510 Mile day solo!
ELLEN SAILS HER BIGGEST SPEEDS EVER: an average of 22.1 knots over 18 hours, a 510 mile day only 30 short of the 24 hour solo speed record, also held by Laurent Bourgnon.
* BOURGNON HAD HIS BEST TWO DAYS at the beginning, and also along the direct route, unlike B&Q’s track. Ellen’s time to retake ground will be in the next 48 hours…
* 40 KNOT SQUALL DURING THE NIGHT SENDS B&Q IN TO NEAR CAPSIZE: “we were hit very very hard by one wave, sent us to 35 to 45 degrees or more….absolutely smacked, whole boat was physically thrown, including me and everything inside…” an exhausted Ellen this morning…
* THE SOUTHERLY COURSE required by skirting south of the low pressure system means a much bigger distance to sail for the transatlantic record, but with Ellen’s big distance sailed the chances of a record are still very much on…
* WEATHER UPDATE: OCCLUDED COLD FRONT to pass over B&Q between 0900-1200gmt, and with it a big windshift to the north from the south west finally allowing Ellen to gybe on to the direct course to the north east.
* NEXT MEDIA UPDATE at 1530gmt today
STATISTICS AT 0500GMT 24 JUNE
Elapsed time: 2d 6h 50m
Ahead/behind record: 21h 18m behind
Existing record: 7d 2h 34m 42s
Distance covered: 808
Distance to finish: 2047
Position: 38 35N; 51 00W
Average boat speed (VMG) towards finish so far: 14.69
Average boat speed (VMG) now required to beat record: 17.64
Current boat speed: 17.5
Weather conditions: 24 knots, changeable as front approaches and wind shifts to north. Sea state becoming moderate after rough night.
<
FROM PHONECALL WITH ELLEN THIS MORNING…
“….we had 40 knots of wind, we were down to 3rd reef…and then we were hit very very hard by one wave, that sent us to 35 to 45 degrees maybe more….Absolutely Smacked, the whole boat was physically thrown, including me. Breeze die off from then onwards, since died to 15 knots, so its been from 3 reefs and staysail, right up to full main and genoa, 2 reefs out at once, am totally %^$&&**!.
Breeze is going to clock around, going to have to gybe, and wind will build up again to 30 knots, then we’ll be reaching on the other side, so more sail changes to come. Got a little bit of sleep in the night, but not a lot at all really. Sea state much better now, was really bad. Not going to be any easier day today either. Thank god its getting light now, not much fun in the dark when you can’t see the waves. Can’t see the waves coming. If you were on deck when the big wave hit you’d be over the side.”
WEATHER BRIEFING: from Commander’s Weather:
Thu, June 24
09: 240-270/26-12
12: 280-340/14-20, 39 05N/47 30W
18: 330-360/18-24
Weather: Cloudy to partly cloudy. No big squalls obvious on satellite picture, but a brief squally shower possible this morning and again late afternoon/early evening.
Fri, June 25
00: 320-340/25-30, now we are heading fast at or just S of the finish line!!
06: 310-330/25-35
12: 310-330/18-25, near 42 55N/39 05W
18: 320-340/25-30 g 35 - new surge of wind
Weather: Cloudy to partly cloudy, a few quick hitting, squally showers
Partner of the Day: RED FUNNEL…when Ellen gets back to Europe, this is her way home to Cowes!
Share or bookmark this story:
| This entry was posted on Thursday, June 24th, 2004 at 7:32 am and is filed under Main Stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed. |
