| THE FINAL CHAPTER OF A CORINTHIAN STORY |
| It was a long night for Will Sayer (Elmarleen). With the night glow of Newport so tantalisingly close he was stuck in a hole with no wind. This was the final page of the final chapter of Will’s Corinthian dream. A project that started in 2001 when Will bought the dilapidated Sigma 33 now known as ‘Elmarleen‘. A boat, Will says, that he would not have sailed out of Cowes at that time, she was in such a poorly state. Will stripped her, he ripped her apart then lovingly rebuilt her. And now she has withstood the rigours of a Transatlantic Race.When Elmarleen crossed the finish line at 0900 EDT today she was overall IRC winner on handicap of OSTAR 2009. Quite an achievement for boat and skipper. A first time venture across the Atlantic for Elmarleen and Will’s first attempt at single handed racing. Will thinks the race was not as hard as he had expected. Conditions in the North Atlantic were atypical for the time of year, permitting sustained periods of steady downwind sailing in this traditionally upwind race. But the race was not without its difficulties. Gear failure: a lower shroud gave way on the second night out, could have finished his race but Will is pleased to tell us that his ‘cobbled repair’ withstood a further 3000 miles at sea. When Tamarind (Mervyn Wheatley) crossed the line in Newport at 1317 EDT today she was fourteenth over the line, second overall on corrected time and first in IRC Class 3 on corrected time. This may sound rather technical, but in OSTAR 2009 Mervyn was defending his 2005 OSTAR titles – IRC Class Title and Overall Winner on IRC handicap. The ever immaculate Mr Wheatley stepped ashore and commented that his 13th Atlantic crossing was very comfortable and went pretty much according to his Royal Marine precision planning. Mervyn went on to say that only two fish, presented themselves on his deck, but sadly they were too small to eat,so the ballast of jumbo peanuts was continually plundered.
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