In 7 to 8 force winds and just over 16 hours behind the winners from Telefonica, the New Zealand camper arrived in Cape Town at lunchtime yesterday. After losing a backstay, skipper Chris Nicholson (AUS) carried the boat on his hands for the last few miles because all that mattered was arriving in one piece and picking up the 25 points for second place. They succeeded, and with 29 points the New Zealanders are now second overall behind Telefonica.
"It was pretty rough, as you can see from the damage to the other boats," said Nicholson after the finish. "We got round and second place is a good result." A tactical error at the start of the leg briefly threw the New Zealanders back to last place, but they sailed on with great vigour. Over the course of the race, they caught up and after Puma's mast broke, they found themselves in second place, which they brought safely to the finish. A small consolation is the record time of 554.16 miles that Camper achieved on 24 November in stormy winds in the South Atlantic.
However, the high speed took its toll: bowman Mike Pammenter was pulled off his feet in a wave, hit his face against the shrouds and needed stitches to his face. His replacement, Daryl Wislang, had to survive an anxious moment before the finish when he had to jump overboard shortly after an encounter with a killer whale in the open sea in order to cut loose a large plastic bag underwater that had become caught on the keel.
The next boat, Groupama 4, is expected to arrive in Cape Town on Tuesday morning.
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