Yachting: Lone Kiwi finishes second

By Suzanne McFadden

Kiwi solo sailor Chris Sayer battled violent seasickness as his tiny boat was pounded by a storm as he was trying to cross the Atlantic.

Sayer yesterday finished second in the first leg of the singlehanded transatlantic race, arriving in Lanzarote in the Canary Islands an exhausted but happy man.

Making his Mini-Transat race debut, Sayer had to battle illness and almost lost the mast of his 6.5m boat Navman during his nine days at sea.

Seventy boats started from Concarneau in France, but more than half the fleet withdrew after being hit by 50-knot gusts in the Gulf of Gascogne. Many of the boats were dismasted.

Sayer went through hell as his boat was tossed around - he regularly suffers from seasickness.

"I was pretty ill in the Gulf of Gascogne and life was just horrible," the Auckland boatbuilder said when he stepped ashore yesterday.

"But I felt safe inside the boat as it sailed itself for quite some time - thanks no doubt to the 12,000 miles I have done in her already."

Sayer built the cedar and fibreglass boat himself, starting the project five years ago, labouring away every night after work.

He estimates he has put $60,000 and 1200 hours' labour into his campaign.

There were gear problems during the first leg, but nothing that could not be fixed with a little Kiwi ingenuity.

"During the night I lost a rigging screw. To save my rig from falling down I had to tack and get the screwdriver out to make a full repair," he said.

"I had to keep tacking off Cap Finisterre because of the rig problems.

"But after correcting the mast and having a few problems with the storm jib, I always felt totally confident in my boat, which was definitely built for the sea."

It was a lonely journey for Sayer, who trailed Frenchman Sebastien Magnen into port by seven hours.

"I haven't been in contact with anyone from the start in Concarneau until I arrived," he said.

"My real challenge was trying to understand the weather forecast - even in English!"

Sayer got the conditions he wanted - heavy winds - and even managed to hold off Frenchman Pierre-Yves Moreau in the approach to the Canaries when the winds lightened.

Magnen won the first leg despite breaking his autopilot during the storm and having very little sleep for a week.

"The experience was very much like being in a washing machine - my head was banged against the boat incessantly," he said.

The second and final leg of the 4070-mile race to Guadeloupe starts on October 26.

In the meantime, Sayer is grabbing some much needed sleep.