Tas: Bullimore nears Hobart ahead of record attempt

AAP General News (Australia)
12-01-2006
Tas: Bullimore nears Hobart ahead of record attempt

HOBART, Dec 1 AAP - British sailor Tony Bullimore is within eyesight of Tasmania's
south-west cape as he nears Hobart ahead of his bid to break the solo world circumnavigation
record.

The 67-year-old English yachtsman's latest website report says he is hopeful of reaching
Hobart before nightfall.

"If we can get there before nightfall, well and good," he writes.

"If we are later (crossing Storm Bay), then I plan to hold off until first light on Saturday."

Interest in Bullimore's latest visit to Australia has been intense since the failure
earlier this month of communications aboard his yacht Doha 2006, as it sailed across the
Indian Ocean from Qatar.

With satellite communications down, there were concerns Bullimore and his four crew
had run into strife.

Bullimore's boat left the West Australian port of Albany last Friday but the final
leg of the journey has not been trouble-free.

He says there was a "slight problem" with a running backstay yesterday when a shackle
"exploded with a bang".

"No drama, the boys soon had the problem fixed, but we cut down our speed in these
short, sharp seas," he says.

"We are currently doing 13 knots with just a headsail up, but once the wind goes a
little further round we will put up more canvas."

Bullimore will spend up to two weeks in Hobart while he prepares the 31-metre Doha
2006 for his record attempt.

He hopes to sail around the world in 70 days, breaking the current record of 71 days,
14 hours, 18 minutes and 33 seconds set last year by Dame Ellen MacArthur.

Bullimore, a controversial figure in Australian sailing, was plucked from the Southern
Ocean in 1997 in a $6 million Australian navy rescue operation after spending five days
trapped in the hull of his upturned yacht.

AAP rgr/jt

KEYWORD: BULLIMORE

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