CAPE TOWN, South Africa -- Australian Neville Gosson's 17.5-meter cutter Leda Pier One, whose failure to report position for nearly a month prompted an air and sea alert, was sighted Friday 1,000 miles from Cape Town, officials for the Round-the-World Challenge Race said.
Gosson, who sailed his yacht 11,000 miles from Sydney, Australia, striking a whale and losing several sails en route, was sighted on the Greenwich meridian at latitude 29 degrees south, the officials said.
Frenchman Philipe Jeantot and South African Bertie Reed are leading the race and are already in Cape Town.
Other positions reported Friday were Moonshine, Francis Stokes, U.S., 34.20S, 01.12W; Frantasy, Dan Byrne, U.S., 32.44S, 07.35W; and Koden Okera V, Yukoh Tada, Japan, 34.05S, 00.09W.
