TRICKY TIMES AHEAD
25th April 2003

As Tropical Storm Ana moves off to the east, a large area of high pressure is filling in behind it throwing a tactical curveball to the Around Alone yachts. Usually high pressure is associated with a good beach weather, but a day at the seaside is the last thing on Bernard Stamm's mind as he deals with the tricky weather pattern. In the last 24 hours Bobst Group Armor lux recorded one of the slowest runs of the race and this morning was still sailing at a relatively slow 7 knots. Stamm only managed 143 miles since breakfast yesterday.

Bobst Group Armor lux is on the eastern side of the high and as such is getting headwinds accounting for the slow progress. The only saving grace is that his nearest rival, Simone Bianchetti on Tiscali, had a worse run covering only 99 miles in the last 24 hours. It appears from this mornings position reports that Bianchetti has made a bold move the west which has hurt his distance-to-finish number, but may in fact be a smart tactical move. The high pressure will drift to the east as the trade winds and frontal systems moving off the eastern seaboard of the US regroup. If Tiscali can get to the western side of the high he will have winds from behind and may indeed make up lost ground on Bobst Group Armor lux plus a bit more. This is precisely what Simone is hoping for.

It is also precisely what Brad Van Liew on Tommy Hilfiger Freedom American and Bruce Schwab on Ocean Planet are hoping for. They are well situated to the west and hope to make gains on the front runners. Van Liew is sailing a masterful leg and in a satellite phone call last night was quietly confident about his strategy. "Bruce and I look like we are on the right side of the course," he said. "For now anyway. I don't see what Bernard's options are as he gets caught by the high, and Emma and Thierry are just stuck in a windless zone." Brad said that there might be an area of transition between the trades and the frontal activity further north, but his forecast showed breeze all the way to the finish. He was also highly complimentary about his rival Tim Kent on Everest Horizontal. In his daily log he called Kent Tenacious Tim and commented on his performance. "As the trade winds fill in from the south and as tropical storm Ana moves away to the east, Tim Kent onboard Everest Horizontal is coming up from behind quickly. I like to call him "Tenacious Tim" as he is obviously a man on a mission on this leg and has taken 50 miles of my lead in the last 24 hours. I am definitely looking over my shoulder and trying to focus Tommy Hilfiger Freedom America on a strategy to negotiate the upcoming mine field."

Out to the west the luckless twins, Emma Richards on Pindar and Thierry Dubois on Solidaires, are not having good days at the office. They have once again found their own private parking lot and have stopped. Emma is finding the sailing especially frustrating. "Another slow day on the fine ship Pindar," she wrote. "It is actually quite hard work to go this slowly. Honestly. Every puff of wind you have to be absolutely ready for, or it has gone by the time you get ready. The autopilot doesn't work too well under 4 knots of boat speed and not at all under 3 knots unless you trick it into thinking the boat is going faster, but then it's not as responsive and usually ends up sounding an alarm." She also recorded a days run of less than 100 miles, one of her slowest of the race.

For a fleet that scooted through the doldrums, this confused weather pattern is definitely making them pay for their sins. The race is far from over and a lot of tactical sailing lies ahead. Here in Newport they are gearing up for the arrivals with most of the locals shaking their heads saying, "man those guys are back already? That didn't take long to sail around the world!" A large contingent of French journalists will be descending on American Shipyard in Newpot early next week in anticipation of Stamm's arrival. For now his ETA remains sometime on Wednesday April 30.

--- Brian Hancock great.circle@verizon.net

Source: Around Alone Official Site