"Spirit of Sark" has won the fourth stage of the BT Global Challenge from Sydney to Cape Town. In an exciting finale, which was characterized by light winds, "BP Explorer" reached the stopover in South Africa as the second yacht after this second section of the race through the Southern Ocean.
"Team Stelmar" and "Imagine It. Done" completed the quartet that had arrived at the Cape of Good Hope so far. At the end of the 6,200-mile distance, it was virtually a match race with four ships. "A very, very close race," said "Spirit of Sark" skipper Duggie Gillespie, "the tension was unbelievable. The smallest mistake would have meant defeat. We only knew we would win five minutes before the finish."
Although she could not win a stage of the world regatta against the wind, the consistently good sailing "BP Explorer" with Holger Bindel, who was born in Thuringia and who has chosen to choose from England, secured the lead in the overall standings with her second place. The stage win gave "Spirit of Sark" second place in the overall standings. All twelve yachts, including the "Me to you" with Birgit Obermüller from Bremerhaven, the first German participant, are so close together that everything is still open on the remaining three stages.
On May 1st the yachts will leave Cape Town for Boston (USA). The regatta ends on 16./17. July in Portsmouth, England.