The start of Leg 2 of the Around Alone race finally got underway from Torbay Harbour in England at noon on Monday, Oct. 14. The original start of Leg 2 was delayed due to bad weather over the weekend. The safety issue is not the yachts' ability to handle high winds and rough seas, but the fact that they have to be towed to the start after their prop shafts are sealed for racing. All of the skippers agreed with race director Sir Robin Knox-Johnston's decision to delay. To risk the safety of the boats while towing them to the line would have been foolhardy.
Noon local time, 24 hours after the start of Leg 2, finds Graham Dalton’s Hexagon in the lead for Class 1 and Brad Van Liew’s Tommy Hilfiger Freedom America leading the pack of Class 2 boats. Although conditions at the start were good, the weather has begun to deteriorate, bringing with it heavy rain and, according to a report from Hexagon, steady winds of 50 knots.
The racers have a tough leg before them as they head for Capetown, South Africa some 6,880 nm away. The ETA for the first boat in Capetown is Nov. 8.
