The Goldfish RIB looks forward to a tense battle today
The Goldfish RIB LionHead roared to victory yesterday in a perfect display of power and guile that had the rest of the Round Britain fleet trailing in its wake.
It brings the Goldfish up to second place overall in the race and perhaps within reach of the leaders Blue FPT.
The result is an exciting comeback for the team after they led mid-race, only to suffer mechanical problems two days ago and drop back an hour in the overall standings.
With just today’s leg to go, the Anglo/Norwegian outfit will be going all out for glory.
The prototype 36-footer is crewed by Norwegians Pal and Henrik Sollie, with Britain’s James Sydenham, who is the UK importer for Goldfish at Salterns Boatyard, Poole.
While most of the fleet took the offshore route yesterday, the Goldfish team opted to go close to the coast and find flatter waters.
The tactic proved a smart one, as they were able to utilise their impressive top speed to romp home ahead of the supremely fast Wettpunkt.com and around half an hour ahead of most of the followers.
Race control said the Goldfish covered the 233 miles at an average of 76mph.
It leaves a tense battle between LionHead and Blue FPT today, with James Sydenham on the Goldfish doing his best to outwit one of the world’s most respected navigators, Dag Pike, on the otherwise Greek-crewed Blue FPT.
Dag, of Bristol, is the oldest man in the race at 75 and is also a defending champion, having been part of the winning crew in the last race in 1984. He will not be giving up the title easily.
