Bernard Stamm and the Pierre Rolland designed Bobst Group Armor lux smokes across the finish line off Tauranga to win Class 1 of Leg 3 of the Around Alone. 7,125 nm in these sort of conditions? No problem! Our intrepid reporter Laurie Fullerton went to Tauranga to cover the finish. She got this great story with Stamm for us. Enjoy.

By Laurie Fullerton

Bernard Stamm of Switzerland knocked two days off the previous record in his race from Cape Town, South Africa to Tauranga, New Zealand today after arriving in 25 days, 12 hours, 24 minutes and 43 seconds to win Class 1 of Leg 3 of the Around Alone. He sailed his Open 60 Bobst Group Armor lux across the finish line off Tauranga this morning relieved and happy, Stamm explained the last 36 hours had been, as he put it, "HELL," and that sailing around New Zealand's Cape Rienga in a strong easterly gale was "worse than the Southern Ocean and the Indian Ocean."

"The seas over the past 36 hours were very rough, and the waves were short and high," he explained. "It is good to be on land now." Stamm arrived in Tauranga in some of the stormiest weather in recent memory, and as the first arrival in the Around Alone much of the town, and a crew of friends, family and the international media greeted him. "I had a lot of technical problems and last night I had a big problem with the steering gear. And, 50 meters after the finish line my rudder broke. Within the past 24 hours, my material began to break," Stamm said.

Stamm has been leading the race since shortly after the start and while on the Southern Ocean he clocked his speed at a maximum of 31 knots. "It was usually ranging around 20 to 25 knots and it was like surfing." When entering the port of Tauranga, every sailor passes the impressive Maori statue of Tangaora - God of the Sea. Superstitious sailors offer a drop of beer and a bit of food to Tangaora, and that is about all Stamm had consumed when he arrived at the docks, jumped off to greet his wife and daughter.

"I did not sleep much these past 36 hours and at some point I hit a whale, who appeared to be unwell and it was quite sad. After seeing mostly sea, waves and albatross, it was great to be near Cape Reinga but being so close to the finish and having things start to break was very hard. I was a little lucky getting around the high pressure," he conceded. "Thierry Dubois [of France] was not so lucky."

An area of high pressure that was situated in the Tasman moved over the top of Dubois who found himself captured by light winds while Stamm rocketed to Cape Reinga on the north coast of New Zealand. It was then that his real troubles started. "The wind picked up to 45 knots from the southeast and I had to beat all the way to the finish," said Stamm. "The waves were very steep and dangerous. I had to stop the boat (heave to) and fix my steering, which had come loose. I also had to deal with my mainsail that ripped."

After a good look at his boat from the dock, Stamm graciously sat through a press conference full of local volunteers and families who helped pull the event together. John Mason, chief executive of the Port of Tauranga said, "we are impressed by what you have done and we welcome you wholeheartedly to Tauranga. Now we will let you get something to eat since all you have had is that beer." "And, it's good beer, too," Stamm said. The official elapsed time for Bobst Group Armor lux was 25 days, 12 hours, 24 minutes and 43 seconds knocking a shade under two days off the old record set four years ago by Giovanni Soldini on Fila. (that was to Auckland, not Tauranga).

01/08/2003