23:18:30 UTC 31 Jan 41-year-old Dutch sailor has completed her journey. Since the start in Les Sables d’olonne it took 214 days, 12 hours, 18 minutes and 43 seconds.
“Bravo, Mark! You did what nobody has been able: took second place in the Golden Globe Race!” just kidding fans of the Slats in social networks.
January 28, the day before the finish of Jean-Luc van den Heede (Jean Luc Van Den Heede), Manager of the coast team of Slats directly contacted him, that the sailor was fined 36 hours. 18 hours awarded for “illegal” the session and 18 for the behavior of the Manager, who before this call had a fight with the organizing Committee of the GGR. Because the race rules specified that the penalty could not be worked out at sea in the Bay of Biscay, this time will be added to the result of the Slats on the finish. From punishment in the form of transition to the class Chichester the Dutchman was only saved by the fact that the race organising Committee decided that the sailor had not received benefits in relation to other participants.
Despite the late hour and the preceding a long difficult journey, on the banks of the Slats looked cheerful. He only said that it is very like to eat steak, and again complained about the lack of fresh water — of the last drops of that two-gallon reserve, which he did a manual Watermaker, a yachtsman in the morning, got a Cup of coffee.
“So drink the champagne!” — cheered up the Slats Jean-Luc van den Heede who came to greet the comrade and gave him an impromptu “press conference”.
According to the Slats, the most difficult moment of the race for him was the September day when storms in the Indian ocean suffered Abilash Tom (Abhilash Tomy) and Gregor Macguckin (Gregor McGuckin). Sailor told me that on that day all the participants several times linked to each other to check how things are going, so when the Indian and the Irishman suddenly came on the air, he was pretty worried.
But the most happy day, as it turned out, the Slats had to wait for almost the entire race. According to him, the most positive emotions he experienced when three days before the finish, approaching the Spanish La Coruna, where he had to hide from the storm, he learned that the weather allows you to go directly to Les-Sables-d’olonne.
“Was very disappointed three days ago, when I went to La Coruna. Thought I would have to hide there. And I didn’t want to go there,” admitted the sailor.
The “saviors” of the Dutchman was the team of one of the large ships coming to the Cape Finisterre. After a half-hour conversation with the captain and discuss fresh of the weather forecast revealed that the yachtsman can turn to North and go straight to the finish of the race.
“The waves are bad, but I don’t care! 🙂 Almost there!” — happily wrote the Slats 30 Jan.
Next to finish should come Estonian , Randmaa Uku (Uku Randmaa
) and the American Kopar Istvan (Istvan Kopar). At last count, which Randmaa shared on January 31, he left to go to the equator 200 nautical miles. Kopar is 800 nautical miles behind the Estonian. According to the tracker, in Les Sables-d’olonne they will come in the first half of March.
Finn Tapio Lehtinen (Tapio Lehtinen) hopes finally to round Cape horn and out into the Atlantic ocean next week.
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