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GLOBAL OCEAN RACE 2011-2012

GOR: Phesheya-Racing completes the podium in Punta

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The South African duo of 45-year-old Nick Leggatt and 28-year-old Phillippa Hutton-Squire crossed the Global Ocean Race (GOR) Leg 3 finish line in Punta del Este in third place with their Akilaria Class40, Phesheya-Racing at 16:26:20 local (18:26:20 GMT) on Wednesday 7 March, taking 38 days 16 hours 26 minutes and 20 seconds to complete the 6,300-mile course from Wellington, New Zealand, to Uruguay.

Phehseya-Racing entered the channel between the Puerto de Punta del Este and Isla Gorriti, crossing the finish line in the blistering sunlight of late afternoon. Escorted into the marina by two RIBs from the Yacht Club Punta del Este (YCPE), Leggatt and Hutton-Squire were welcomed by a crowd of well-wishers including the YCPE’s Secretary, Pablo Elola.

It has been an immensely tough Leg 3 for Leggatt and Hutton-Squire with a series of upwind gales, severe autopilot problems and knockdowns in lightning storms. But despite becoming separated from the leading two Class40s, the team on Phesheya-Racing doggedly stuck with the course and completed Leg 3. In the very early part of the leg, the South Africans passed south of the Chatham Islands in fourth place, dropping back to fifth as Marco Nannini and Hugo Ramon re-joined the pack of five Class40s after a southerly flyer with Financial Crisis.

With the Fields on Buckley Systems turning back to New Zealand due to injury after four days of racing, followed by Halvard Mabire and Miranda Merron on Campagne de France, Leggatt and Hutton-Squire withstood 35-50 knot headwinds, moving up to third place, opting to hove-to for 13 hours as strong easterlies lashed their Class40. “There weren’t very strong winds, only about 47 knots,” Nick Leggatt recalls. “But the sea state was just horrendous,” he adds. “As a front comes through, the wind shifts and the waves just turn into pyramids. We didn’t think the boat would fall apart, but we thought we might fall apart!”

07/03/2012 23:13:00 © riproduzione riservata

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