Sport Features

16th NOVEMBER 2006:

Devon yachtsman Sir Robin Knox-Johnston is having problems with the autopilot of his yacht, as he continues his battle against technology and the elements in the 2006 Velux 5 Oceans race.

Sir Robin, who in in 5th place, believes the dodgy equipment could prove dangerous.

He said: "We may have a very nasty disease developing aboard, Dementia Autopilotus. The port autopilot has refused to operate at all, it just tweets to itself and flashes.

"But today the starboard pilot suddenly became infected and switched itself off, said it had no Sea Talk, then no pilot, then it said Standby. That means it had switched itself off and was waiting for me to give it instructions, which I duly did.

"What worries me is that this might happen at any time, and if it happened when running fast before a storm in the Southern Ocean that could be thoroughly dangerous."

Sir Robin is also having to fix broken battens in his mainsail. He is 2,000 miles behind leader Bernard Stamm and is frustrated at this latest setback.

Sir Robin inside the yacht (OnEdition)

He told the Velux 5 Oceans website: "Every batten except the top one is broken. I'm working my way through them but I don't have the right equipment to fix it, so it's all very painstaking.

"I find it depressing to see how much distance I've lost. We're just idling along because we can't drive along nicely without the mainsail working properly, so that's my priority."

The veteran yachtsman rejoined the race, after emergency repairs to his yacht, Saga Insurance, which was damaged shortly after the start of the single-handed, round-the-world race.

Sir Robin, from Ipplepen in Devon, had to return to port at La Coruña, Northern Spain, after his yacht capsized during a severe storm in the Bay of Biscay on 24th October.

He reported by e-mail that his yacht had been rolled during the night in roughly 110 kph (70 mph) winds and huge waves.

"Rolled last night. Section of mast track bent. Can't remove all the screws so sail stuck."

Sir Robin suffered damage to his mast and communications equipment during the incident.

Sir Robin at the start of the race (OnEdition)

The horrendous weather had already forced three other boats in the 2006 Velux 5 Oceans Race to return to harbour just 24 hours into the contest. No serious injuries were reported.

Under the race rules, Sir Robin was given a 48-hour time penalty, but he was unable to rejoin the race until Saturday 28th October because of the repairs which were needed.

As he set off to rejoin the race, Sir Robin said: "I think my confidence in Saga Insurance has been increased by all this.

"I have discovered she is a very tough little girl and also a very good sea boat. I was very comfortable with her during the gale."

The race began from Bilbao, Spain, on Sunday, 22nd October with eight skippers.

Race favourites Mike Golding and Alex Thomson, both of Britain, and Spanish sailor Unai Basurko also turned back after suffering sail and gear damage.

Defending champion Bernard Stamm of Switzerland and Kojiro Shiraishi of Japan continued after surviving the beating.

The Devon yachtsman bemoaned his bad luck in sustaining the damage: "We all went through the same stuff, just some of us were luckier than others, I think is the way I'd put it.

"Some boats will get hit by a wave and some won't and those that were lucky enough not to be hit by a wave have been able to carry on and good luck to them. I'm just annoyed that I'm not amongst them."

Race director David Adams said the yachts were hit with gusts of up to 130 kph (80 mph) and waves possibly reaching 14 metres (45 feet).

"The boats have been facing extremely violent storms," Adams said.

"The main problem is that you can't slow these Formula-1 boats down and they simply crash on through. It is bone-breaking action."

In 1969 Sir Robin became the first person to sail non-stop around the world alone, and at 67 he is the oldest participant in the Velux 5 Oceans.

He was 30 when he took 312 days to circumnavigate the world in his 32ft wooden yacht Suhaili in the Sunday Times Golden Globe race. He was the only competitor to finish.

"I didn't enter this race (Velux 5 Oceans Race) just to participate," he has previously said.

"People often think that life winds down for the over 50s, but this simply isn't true."

Sir Robin is returning to racing after a self-imposed retirement since his wife died from cancer.

Photos: © OnEdition.