Sailor enjoys equator thriller (From Barry And District News)

Sailor enjoys equator thriller

A BARRY man on a round the world yacht race is part of team Samsung who crossed the equator in first place.

Rhod Phillips, who went to Barry Boys Comprehensive School, is taking part in the 2004 BT Global Challenge.

He grew up in Barry and went to St Helen's Junior School. The 35-year-old is in the crew of 17 amateur yachtsman.

The Samsung team crossed the equator but the front of the fleet were making small gains on their lead. Samsung is still forging ahead with an impressive lead over its closest rival, VAIO.

The crew will have to stay on their toes as speeds across the fleet have picked up considerably.

BG SPIRIT and VAIO have been powering along at a healthy 9.2 knots, and many of the yachts are consistently reporting boat speeds of 8 knots and above.

These increased speeds indicate that most of the fleet should be through the worst of the doldrums and are now racing in earnest again.

This will be much to the relief of the crews, who have been describing their frustrations and discomfort at being stuck in the doldrums.

Rhod's wife has been extremely accommodating of his ambition to sail the wrong way round the world. Rhod said: "She thinks this is a great idea as she's in training to be a solicitor and wants me out of her hair! She's been very supportive of me taking part in the Global Challenge, but can't understand why anyone would want to spend forty-day stretches on a boat with no gin and tonic!"

He set off on Sunday October 3 from Portsmouth and is racing with ten other yachts going the wrong way around the world.

They are also raising money for Save the Children. He will not return to his home in London for another eight months and has to find a new job. Rhod gave in his notice for the engineering job he has in Algeria.