Tony Bullimore who was forced to abandon his global record attempt last week (11 May) see previous news story here, is now almost due west of Wellington and plans to continue his northerly course until the winds turn south-westerly on Tuesday. This will allow him to tack north-west towards Auckland. The British yachtsman is heading there to repair rigging damage on his 102ft catamaran Doha.

Neither Bullimore nor his catamaran are in any danger, but he is battling against very strong headwinds that have been gusting up to 50 knots at times. Commenting yesterday, Bullimore said: “Its very rough out here. I am trying to keep the speed down to stop the boat from slamming too much, and have just the storm sail set at the moment.”

Lee Bruce, Team Bullimore’s weather router advised Tony overnight: “If we assume similar N to NNE progress, you should be in a lighter wind field in about 24 hours.”

Meanwhile, Tony remains typically bullish about the future, planning a repair programme that will allow him to restart the Blue Ocean Wireless Round the World Challenge as soon as possible.