Around Alone- 40 footers are heard
    This week, 3 more members of the Around
Alone fleet have finished. They are:
Rapscallion III, Wind of Change and www.no-barriers.com.
    On Sunday American George Stricker sailed his
Marek 50 Rapscallion III to a leg 1 time of 49 days
6 hours 42 minutes and 51 seconds an average speed
of 5.75 knots. Stricker called this result,
"respectable."
    So far, Rapscallion is the first yacht to
arrive that relies on a wind vane for self steering
as opposed to an electronic autopilot. Stricker
describes the advantages this way: "My Monitor
[vane] steered great, it was my best buddy," he said.
"It's a great piece of equipment-it follows the shifts,
it's quiet, and you don't have to charge your
batteries to use it so it saves diesel."
    He looks forward to a better performance
on Leg 2 saying: "She's a great heavy-air boat and
I think she'll really shine on the next leg."
Further he added: "I'm going to bring some extra
food on the next leg so if those lightweight
flyers, the hot rods [sailed by Mouligne, Garside
and Brad Van Liew], get into trouble, I'll have
plenty to eat onboard when we pick them up!"
    Next in was the Russian mariner Viktor
Yazykov on Wind of Change. This is the first
40 footer to finish.
    Although Around Alone has 2 classes,
with class one consisting of 60 footers, Class II
really has 2 size ranges: 50 and 40 feet.
    For a 40 footer the Stephen Baker
designed Wind of Change sailed a remarkable leg.
Wind of Change arrived in Charleston late and
started 6 days late on October 2. Her actual
sailing time was 44 days 12 hours 22 minutes
and 25 seconds, an average speed of 6.37.
Remarkably this is within 3 days of the leading
50 footers. However, the race clock started on
September 26, meaning Yazykov had a scored time
of 50 days 20 hours 37 minutes and 25 seconds.
In addition Wind of Change's late arrival in
Charleston meant a 11 day 7 hour and 30 minute
penalty was added making his official time in the
end, 62 days 4 hours 7 minutes and 25 seconds.
    Penalties aside Wind of Change is a
remarkably quick yacht. Foot for foot she
produced .159 knots of speed per foot compared
to .139 for the leading 50 foot Cray Valley, and
.135 for the fastest 60 Group 4.
    Wind of Change could've been faster. For
sails Viktor had only a main and small jib. Also,
he suffered several health problems including
22 hours below with bleeding complications from
surgery he performed on himself. Finally he had
almost no help from his autoplilots. For most
of the 6800 miles Wind of Change self steered.
Designer Stephen Baker comments: "both of these
boats show a remarkable tendency to self-steer,
which makes them great on power consumption.
The answer seems to be in the tunable nature of
the underwater configuration, although Bob
assures me it is just plain inherent."
    Looking ahead to Leg 2, Wind of Change's
designer is optimistic. Baker says: "Leg 2 looks
like the right place for these boats, the
moderate hullform was developed with this leg
in mind and the sailplan is very adaptable."
    The next yacht to finish in Cape Town was
also a 40 footer- www.no-barriers.com. No Barriers
Leg 1 time was, 51 days 21 hours 13 minutes and
40 seconds an average speed of 5.46. Remarkably,
this is 16 days better than Neal's leg 1
performance in 1994. In 1994 his time was 67 days
16 hours 59 minutes and 47 seconds, at an average
of 4.18.
    No Barriers Neal Petersen credits several
factors with this improvment. One is sails,
"""We invested some good dollars getting some
spectra sails" which he feels made his boat 20 to 30
percent quicker. The second key factor is preparation,
"Four years ago I made the commitment to do the 1998-99
Around Alone. I started preparing as soon as I got
back to Charleston, fundraising and putting all these
things in place."
    Four boats remain in transit to Cape Town.
Please see Around Alone for November 18th for
information on them.