Sailing: Stamm survives damage to win Around Alone leg

Bernard Stamm guided his damaged boat through stormy seas to reach the New Zealand port of Tauranga yesterday and win the 7,125-mile third leg of the Around Alone race.

As the Swiss yachtsman crossed the line with torn sails and with large sections of his hull falling apart, the tiller fell off in his hands. He completed the leg from Cape Town, South Africa, to Tauranga on New Zealand's North Island in 25 days, 12 hours, 24 minutes, 43 seconds – two days inside the record for the leg.

Stamm took the lead shortly after the start on 14 December and held it across the Southern Ocean, during which his yacht reached speeds of 30 knots and made daily runs of up to 400 miles. He described the last 36 hours of the race, battling gale-force winds and high seas, as "hell". "The wind picked up to 45 knots from the southeast and I had to beat all the way to the finish," he said.

The Frenchman Thierry Dubois, in second place, had 200 miles to run to the finish while New Zealand's Graham Dalton was 425 miles from the end. The Briton Emma Richards lay fifth, nearly 950 nautical miles from the finish.

The 7,850-mile fourth leg from Tauranga to Brazil is due to start on 9 February.