THE SIDELINES : Racer Survives a Broken Mast
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SYDNEY, Australia — French sailor Isabelle Autissier finished the second leg of the BOC Around The World solo yacht race today despite breaking a mast in Bass Strait, 600 nautical miles south of Sydney.
Autissier, 36, the only woman in the 21-yacht fleet for the 27,000 nautical-mile race, finished the leg in 11th place.
Autissier, sailing Ecureuil Poitou Charente, said she never had doubted she would finish the leg from Cape Town, South Africa.
“I was sure to be here in Sydney,” Autissier said after her 32-day journey. “I have two masts on my boat so you can always do something to go on.”
She estimated loss of the mast cost her three days sailing time. She was in sixth place at the time of the failure.
South African John Martin, sailing Allied Bank, won the second leg of the race and is the overall leader.
The yachts will leave Sydney for Punta del Este in Uruguay in February and then sail to the finish in Newport, R.I.
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