By JULIE ASH
Grant Dalton's delight at a dream start in the round-the-world race in Southampton yesterday had been tempered by last night after his Amer Sports One boat slipped back to the middle of the field.
The Volvo-sponsored race got off to a fast start with an almost perfect downwind sprint
through the English Channel before the fleet sailed into the forecasted lighter breezes in the first 24 hours.
"The first 12 hours were plain sailing for the fleet with not one single gybe yet and only one sail change," said Amer Sports One navigator Roger Nilson.
Last night, Sweden's SEB had the lead over Bermuda's Tyco and Germany's illbruck.
Amer Sports One were fourth followed by News Corp, djuice dragons, Amer Sports Too and ASSA ABLOY.
Amer Sports One got off to the best possible start. With co-skipper Bouwe Bekking at the helm and Dee Smith calling the tactics they powered away from the fleet, catching the tide to the south of the course.
An hour into the race Amer Sports One passed the Needles and led the fleet into the 7350-mile first leg to Cape Town in South Africa.
Dalton said the crew were glad the race was under way.
"We have all had a very busy three weeks since we arrived in England and it's good to get down to some serious racing."
While Dalton got the start he wanted, his Nautor Challenge syndicate team-mate, Amer Sports Too, blew out a spinnaker, which left skipper Lisa McDonald and her all-female crew trailing the fleet.
For McDonald the torn spinnaker was a major disappointment.
"The boat feels really good and we were really keyed up. But spinnakers rip. At least we can repair it," she said.
Once they got a new spinnaker flying, Amer Sports Too made up some of the distance they had lost and had moved from last in the eight-team fleet to seventh.
The yachts were sailing about 5 knots in very light north easterly breezes and were spread over a 17-mile line last night.
The boats are expected to begin arriving in South Africa around October 21.
