Graham Dalton completes Leg Two

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Graham Dalton

At 02:57 local time (06:57 GMT) on Wednesday April 25, brave solo skipper Graham Dalton finally arrived in Norfolk, Virginia (USA), 101 days after leaving Fremantle (Western Australia), in what has been an epic battle across the planet’s fiercest oceans in The Ultimate Solo Challenge.

Having now finished leg two of the Velux 5 Oceans, he will not be able to complete leg three within race rules and will therefore be classed ‘Did Not Start Leg 3’; Dalton will not be classed as a finisher in the Velux 5 Oceans 2006-07. However, after a journey that has captured the imagination of sailing fans and people from all over the world, the determined skipper will still sail back to Bilbao to complete his own personal journey and a monumental solo circumnavigation that is a testament to his character and conviction.

It is a devastating blow for the experienced yachtsman, who was hoping to finish the race in memory of his son Tony, who died of cancer in 2005, and complete the daunting challenge following his retirement from the last race in 2002, when he dismasted after rounding Cape Horn. Sailing onboard an Open 50 yacht, named in Tony’s honour, Dalton’s race has been plagued by onboard problems that have caused him to make no less than six pit stops around the world. Whilst at sea, A Southern Man AGD showed great pace but was battered by extreme weather and strong winds that would have tested the nerve of the hardest of competitors.

Speaking from Norfolk, a philosophical Dalton commented, “The fire still burns very strongly within me. On the one hand, I am just pleased to be here, but at the same time very unhappy. Five or six weeks ago I was only 3,000 miles from Norfolk and I was set to come in around 1,000 miles ahead of Robin. Not to start leg three is pretty disappointing quite frankly, but that’s the situation. I can’t do much about it, I just have to manage it and do the best I can.”

“You never give up. I see it as a lack of character. I see it in yachting, I see it in other sports, where someone’s not winning, and because someone’s not winning, they give up. I see it as a heresy; I see it as a lack of character, and a lack of backbone. You have to take it on the chin, you have your good days and your bad days.”

“To complete the race is something I’ve wanted to do for 40 years and that I’ve worked towards my entire life. Not just Leg 2, but 40 years. Everything you’ve done in your life has been geared towards this. But these things happen. I’m going to Spain, I’ve said before and I’ll say again, “there’ll be snow on the Equator before I give up.” I can’t change any administrative decision, that’s a simple fact of life, but what I can change is the way I react to it. The way I react it is we will do what we have to do here, and we will reach Spain.”

Race rules state that a competitor must spend a mandatory 72 hours in Norfolk and start leg three within one week of the start gun firing. The remaining competitors left Norfolk at 12:20 on Wednesday April 18. This meant that in order to respect the 72 hour rule, Dalton needed to arrive in the Virginian city by 12:20 on Sunday April 15. Although he will now not officially complete the race, he has in fact already completed a solo circumnavigation of the planet, as his qualification for the Velux 5 Oceans was a solo navigation from Norfolk to Bilbao; so his arrival in Norfolk will complete the circle he started in September 2005.