Fuente info PGOR
21 June, 2009
Beluga Racer takes first place overall in the double-handed class
by Oliver Dewar
Taking second place in Leg 5 of the Portimão Global Ocean Race, Boris Herrmann and Felix Oehme on Beluga Racer crossed the finish line at 08:04:42 UTC on Sunday morning (21/09), winning first place overall for the double-handed class in this round the world event with a total of 55.5 points to the second place Chilean team of Felipe Cubillos and José Muñoz on Desafio Cabo de Hornos with a total of 51 points.
Becalmed just seven miles west of the finish line in Portimão, the breeze began to build, then drop again as, Herrmann and Oehme made a succession of tacks into light wind blowing directly down the Arade River and at a right angle to the finish line between the breakwaters at the river’s mouth. Tacking onto starboard just metres from the western breakwater, Beluga Racer crossed the line after 16 days 17 hours 34 minutes and 42 seconds of racing from Charleston, South Carolina. “It really wasn’t like the other legs,” said Boris Herrmann shortly after he and Oehme cracked open champagne on the VIP race pontoon at the Tivoli Hotel. “There was the whole thing of ‘can we win overall, will we be second or third?’ I tell you, I’m really happy to be here”. The damage sustained to the mast on Beluga Racer early in Leg 5 potentially threw the German’s dominance in the points table into doubt, but a robust, temporary repair and immaculate seamanship ensured that Beluga Racer completed the circumnavigation.
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