Endeavor Wins Whitbread; Tokio Sets Mark
Pushed by gusts of 48 knots, Chris Dickson’s Tokio held off the fast-finishing American yacht Winston to win the sixth and final leg of the Whitbread round-the-world race Friday in record-shattering time.
A maxi yacht, New Zealand Endeavor, was the overall winner of the nine-month race. It led the fleet by 45 miles on Wednesday, but as the strong winds filled in from behind, the Whitbread 60s flew past and Grant Dalton’s boat finished the leg fourth.
Endeavor’s overall time of 120 days, 5 hours 9 minutes 23 seconds beat Steinlager’s record by eight days and five hours.
The two Whitbread 60 yachts put on the closest finish in race history.
Tokio broke the mark for the 3,818-mile leg set by Steinlager 2 in 1989-90 by more than four days, finishing in 12 days, 19 hours 36 minutes 27 seconds.
The Winston, skippered by New Zealander Brad Butterworth, made up more than 16 miles in half a day to finish in 12 days, 20 hours 27 minutes, with another Winston 60, Yamaha, third.
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