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Damage control after Tiscali docks

Only four boats have continued to sail through the storm weather

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SOUTHAMPTON, England -- Italian skipper Simone Bianchetti is assessing his damaged yacht after finally reaching a Spanish port.

Bianchetti's yacht Tiscali was damaged in a weekend storm in the second leg of the Around Alone race. He reached the fishing port of Carino, 40 miles north east of his intended destination of La Coruna where his fellow competitors have been waiting out the storm.

Bianchetti lost a lot of equipment at sea after his mast broke into three pieces on Sunday morning. The hull was being examined in port to see if it was damaged by blows from the broken part of the mast hanging over the side of the boat.

Bianchetti was trailing the six-boat Class 1 fleet by over 600 miles on leg two of the race from England to Cape Town, South Africa when the accident happened.

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As the Around Alone race is based on a points system for each leg and not total elapsed time, Bianchetti will still be able to make up for points lost in leg two during the remaining legs.

Under the race rules, Bianchetti must sail Tiscali to Cape Town to be eligible to continue the race. The winner of the second leg is expected in Cape Town about November 8.

The 28,775-mile five-leg single-handed Around Alone race is held every four years. There are two classes of monohulls from 12m to 18m (40 to 60ft). The race has stopovers in England, Cape Town, Tauranga, New Zealand and Salvador de Bahia, Brazil, before returning to Newport, U.S. in April 2003.

Class 2 skippers and Bruce Schwab in Class 1 are waiting out the storm in Bayona and La Coruna.

Canadian Open 40 skipper Derek Hatfield said the fleet hoped to leave port on Tuesday. "We all feel that the strong southerly winds will be more westerly by then and we will be able to get away from the dock safely."

Only four yachts -- leg one winner Bernard Stamm on Bobst Group/Armor Lux, Briton Emma Richards on Pindar, Thierry Dubois on Solidaires, and New Zealander Graham Dalton on Hexagon -- were continuing to sail.

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