AFTER three days of the most extreme and demanding sailing, Silk Cut, the British entry in the 1997/98 Whitbread Round the World Race, crossed the Baltimore finish line at the end of leg seven, in fifth place.

The 870 nautical miles from Fort Lauderdale to Baltimore saw skipper, Bury's Lawrie Smith, and his crew battle through some of the most atrocious conditions experienced so far during this Whitbread Race.

For the first day the fleet enjoyed a southerly breeze and this, combined with the north flowing Gulf Stream current allowed Silk Cut to make good progress north.

Then, as predicted a weather front brought strong northerly winds, throwing the sea into violent and confused state. The pounding was so severe that Silk Cut's' Satcom B unit sheared off its mounting, depriving navigator, Vincent Geake of vital weather information. This is the second time the Satcom B unit has failed in this way during the race.

"Losing the Satcom B unit always makes it difficult," commented Smith, "shortly after the start the unit went down with the same old problem that has dogged us throughout the race. We just don't get any weather information which puts us in an immediate disadvantage. "Then the unit sheared off its mounting and was bouncing around the bottom of the boat. We had to lash it down to stop it smashing a hole through the hull.

"In such a short leg it was always going to be difficult to catch anyone that got away. About twenty four hours in we fell into a hole and the others got away, we kept pushing as hard as we could but just couldn't get on terms with them."

Silk Cut was locked in a head to head battle with Innovation Kvaerner for the last thirty hours. As the two boats entered the Chesapeake Bay they were less than a mile apart and they continued to match race for well over 100 miles down the Bay to Baltimore.

"The last few miles were very difficult," said watch leader, Gordon Maguire.

"We have all been to hell and back and everyone is very tired. We tried everything we could to catch Kvaerner. We've been virtually match racing them for the last thirty hours. We traded places almost all the way north. They managed to get past us again in the Bay and then we caught them, only for them to creep past about twenty miles from the finish.

"It's been one hell of a ride up here and I'm very pleased to be here at last. Although it was only three days it's been very, very tough. The steep chop made it very bumpy, at times we wondered how much more the boat could take!"

Silk Cut finished just sixty three minutes behind the first boat, giving Lawrie and the crew sixty points for the leg, taking the total to 459, sixth position overall, with two legs remaining - Annapolis to La Rochelle and La Rochelle to Southampton, where the race finishes on May 24.

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