Yachting: Picture perfect surprise for skipper Dalton

By JULIE ASH and NZPA

An exhausted Grant Dalton couldn't help but smile when shown a photo of his baby daughter in Cape Town yesterday.

After 31 days at sea, Dalton's Amer Sports One finished second to Germany's illbruck in the first leg of the Volvo round-the-world race which started in Southampton on September 23.

With both feet hardly on dry land, Dalton was shown a computer photo of his daughter taken just minutes after her seven-week-premature birth on Tuesday.

"She is very small so it is hard to say who she looks like," he said.

"I was incredibly disappointed not to have been there. It was a very anxious time, but my wife, Nicki, did very well."

The baby, which is yet to be named, is the third child for the Daltons. They already have a daughter, Eloise, 10, and son, Mack, 7.

While he planned an immediate review of his boat's performance, Dalton said his priority was to see his wife and daughter.

"I'm coming home," he said. "They're fine. She's very little as a prem baby.

"She was supposed to arrive when I got to Sydney in the second leg ... but I'll be home on Saturday."

Dalton will spend a week with his family in Auckland before returning to Cape Town for the start of the second leg on November 11.

His crew held the lead for more than a week before surrendering it to illbruck 200 miles from the finish.

Amer Sports One finished two hours behind illbruck, which has six New Zealanders on board. Illbruck's time was 31d 6h 19m 49s.

The two boats had cleared out from the rest of the fleet, but the longer preparation time for the German team over the Finnish/Italian entry was critical.

Dalton's Mani Frers-designed boat was launched only a few months ago, whereas illbruck's Bruce Farr boat has been on the water for considerably longer.

Dalton said he could not complain about getting second.

"It wasn't a surprise to be beaten by illbruck. They are a class act and they have spent a lot of time and money on their campaign.

"We didn't luck out at the end, we just got blown out by a better campaign."

Illbruck, skippered by American John Kostecki, had held an early advantage, but a tactical ploy by Dalton to drive south paid off.

Most of the fleet failed to cover Dalton, preferring to stay east, with only illbruck staying in touch.

In the end, good tactics were not quite enough. Dalton paid the price for a couple of spinnaker blowouts, one of which saw the boat broach, a weaker sail inventory and less preparation.

The remaining six boats are yet to finish.

News Corp, in third place, is expected to arrive today, while Tyco (fourth) and ASSA Abloy (fifth) should finish at the weekend.

At the rear of the fleet, SEB, djuice and Amer Sports Too may not arrive for a week.

Dalton said the split in the fleet came as no surprise, but it was not an indication of what was ahead.

"I still think ASSA Abloy have the fastest boat, even though they haven't done that well in this leg.

"The weather always determines a lot in the first leg and traditionally the field is often split."

Amer Sports One was immediately lifted from the water in Cape Town. The job list will be one of the longest of all teams with damage to both sails and rigging.

"The next leg is a tough one, with the Southern Ocean," Dalton said. "It is a real power leg and we will have to find ways of going faster."

The fleet is expected in Sydney by early December.