Canadian’s on-the-water battle with Gutek set to go to the wire
VETERAN solo sailor Derek Hatfield has vowed to fight tooth and nail to beat rival ocean racer Zbigniew ‘Gutek’ Gutkowski into Wellington in the second sprint of the VELUX 5 OCEANS. The pair have been locked in a bitter Southern Ocean duel for more than three weeks, constantly trading second and third positions and at one point were less than five nautical miles apart.
After taking third place in the first sprint of the VELUX 5 OCEANS from La Rochelle to Cape Town, Active House skipper Derek vowed to push even harder in the second sprint through the Southern Ocean from Cape Town to Wellington in New Zealand. And that is just what the 58-year-old has been doing, chasing race leader Brad Van Liew hard while locking horns with Gutek in the battle for second place. With less than a week left at sea, Derek said his fight with his Polish rival could go down to the wire.
“It will be interesting to see who gets to Wellington first – the race is about to get even more exciting,” said Derek, who was at the last position report in third place, 28.7 nautical miles behind Gutek. “We seem to be matching each other boat-wise and we’re in the same stretch of water so the weather conditions are similar. I am very competitive and I will fight tooth and nail to beat Gutek because we are so close. That said, one of the great things about the VELUX 5 OCEANS is that you can be fierce competitors on the water and the best of friends off the water.
“Of course, I am still keeping an eye on Brad too. He’s about a day and a half ahead of us right now, and although I would never wish any bad luck on anyone, one little breakage and he could be slowed right up. Yacht races are never over until you are across the finish line.”
Following the aftermath of the big storm that swept through the fleet last week the VELUX 5 OCEANS skippers have been enjoying more favourable conditions for several days. Their next challenge comes in the form of a high pressure system that is lying in wait for them as they sail south of the Australian island of Tasmania.
Derek added: “It will be interesting to see first of all how everyone handles this high pressure system and then which way they are going to round New Zealand to get into Wellington. Brad will be looking over his shoulder to see which way we are lining up to go and we’re looking forward to see which way he’s going to go. It can be a real deciding factor.”
Ocean sprint two positions at 00h00 UTC:
Skipper / distance to finish (nm) / distance to leader (nm) / distance covered in last 24 hours (nm) / average speed in last 24 hours (kts)
Brad Van Liew, Le Pingouin: 1300.7/ 0 / 223.1 / 9.3
Zbigniew Gutkowski, Operon Racing: 1609.8/ 309.1 / 283.5/ 11.8
Derek Hatfield, Active House: 1638.6/ 337.8/ 240.3/ 10
Chris Stanmore-Major, Spartan: 2228.4/ 927.6/ 240.5 / 10
