Yachting: US veteran wins second 5 Oceans leg

Brad Van Liew onboard his yacht Le Pengouin. Photo / Ainhoa Sanchez, w-w-i.com

American Brad Van Liew has made it two wins from two ocean sprints, taking line honours in Wellington yesterday morning to claim victory in the second leg of the Velux 5 Oceans solo round-the-world yacht race.

For the 42-year-old from Charleston, South Carolina, it ended a gruelling month-long slog through the Southern Ocean from Cape Town in South Africa alone on his Eco 60 yacht Le Pingouin.

During the leg, the second of five, Van Liew sailed 7682 nautical miles in 30 days, nine hours and 49 minutes at an average speed of 10.53 knots.

His win earns him the maximum 12 points and places him firmly at the top of the leaderboard.

With 40-knot winds whipping up Wellington harbour, Van Liew blasted across the finish line at 7.49am yesterday. First in line to welcome him were wife Meaghan and children Tate, 8, and Wyatt, 6.

"It hasn't really sunk in yet," he said as he stepped on to dry land for the first time in a month. "It's really good to be here. I've now done five Southern Ocean legs and this was by far the hardest. The weather we experienced was different to any other I have seen down there."

Ocean sprint two has seen some of the closest racing so far with positions changing frequently.

After opting to sail up the east coast of New Zealand, Polish skipper Zbigniew "Gutek" Gutkowski is due in Wellington early this morning followed closely by Canadian Derek Hatfield, who has taken a westerly route through the Tasman Sea similar to Van Liew's.

The yachts will be in Wellington until February 6, when they sail for Uruguay.