Steinlager 2 Dominating Whitbread Race

New Zealand’s Steinlager 2 is proving to be in a class by itself in the Whitbread around the world yacht race.

The red-hulled maxi-racer was first across the finish line Monday night in the race’s fourth leg, just as it was in the previous three.

Steinlager 2 completed the 6,255 miles from Auckland, New Zealand, 21 minutes and 18 seconds ahead of Fisher and Paykel, another New Zealand yacht.

The British sloop Rothmans arrived this morning.

Of the 19 other vessels in the race, which began Sept. 2 at Southampton, England, Charles Jourdan of France was in the lead to finish fourth and Merit of Switzerland held fifth. On March 17, the 22 remaining yachts are to depart for Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., and then back to England, for a distance of 33,000 miles.

The previous three legs were from England to Punta del Este, to Fremantle, Australia, to Auckland and then around the tip of South America to return to this Uruguayan port, and all three belonged to Steinlager 2.

“I believe the difference has been that we studied the weather and our boat was adapted optimally for light winds,” Peter Blake, captain of the 84-foot craft, said of the latest victory. “We always had two of 15 crew members doing nothing else but studying the weather and choosing the direction to follow.”

After four legs, Steinlager’s time stands at 115 days, 13 hours, 21 minutes and 16 seconds. Fisher and Paykel--which has finished the stages in third, fourth, second and second--trailed at 117 days, 10 hours, 14 minutes and 17 seconds.