GOING SOLO ON THE HIGH SEAS USC GRADUATE LEADS AROUND-THE-WORLD YACHTING RACE.Byline: Kirby Lee Special to the Daily News Brad Van Liew won't be home for Christmas or New Year. Van Lieu will be spending the holidays alone somewhere in the southern Indian Ocean aboard his 50-foot yacht Tommy Hilfiger Freedom America in his quest to sail around the world in the 2002-03 Around Alone race. Van Lieu, 34, left from New York on Sept. 15 on his 28,000-mile journey that will take about eight months. The race, which is held every four years and is celebrating its 20th anniversary, circumnavigates the globe by way of the five great capes. There are five legs from England, South Africa, New Zealand, Brazil and back to the United States. It is the longest individual competition in any sport. This year's race started in New York Harbor New York Harbor, a geographic term, refers collectively to the rivers, bays, and tidal estuaries near the mouth of the Hudson River in the vicinity of New York City. This is sometimes construed in the sense "the Ports of New York and New Jersey". between Ground Zero and the Statue of Liberty Statue of Liberty great symbolic structure in New York harbor. [Am. Hist.: Jameson, 284] See : America Statue of Liberty perhaps the most famous monument to independence. [Am. Hist.: Jameson, 284] See : Freedom in remembrance of the events of Sept, 11, 2001. Van Liew, a USC An abbreviation for U.S. Code. graduate who will begin the race's third leg Dec. 14 from South Africa to New Zealand, managed to get ashore to spend Thanksgiving with his wife, Megan, and 7-month old daughter, Tate Magellan, and he has posted landslide victories in each of the first two legs. During the break, Van Liew received a Christmas present from his family that he has stowed aboard and vows to wait until Dec. 25 to open. ``I hope I'll be able to enjoy the day,'' Van Liew said. ``I tend to really get super-competitive. It becomes addicting, and your adrenaline meter gets pegged. I need to chill out and enjoy the moment of things. If I am not doing really well, I get in a bad mood and angry for myself.'' The Los Angeles resident has been in good spirits Adv. 1. in good spirits - without losing equilibrium; "she took all his criticism in stride" in stride for the majority of the first two legs. He completed the first leg from New York to Toribay, England, in 14 days, 56 minutes, more than 600 miles ahead of his nearest Class II competitor. On the second leg, Van Liew set a monohull A monohull is a type of boat having only one hull, unlike multihulled boats which can have two or more individual hulls connected to one another. Uses This is the most prevalent form of waterborne vessel. It is the most straightforward and intuitive design. record for mileage during a 24-hour period, covering 345.03 miles in a day during one stretch of the 6,880-mile segment. During the 41-day journey he finished 800 miles ahead of second place, Van Liew had to scale the top of his 80-foot mast to repair a chafed chafe v. chafed, chaf·ing, chafes v.tr. 1. To wear away or irritate by rubbing. 2. To annoy; vex. 3. To warm by rubbing, as with the hands. v.intr. halyard hal·yard also hal·liard n. Nautical A rope used to raise or lower a sail, flag, or yard. [Alteration (influenced by yard1) of Middle English halier, from (the device that holds the sail up the mast), battled a debilitating de·bil·i·tat·ing adj. Causing a loss of strength or energy. Debilitating Weakening, or reducing the strength of. Mentioned in: Stress Reduction flu and had a near-collision with a killer whale. To keep the boat moving at optimum speeds, Van Liew sleeps only four hours a day broken into 25-minute naps. He eats dehydrated food while on board, losing an average of a pound a day during each leg. During the second leg that presents a myriad of weather conditions with rough waters on the Bay of Biscay Noun 1. Bay of Biscay - an arm of the Atlantic Ocean in western Europe; bordered by the west coast of France and the north coast of Spain Atlantic, Atlantic Ocean - the 2nd largest ocean; separates North and South America on the west from Europe and Africa on the east and the Doldrums, a region that separates the northern and southern hemispheres, Van Liew shed about 25 pounds. ``It added about 10 years to my age and a lot of gray hairs,'' Van Liew said. ``It was the ultimate mind game. It was very difficult to focus with the stuffy heat, joint aches and stomach problems and precarious weather.'' Things won't get easier on the 7,125-mile third leg from Cape Town, South Africa, to Tauranga, New Zealand, that will take about 35 days. He will head south from Cape Town around Cape Aguhlas, the southernmost tip of Africa, continuing east with Australia and Tasmania to the north, and head north to New Zealand. Van Liew is expected to encounter ice on the deck and icebergs in the water. ``The southern ocean is cold, gray and mean,'' Van Liew said. It was a place Van Liew - a descendent of William Bradford, the first governor of Massachusetts The Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the executive magistrate of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The current governor is Democrat Deval Patrick. Constitutional role , and Stephen Hopkins, a member of the Mayflower Mayflower, ship Mayflower, ship that in 1620 brought the Pilgrims from England to New England. She set out from Southampton in company with the Speedwell, crew - never envisioned navigating when he first began sailing at age 6. Van Liew, a multi-engine commercial pilot, built up his expertise for offshore ocean racing from a multitude of disciplines as a crew member in the Newport, R.I.-to-Bermuda race at age 12, Carlsberg One-Two, a solo transpacific qualifier, and the Atlantic Challenge crewed open-60 regatta. ``I am not going to be doing this forever,'' Van Liew said. ``I wanted to do something in life that was very difficult and with incredible odds. It's like Russian roulette. I just needed to feel my oats oats, cereal plants of the genus Avena of the family Gramineae (grass family). Most species are annuals of moist temperate regions. The early history of oats is obscure, but domestication is considered to be recent compared to that of the other and live this dream. It's like the first time you climb Mt. Everest, and you get to the top and you know you're capable of more.'' CAPTION(S): 3 photos Photo: (1 -- color) Brad Van Lieu will spend the holidays somewhere in the southern Indian Ocean aboard his 50-foot yacht Tommy Hilfiger Freedom America, pictured, in the Around Alone race. (2) The 28,000-mile Around Alone race started in New York on Sept. 15 and will take about eight months. It has reached South Africa. (3) Brad Van Lieu |
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