Daybreak arrival for Dalton |
| Friday, 15 November 2002 |
| DAYBREAK ARRIVAL FOR DALTON
In the shadow of Table Mountain, Hexagon sailed into Cape Town today 4:54hrs local time (2:54 GMT).
An exhilarated Graham Dalton on board ‘Hexagon’ was cheered into port by a welcome crowd of HSBC employees as he completed the second leg of the Around Alone round the world yacht race from Torbay, UK to Cape Town, South Africa at 04:54hrs (2:54 GMT/UTC), 15th November 2002.
Graham completed the 6,880 nautical mile journey in 31 days, 15 hours, 54 minutes and 12 seconds finishing fourth.
Graham said, “The last few miles seemed to take forever. Once I was in the shadow of Table Mountain, it was difficult to get any breeze at all. You won't need a slow motion replay for this finish.
"It was a very tough leg mentally and physically. We started the race head on into a Force 9 storm, then had our patience tested in the Doldrums. Throughout, we have been challenged by the sea, our boats and our own limitations and it feels great to have successfully finished such a mammoth leg.
"My thoughts now are on preparing for the next leg, and also with the skippers who are still out there racing – some of those smaller boats still have a long way to go”, said Dalton.
While in Cape Town, Graham and other international skippers will take part in the HSBC Global Education Challenge Road Show – an interactive experience for 9 to 12 year olds living in Cape Town. The show will take place from the 27th – 29th of November and aims to host over 3,000 pupils over three days at schools that have been ‘partnered’ with schools in the UK who are taking part in the Challenge.
Graham commented, “The one constant in this very long leg has been the support we have received from the children following the race online. This race is not about sailing, it is about going out and achieving a goal, realising a dream, and doing your personal best. It is also about learning from each other; this is a round the world race, with an international fleet of skippers who learn from each other, just as children can learn about other parts of the world through our education programme.”
The next leg of the round the world race will begin at 12pm (1400hrs GMT/UTC) from Cape Town on the 14th of December and will see the racing fleet sail across the Indian Ocean, through the Tasman Sea and into Tauranga, New Zealand. One of the longest race legs at 7,125 nautical miles, the first yacht is expected to complete this leg on the 11th of January 2003.
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