Yachting: Crewless $14m cat forges on through stormy ocean

By SUZANNE McFADDEN

The Race is still on - but the first race is to rescue a $14 million catamaran smashing its way through the Atlantic Ocean without a soul on board.

The Team Philips boat, built for the non-stop round-the-world The Race, is hot property after its seven-man crew were forced to abandon it on Sunday night after it was damaged.

It is definitely out of contention for The Race, which starts on December 31, even though the fleet is down to six boats.

The 38m British catamaran, cursed by breakages since it was launched in March, has to be salvaged from mid-Atlantic.

The boat's owners fear that fishing boats in the area could throw a line on the limping cat.

Under maritime law, it would become the property of the salvager.

But yesterday Team Philips were warning would-be rescuers of the dangers in the mission, because the boat is so aerodynamic.

The project's managing director, Mark Orr, said they were looking for anyone who could help to salvage the boat in the tricky seas and 50-knot winds.

Team Philips said they had pinpointed the boat's position by telemetry on board.

Though unmanned, it was making its way through rough seas.

Meanwhile, other boats intending to line up for the New Year's Eve start were making slow progress to Barcelona - also hindered by the stormy weather.

Race organisers cancelled the prologue in Monaco, scheduled to be raced today, because only two boats had made it to the line in time.

One of them was Kiwi skipper Grant Dalton's Club Med, now being hailed as the hot favourite for The Race.

Dalton is not worried that Team Philips is out of the running. His main concern is that arch-rival PlayStation will have second thoughts about starting.

Last week, the New Zealand-built catamaran, owned by American billionaire adventurer Steve Fossett, was on the verge of withdrawing.

It was considering a lone attempt on the Jules Verne round-the-world record instead.

Yesterday, PlayStation was holed up in England, hoping to start the six-day voyage to Barcelona tomorrow.

Two other entries, Team Legato (formerly Sir Peter Blake's Enza) and the Polish Warta-Polpharma, are also stuck in European ports.

Team Adventure, the 38m American catamaran, was battling 40-knot headwinds crossing the Bay of Biscay to get to the start in time.

Dalton had always had doubts that Team Philips would make it to the line, after it broke a bow and a mast.

He hoped that his campaign would not be "tarred with the same brush."