It's been a good weekend for Sir Robin Knox Johnston aboard Saga Insurance in the Velux 5 Oceans. He has finally moved out of the last position he has held ever since his forced return to Fremantle at the start of the second leg of the single handed round the world race.
Effectively giving the fleet three days' start, having to return to port for emergency repairs to his autopilot, Sir Robin stormed back into contention, quickly catching up with the then back marker, Unai Basurko in Pakea.
And then Graham Dalton, in A Southern Man AGD was forced into port in New Zealand for repairs, leaving the three closely bunched at the back of the fleet, while race leader Bernard Stamm in Cheminees Poujoulat and Kojiro Shiraishi in Spirit of Yukoh, drew steadily away from them.
There followed a frustrating period for Sir Robin when gear failure (loss of satellite weather information, damage to crucial downwind sails, damage to mainsail headboard car etc) once again threatened his competitiveness, and he seemed doomed to stay at the back of the fleet.
But over the weekend, Sir Robin finally drew ahead of New Zealander Dalton, and is gaining steadily on Spain's Basurko. Today's 10.30 position poll shows him having the best 24-hour run of the whole fleet, at 265 miles, and if he can keep up this progress he should be able to move into third place for the leg.
It seems unlikely that he will catch Stamm, from Switzerland, who is now about 3,000 miles ahead of him, storming up the Atlantic Ocean towards the finishing line in Norfolk, Virginia, having rounded Cape Horn and left the Southern Ocean at the end of last week.
Japan's Shiraishi, 1,500 miles behind Stamm, is expected to round the Horn tomorrow afternoon, and seems almost certain to finish the leg in second place.
The other three face an exciting few days before they too reach the crucial landmark.
With less then 80 miles between them, and fast reaching conditions predicted, there could be plenty more place changing to come.
For more information visit www.velux5oceans.com
