Fourth consecutive win for van Liew

US skipper first into homeport on the Velux 5 Oceans

Brad van Liew today won his fourth consecutive win out of four legs in the Velux 5 Oceans, sailing into his own hometown of Charleston, South Carolina, to a hero’s welcome.

The people of Charleston turned out in force to cheer on the 43-year-old as he brought an end to the 5,900 mile leg from Punta del Este, Uruguay. After a painfully slow and frustrating final few days at sea which saw him tackle flukey, light winds, van Liew steered his Eco 60 yacht Le Pingouin across the line outside Charleston Harbor at 1658 EST (2058 GMT) to complete the leg in 23 days, four hours and 58 minutes, and averaged 10.6 knots over the course of the sprint.

More than 20 spectator boats hit the water to welcome home van Liew and Le Pingouin including the Charleston pilot boat Fort Moultrie, carrying the solo skipper’s family as well as Velux USA President Tim Miller and dignitaries from the city. Van Liew was even treated to a fly-by from a light aircraft piloted by his former airplane charter business partner.

With clear blue skies and the summer sun beating down, van Liew arrived at Charleston’s Seabreeze Marina at 1900 local time. Among the crowds waiting for him on the dock were his wife Meaghan and children Tate, 9, and Wyatt, 6, who he hasn’t seen since leaving Wellington, New Zealand, on 6 February.

Stepping on to dry land for the first time in more than three weeks, Van Liew said: "I feel delirious and exhausted - it was a heck of a leg. Derek [Hatfield] really laid it down hard and it was a real boat race all the way to the finish. At one point Chris had Derek spooked and Derek had me spooked and it was wide open. It was much tougher than I thought it would be. Having done this race two times previously I have always favoured the left side of the course on this leg and it’s always been the way to go. This time it just wasn’t. It was a pretty scary few days when Derek was taking miles out of my lead. All he had to do was find a little passing lane and come left and that would have been it. Fortunately for me he wasn’t quite able to seal the deal and I worked really hard and was just able to stay between Derek and Charleston.

"For me winning this leg is so special. If I could have chosen just one leg to win it would have been this one. This is my home port, I am very involved in the maritime community in Charleston and all my friends and family are here. It would have been pretty disappointing to have won the previous legs and not win this one. I was very focused and very determined.

"The good news for me now is that mathematically winning over all is pretty much a done deal. The bad news is that I have to make it to La Rochelle to win. That will be my priority now. The reality is I will have to tell myself to focus on getting to La Rochelle in one piece."

Van Liew has so far won every leg of the 30,000 mile Velux 5 Oceans. With just one leg left he is the clear favourite to win the race overall. Van Liew is a veteran of two previous editions of the race, in 1998 and in 2002 when it was known as the Around Alone. In the 2002 edition Brad won every single leg in class two for yachts of 50ft and under.

A well-known figure in Charleston, van LIew was instrumental in the development of the South Carolina Maritime Foundation, a sail training charity which has taken more than 6,000 students sailing since 2007.

Closest rival, Canadian Derek Hatfield, is expected to arrive in Charleston on his Eco 60 Active House tomorrow to claim second place.

Positions at 0000 GMT

Skipper / distance to finish (nm) / distance to leader (nm) / distance covered in last 24 hours (nm) / average speed in last 24 hours (kts)
Brad Van Liew, Le Pingouin: Finished at 20:58 UTC on Tuesday April 20
Derek Hatfield, Active House: 111.6 / 0 / 137.9 / 5.7
Chris Stanmore-Major, Spartan: 333 / 221.4 / 83.8 / 3.5
Zbigniew Gutkowski, Operon Racing: 3205 / 3093.4 / 0 / 0