Unai Basurko, honoured with award for his sailing achievements

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Unai Basurko

On board Pakea, Unai Basurko, the Basque sailor has had his hands full this past day trying to keep the boat moving through wildly variable and unpredictable conditions.

But he was also delighted to hear that he had been honoured with an award for his sailing achievements by the Monte Real Yacht Club of Bayonne.

Sir Robin Knox-Johnston also acknowledged Basurko's emerging prowess as an ocean racer and believes his chances of beating the Basque skipper to the podium in Bilbao are running out. He has five and a bit days in hand on Basurko's time from Leg 1 to Fremantle, but on current progress Basurko is likely to beat Saga Insurance into Norfolk by more than a week.

Graham Dalton, looking for his keel bulb

Graham Dalton is convinced that the lead keel bulb, which has separated from his boat, can be found in Fortaleza Harbour and has commissioned some local divers to help locate it. It took Dalton a few minutes of sailing on the open ocean to notice the lack of the keel bulb, but now he believes that the bulb had already come detached before he had cast off lines from his harbour mooring. He believes there is some hope of finding it.

However, even that would merely be the start of a long and tortuous process to get back in the race. Over the past few days Dalton has been through an the arduous misfortune of his rudder cassette shattering on a submerged object, a subsequent pitstop in the Brazilian port, a severe bout of illness and the theft of all his vital communications equipment and now the loss of his keel bulb.

But while even a glimmer of a hope remains, the tenacious Kiwi appears to be holding true to his mantra of "go hard or go home." If by some miracle he does manage to find the sunken bulb, he then needs to raise it to the surface, have it reattached to the boat and be absolutely confident that AGD - A Southern Man is seaworthy again before he attempts the final 3,000 miles to the Leg 2 finish in Norfolk, Virginia.

One thing in his favour, however, is that there is a shipbuilder in Fortaleza, which builds superyachts. So if he can retrieve his bulb, the expertise should be available for reattaching it safely.