Yachting: Man alone sails for Atlantic win

By JULIE ASH


Dodging icebergs, tackling big seas and battling unpredictable weather is nothing new for veteran New Zealand sailor Mike Sanderson.

But one thing will be different when he lines up on Tuesday morning in the gruelling 5600km Transat race from Plymouth to Boston.

Unlike his other competitive races, this time it will be just him, his boat and the sea ... no fellow crewmen.

"If anyone has to go up the rig it will be me, if anyone has to change fuel filters it will be me. It is just a matter of being so hands on," Sanderson said.

The Transat single-handed race, established in 1960, is one of the most challenging offshore races.

The participants face unpredictable Atlantic weather, opposing currents of the Gulf stream and fog on the way to Boston.

The most direct route is to follow the Great Circle (about 4500km) or the Rhumb Line (about 4600km) but both usually carry the risk of headwinds and/or icebergs.

Alternatively, the Northern Route (5000km) carries an even higher likelihood of icebergs but has more favourable winds and current.

"It will be very tactical," Sanderson said.

"In all my sailing in the past, I have been able to go down and call on some very world-famous navigators. This will be calling on a whole new set of skills of mine."

Sanderson, the only New Zealander in the race, will sail Pindar, a refitted 60ft (18m) yacht which was originally Graham Dalton's Hexagon.

There are 15 entries in the 60ft monohull class and Sanderson's toughest opposition is likely to be from Switzerland's Bernard Stamm, Britain's Mike Golding and Frenchman Jean-Pierre Dick, whose boat Virbac was built in Auckland.

One of the race favourites, Frenchman Roland Jourdain, was forced to withdraw after keel problems.

"There are probably about a dozen sailors who could win it," Sanderson said.

"We have a great boat, a great programme, a fantastic sponsor in Pindar. I am incredibly spoiled for my first single-handed race. "

Sanderson, 33, was a trimmer on Grant Dalton's New Zealand Endeavour when it won the 1993-1994 Whitbread round-the-world yacht race. He was also watch captain on Grant Dalton's Merit Cup when it finished second in 1997-1998.

More recently he sailed for Oracle BMW Racing in the last America's Cup and is the helmsman on the record-breaking super maxi Mari Cha IV.

"Having come from such a different environment like the Volvo and the America's Cup ... it [single-handed sailing] is so different. I have a huge amount of respect for the people who have been successful in the single-handed game."

"In Europe it is such a big sport, it is definitely a part of the sport that New Zealanders could potentially be very good at because generally we are pretty good all-round sailors."