Dutch Boat Wins Latest Whitbread Leg

A seasick skipper and a shrewd British navigator brought Holland’s Brunel Sunergy into Baltimore on Wednesday to win Leg 7 of the Whitbread Round the World Race from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., as America’s two entries again fell far short of a triumphant arrival on their home shore.

The Dutch boat crossed the finish line at Fort McHenry 20 1/2 minutes ahead of Swedish Match, which was only 30 seconds in front of Sweden’s EF Language, the overall race leader which has San Francisco’s Paul Cayard as leader of a half-American crew.

But George Collins’ Chessie straggled into its home waters of Chesapeake Bay in eighth place--next to last. Collins was determined to beat Dennis Conner in Toshiba, who passed him in the last few miles and took seventh place by 10 seconds, the closest finish in Whitbread history. Norway’s Innovation Kvaerner was fourth, followed by Britain’s Silk Cut and Monaco’s Merit Cup. Sweden’s all-woman EF Education was last, as usual.

Brunel Sunergy has been at the front or back of the fleet on every leg, finishing last twice, next to last three times and second on Leg 5 around Cape Horn when it was the only boat to sail outside the Falkland Islands. This time navigator Stuart Quarrie of Britain advised skipper Roy Heiner to break away far to the east at the start, and the move paid off with a quick commanding lead that the superior speed of Swedish Match and EF Language couldn’t grind down.

With its third-place finish, EF Language can clinch the overall victory with a leg to spare by finishing ahead of second-place Swedish Match on the next-to-last leg across the Atlantic starting from Annapolis on May 3.

Most of the crews will need the time to recover. Said Collins: “For this 57-year-old sailor, there is only so much up and down smashing into waves one can take. Someone told me this was an easy and short leg. Nonsense.”