Fleet battered in savage conditions, Stamm pushes hard

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The run of bad luck continues for Graham Dalton who has been forced to make another pit stop in the second leg of the VELUX 5 OCEANS.

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• Kiwi skipper Dalton forced to make pit stop in Bermuda

The first stage of VELUX 5 OCEANS third leg has become a battle of which skipper is prepared to bat hardest through the headwinds. Against raging north, north easterly winds and big seas, the fleet will be bashing on in boat breaking conditions. Race leader Bernard Stamm on Cheminées Poujoulat and Kojiro Shiraishi with second place Spirit of Yukoh are holding out the longest, climbing north into the Atlantic, although Kojiro inched the tiller to windward and eased sheets early yesterday evening.

Recording 30 knots of NNE breeze and with 2,800 miles remaining to Bilbao, the Japanese skipper is determined to preserve his Open 60 as he crosses the turbulent, warm, northerly flow of the Gulf Stream. While Stamm continues to beat north, Kojiro is playing the long game.

Stamm will be pushing hard to stay with the wind. The weather models are predicting that the weather will go light if he drops off the back of the current low pressure and Stamm will want to avoid this as being trapped in no wind is his biggest nightmare. As always he will be mitigating the risk between pushing too hard and damaging the boat and making the progress he needs to stay with the wind. Bernard Stamm's ability to push hard in any conditions is legendary within the solo sailing circuit, but Shiraishi has lost just eight miles to the race leader since the new heading, trailing Cheminées Poujoulat by 15 miles and he is currently matching the Swiss skipper's speed of 14 knots.

In third place, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston and Saga Insurance are just ahead of fourth place Unai Basurko and Pakea. The competition between Knox-Johnston and Basurko has intensified despite a flooded sail locker on the British boat; a problem that has now been stabilized. However, Knox-Johnston is philosophical about the event and recognizes his priority must be to finish the race.

Dalton must respect a 48 hour time penalty in Bermuda for receiving assistance before continuing towards Norfolk and can re-commence racing at 07:00 local time on Saturday April 21. Under race rules, Dalton must arrive in Norfolk by 12:20 local time on Sunday April 22, as skippers are required to spend a mandatory 72 hours in a host port and then re-commence racing on the next leg within 7 days of the official re-start.

The run of bad luck continues for Graham Dalton who has been forced to make another pit stop in the second leg of the VELUX 5 OCEANS. A Southern Man - AGD has reached the Atlantic island of Bermuda and officially suspended racing at 07:00 local time (11:00 UTC). In addition to problems with his autopilot systems, the tough Kiwi skipper sustained a shredded genoa and multiple bruises while battling through tough conditions with 35-45 knots of wind, gusting 50 knots.