Hugh Piggins’ Open 50 Gryphon Solo is expected to claim overall Charleston to Bermuda (C2B) line honours today as the 777-nautical mile race heads for an anti-climactic finish in light winds.

Piggins and crew have led the classic blue water voyage for all but 25 minutes following last Friday’s colourful start in Charleston Harbour, South Carolina. And if all goes according to script skipper and crew should have plenty of reason to celebrate at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club late this afternoon.

“The first boat will arrive tomorrow and in the lead is Gryphon Solo<$>,” C2B press officer Meaghan Van Liew confirmed. “It is calculated that Piggin and his crew should reach Bermuda by Tuesday shortly before 4 p.m.”

Gryphon Solo was clocked travelling at 4.8 knots as she continued to make slow but steady progress yesterday, some 239 miles from the St.David’s finish followed by nearest rival>Lunas Danns and current Spinnaker Class A leader EmOcean.

“We haven’t seen anything except one large cargo ship, but we’re starting to see a few longtail birds,” Gryphon Solo crew member Susan Ford radioed in yesterday.

“It’s been pretty pleasant since the Gulf Stream and we haven’t had to tack or jibe since the Charleston Harbour jetties which is pretty amazing.

“We’re a little slow. The wind has dropped and we’re averaging about eight knots.”

Light winds have forced three boats to withdraw from the race, thus reducing the fleet to 15. And among those to throw in the towel was Teddy Turner, son of media mogul Ted Turner, who is now heading to the Island under power.

“I’ve got family commitments and have to be in Bermuda by Wednesday,” he explained. “The weather forecast indicated that we won’t have much wind for about 30 hours and so we unanimously opted to take the fastest way there.”

Richard Meunow’ Ageless Adventure and Mark Weber’s Nova, meanwhile, have both turned back, having also succumbed to the light air conditions.

“We just didn’t see any weather coming our way in the forecast and several of us have commitments onshore that we’re obligated to meet,” Weber explained.