Yachting: Dalton settles into a chasing pattern

Grant Dalton concedes he is chasing a faster boat as he struggles to catch the leaders in the fifth leg of the round-the-world race.

Dalton has slipped to fifth place on Amer Sports One, 150 miles behind illbruck after 10 days of racing in the 18-day leg between Rio de Janeiro and Miami.

The fleet has been split into two groups by the notoriously fickle Doldrums and unpredictable winds north of the Equator off the coast of Brazil.

Illbruck is leading the first group, 10 miles in front of Assa Abloy and 17 miles ahead of Tyco, skippered by New Zealander Kevin Shoebridge.

In the second group, SEB is 37 miles ahead of Dalton. Twenty-nine miles further back is News Corp, followed another 37 miles back by Amer Sports Too, with djuice trailing the field 238 miles behind illbruck and 88 miles behind Dalton.

Dalton said yesterday that his tactics were now to catch SEB and cross the finish line in Miami in fourth place.

He said it was incredibly frustrating to see the fleet so close together yet be split by the winds which hit the leaders but bypassed the rest of the fleet.

"The breeze just kept going and for the last five days they have gained in every single shift and we have been left to pick up the scraps.

"It has been very, very tough.

"Our race now is for fourth, to try to catch SEB, and even that is a big ask. If we pick up SEB we will remain second overall."

Dalton admitted that illbruck was a faster boat and if American skipper John Kostecki took it across the line first in Miami, he would win the race overall.

Dalton said the illbruck team had spent the last four years preparing extremely well and had used the time with New Zealand designer Bruce Farr to produce a hull shape that was half a knot quicker when it was powered up in the breeze.

"They are nothing fancy in the light, but when the breeze is in a bit and they are powered up, they are quick, real quick."

Dalton said the forecast for the next few days was for more light trade winds as they headed into the Caribbean and the finish line in Miami.

- NZPA

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