At 0400 Cape Town time 64 year old sailor Minoro Saito sailed Shuten Dojhi II across the finish line. Saito's Leg 1 time was: 55 days, 9 hours, 50 minutes and 22 seconds at an average speed of 5.11. His 55 day time compares to 58 days in 1994 and 63 in 1990.
Although quiet for most of Leg 1 Saito did have many problems. Among them: broken autopilot, trouble with his wind vane steering in heavy air, fuel supply problems to the engine, and a generator that quit 10 days from the finish.
The next yacht to finish will be South Carolina. Davie is expected to finish on Tuesday. He is 319 miles from Cape Town.
After that come the 'deadline duo'. To be eligible to compete in Leg 2 you must reach Cape Town by November 28th, one week before the start of the next leg. The fleet's last 2 yachts are up against this deadline.
The 40 foot Paladin 2 is 792 miles from the finish with an ETA of 0948 28 November. So, it looks like Neil and Paladin are in good shape for Leg 2.
The last yacht is the 60 footer Modern University for the Humanities. She is 955 miles from Cape Town with a 29 November ETA, outside the deadline.
From Modern University for the Humanities, skipper Fedor Konioukhov comments: "Everybody know that I am not a racer and couple days before the start in Charleston one skipper in class one promise me a lot of new experience from being in the race." Fedor will have to race to speed up his progress and make Leg 2. MUH must average 125 miles per day to make it. Fedor signed off his e-mail by saying: "I have to continue to steer." Check to back to see if he is steering MUH fast enough.