Le Pingouin. Image copyright Ainhoa Sanchez/onEdition.
by Sarah Hames
AMERICAN ocean racer Brad Van Liew has picked up three bonus points for being the quickest of the VELUX 5 OCEANS skippers to pass between the ocean sprint two speed gates. Brad, who was awarded 12 points for winning the latest leg from Cape Town to Wellington, picks up three bonus points for sailing between longitudes 75E to 50E in three days, ten hours and 26 minutes.
The VELUX 5 OCEANS is scored using a points system rather than elapsed time. Each of the five ocean sprints features a timed run between two gates set by the race management. The timed runs offer skippers a way to score extra points to add to the points awarded for final positions of each leg.
Canadian Derek Hatfield, third placed on ocean sprint two, is awarded two bonus points for his passage through the speed gates of three days, 20 hours and 46 minutes while Polish ocean racer Zbigniew ‘Gutek’ Gutkowski gets one bonus point for sailing between gates in four days, four hours and 13 minutes.
Despite the Eco 60 fleet being slightly older yachts (Open 60s built before 2003) the VELUX 5 OCEANS skippers have proved that they are still competitive and quick, averaging speeds of more than 10 knots through the Southern Ocean.
Following the arrivals of Brad, Gutek and Derek, British skipper Chris Stanmore-Major is expected to arrive dockside at Queens Wharf in the centre of Wellington on Sunday.
Ocean sprint two positions at 00h00 UTC:
Skipper / distance to finish (nm) / distance to leader (nm) / distance covered in last 24 hours (nm) / average speed in last 24 hours (kts)
Brad Van Liew, Le Pingouin: finished January 16, 30 days, nine hours, 49 mins
Zbigniew Gutkowski, Operon Racing: finished January 17, 31 days 8 hours and 27 mins
Derek Hatfield, Active House: finished January 18, 32 Days 17 Hours
Chris Stanmore-Major, Spartan: 314.9 / 0 / 157.8 / 6.6
VELUX5OCEANS
