In the history of Around Alone never have all the starters been finishers. This trend continues today, with the retirement of Class I's Project Amazon. Canadian skipper Sebastian Reidl reported an unfixable leak into his fuel supply. This has left him unable to run his engine and produce electricity. In addition, yesterday, a halyard block failed and one of the sails on his kat ketch fell down.
Reidl will head for Puerto Rico. Reidl considered continuing in the race. However, according to Pete Dunning, Around Alone race coordinator: "He looked at his options and said that by getting into Cape Town late he didn't think he could complete repairs and do a substantial job" and so would be unfit for the perils of the Southern Ocean.
Meanwhile several positions have changed in the latest position report. In Class I Mike Golding and Group 4 have finally made it to 1st place. They hold a scan 0.2 mile lead over PRB and a 13 mile edge over Gartmore.
In Class II Balance Bar has finally unseated Cray Valley from 1st place. Balance Bar's edge is 9.7 miles. Further back in Class I Shuten-dohji II has over taken www.no-barriers and leads by 1 mile.
Also, see this mornings report PRB Shoots into Class I lead