT) sailing Open 50 rocket-ship Tommy Hilfiger Freedom America in to Tauranga, New Zealand on a perfect, sunny & breezy afternoon. The third skipper to arrive in one day, Van Liew was welcomed by Emma Richards & Bruce Schwab, still in their sea-boots, and sprayed Mumm Champagne over his two sailing companions from the last few days, as well as the general public from Tauranga.

After a slightly delayed start out of Cape Town, when a problem with his sails caused Tommy Hilfiger Freedom America to miss the start, Brad wasted no time making up the gap and soon moved into the lead and stayed there. From then on he gradually pushed out his lead until he ended Leg 3 with just over 1,000nm in the bag over his nearest rival Tim Kent on Everest Horizontal.

However the leg was not without its dangers or surprises, notably a collision with a massive sunfish and a brush with a whale, let alone some of the trickiest sailing ever through the Tasman Sea and approaches to Tauranga. At the press conference, Van Liew stated clearly his secret of success: “I have a fantastic boat, a fantastic team and a fantastic sponsor – if anyone wants to try to beat me you are going to have to fight hard as it takes that much to win. During this leg I decided that if it were healthy for the boat and for me, then we would push, if it were not, then we wouldn’t push. I’ve set out to win the race, not the legs, and so far it’s like three of the five pieces of the jigsaw puzzle have fit perfectly in place.”

The morning started early for the local race organisation in Tauranga, who were put on alert at 4am local time in anticipation of the three yachts finishing close together. Bruce Schwab & Emma Richards spent a tough, sleepless last 24hrs short-tacking down the coastline, sometimes in sight of each other, waving madly and talking over the VHF to one another, but also remembering that they were competing for coveted points.

Finally at 10:17:22 local time (21:17:22 GMT 15/01/03) Ocean Planet eventually glided across the finish line in fifth place ahead of Pindar with the sea breeze appearing as if someone had waved a magic wand just miles from the line. Despite damage to the vang and no starboard ballast, Ocean Planet is well suited to these light conditions and Bruce enjoyed “taking a tour of New Zealand and doing some real match-racing down past the Hauraki Gulf, where some other yacht race was happening.”

No sooner had Bruce popped the champagne Mumm bottle open in front of a massive crowd of well-wishers lining the pontoons, than the chase boats had to race back out to welcome in Emma Richards on Pindar, who finished at 12:51:12 local time (23:51:12 GMT) in real style, flying her repaired mainsail in full, which thankfully held up under the varying pressure over the last week. She also received a huge welcome from the people of Tauranga, and was just happy to have arrived although in 6th place after a difficult leg. “I found it hard to get into my stride early on, I don’t really know why, but then caught up with Simone, only to have my mainsail rip clean in two and end up spending all my time sticking and sewing, more sticking and sewing…”

More on the trials that continue at sea tomorrow as four boats are still racing to Tauranga, New Zealand in the 3rd Leg of Around Alone.

* TELE-PRESS CONFERENCE – BRAD VAN LIEW / TOMMY HILFIGER FREEDOM AMERICA
Time: 2:00PM EST, Thursday, January 16th, 2003. Join from your desk by dialling:
- Toll free from US : (800) 650-8824
- From outside the US : +1 (703) 736-7228
Conference # 6380105 Estimated time: 45 minutes

To track Van Liew's progress and to get daily updates from the Tommy Hilfiger Freedom America yacht, please visit www.tommy.com/freedomamerica.

Leg 3 Provisional Rankings – Class 1
1. Bobst Group-Armor Lux finished at 22:24:43 GMT 8th JAN 03 after 25 days, 12 hours, 24 minutes, 43 seconds
2. Solidaires finished at 09:03:54 GMT 9th JAN 03 after 26 days, 23 hours, 56 minutes, 6 seconds
3. Hexagon finished at 06:38:18 GMT 14th JAN 03 after 30 days, 20 hours, 38 minutes, 18 seconds
4. Tiscali finished at 16:30:19 GMT 14th JAN 03 after 31 days, 6 hours, 30 minutes, 19 seconds
5. Ocean Planet finished at 21:17:22 15th JAN 03 after 32 days, 11 hours, 17 minutes, 22 seconds
6. Pindar finished at 23:51:12 GMT 15th JAN 03 after 32 days, 13 hours, 51 minutes, 12 seconds

Leg 3 Provisional Rankings – Class 2
1. Tommy Hilfiger Freedom America finished at 02:05:56 GMT 16th JAN 03 after 32 days, 16 hours, 5 minutes, 56 seconds

POSITIONS AT 06:00GMT 14th JANUARY (19:00 pm LOCAL TIME) 2003
Track the Around Alone fleet with Raytech Navigator 4.1 – go to www.aroundalone.com positions page and follow the link at the top of the chart.

Class 2
Boat Lat Lon AvgBsp AvgHeading DTF
2. Everest Horizontal, 41 29.780 S, 162 48.100 E, 70.37 nm, 8.81 kt, 38 °T, 921.42 nm
3. Spirit of Canada, 40 51.540 S, 160 47.700 E, 60.07 nm, 7.51 kt, 43 °T, 972.61 nm
4. Spirit of yukoh, 43 21.900 S, 157 42.520 E, 59.38 nm, 7.43 kt, 34 °T, 1169.30 nm
5. BTC Velocity, 43 58.220 S, 144 25.000 E, 31.01 nm, 3.87 kt, 81 °T, 1714.20 nm