At 06:57 GMT on Wednesday April 25, solo sailor Graham Dalton finally arrived in Norfolk, Virginia, 102 days after leaving Fremantle, Western Australia. Having now finished leg two of the Velux 5 Oceans, he will not be able to complete leg three within race rules and will therefore be classed 'Did Not Start Leg 3'. Dalton will not be classed as a finisher in the Velux 5 Oceans 2006-07. However, after a journey that has captured the imagination of sailing fans and people from all over the world, the determined skipper will still sail back to Bilbao to complete his own personal journey and a monumental solo circumnavigation that is a testament to his character and conviction.
Race rules state that a competitor must spend a mandatory 72 hours in Norfolk and start leg three within one week of the start gun firing. The remaining competitors left Norfolk at 12:20 on Wednesday April 18. This meant that in order to respect the 72 hour rule, Dalton needed to arrive in the Virginian city by 12:20 on Sunday April 15. Although he will now not officially complete the race, he has in fact already completed a solo circumnavigation of the planet, as his qualification for the Velux 5 Oceans was a solo navigation from Norfolk to Bilbao, so his arrival in Norfolk will complete the circle he started in September 2005.
