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SOUTHAMPTON, UK - 10 months after they left Southampton in a fierce Autumn gale, GLOBAL TEAMWORK match-raced Nuclear Electric through the Needles, up the Solent past Cowes, and onto Southampton Water, crossing the finish line at red Hythe Knock buoy at 7:30 PM local time. Her time of 17 days, 59 minutes and 17 seconds from Boston to Southampton, brings her to a total of 169 days, 20 hours, 27 minutes, 56 seconds for the entire 30,000 mile circumnavigation. For skipper Merfyn Owen, finishing his first around the world race, sixth place overall puts him at the top of the first-timer pack and ahead of two veteran Challenge captains. For the crew of GLOBAL TEAMWORK, the final leg was marked by light winds and frustrating results until last weekend, when a bold northerly move leap-frogged them into seventh place and most likely earnt them the fastest noon to noon run of the leg, although it's yet to be confirmed by race officials. " I'd like to do this again ", said skipper Merfyn Owen, who took a year's leave from the Owen Clarke Design Group, his Dartmouth-based Yacht Design firm, to compete in the BT Global Challenge. And his crew ? " The hardest thing is going to be getting used to not being with the whole Challenge Business family ", commented core crew Rhian Jenkins of Swansea. For Jenkins and about half the GLOBAL TEAMWORK crew, the finish line marks the beginning of a radical career change. But even for those with jobs and families to return to, the rest of the week will be marked by sad farewells. In the words of an old sea shanty, " the voyage is done, and the winds don't blow, and it's time for us to leave her ".
Kate Ford |
 bt.com |
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