January 31, 2005
Orange II at the Equator
The maxi-catamaran Orange II crossed latitude 0° around 1 o’clock GMT this afternoon (Monday 31st January 2005) after 7 days and 3 hours of sailing from the start off Ushant. This first stretch sees her slightly ahead (190 miles) of the time for the Jules Verne Trophy and 534 miles ahead of the absolute round the world crew record, held by the American Steve Fossett. In spite of very different weather conditions from those that were forecast, the giant Orange II covered the 3500 miles at an average speed of 20.1 knots. On the radio link-up today the skipper of Orange II looked back over the first week.
Bruno Peyron : «We crossed the Equator a quarter of an hour ago. We still have very light winds and are only making 10-12 knots, but we have checked on the satellite photos that we are in the right place. Since the Canaries, we have had very light winds. We can see that from the averages, but the good news is that the boat sails quickly in little wind. We shall be coming out of the Doldrums around 1°South and we should then start to pick up speed. In the next few hours, the south easterly trade will be appearing and we should be sailing upwind in a steady twenty knots. Afterwards, we shall be heading due south for two days and trying to pick up the system that is around 20-25°S, and then head off to the left.
A look back at the first week
«The weather was a bit awkward and not really what we were expecting. Looking back, we clearly made one or two little errors. We could have avoided the calm zone off Cape Verde by heading south after the Canaries. As far as the boat is concerned, it’s absolutely fabulous. The boat was well prepared and we haven’t had any problems with her. Concerning the team, they’ve given their all. On board there is the spirit we were expecting and it’s just great. We are arriving at the Equator with a boat that is balanced and well run in. We’re not asking ourselves too many questions about what has to be done and when to do it. There are points to check during each watch. When it is a little calmer, we check the 50-metre high mast. We check the halyard rubbing points. It’s all going very smoothly and we’re enjoying it, which is vital for this type of journey.»
First little shock…
«Apart from a few suicidal flying fish, we hit our second UFO yesterday. We didn’t dive, as there was no damage. On my previous boats, we hit whales. In the old Explorer, I never hit anything. I think some boats make more noise than others. I like whales, but prefer to see them in pictures or several miles away. »
Happy birthday Yann Elies
One of the watch leaders, Yann Elies, was 31 today: «Yes, it was today. It was nice, because my present was crossing the Equator and it’s great to be at sea. I got an e-mail from my family to tell me they were going to be celebrating. I feel that the Orange II team is in top form. The boat is giving 100% all the time. The osmosis between the fourteen men is incredible, the boat’s performance astounding and the speed impressive. Apart from that, we’re amazed by the finish of the Vendée Globe. Bruno said we’ll be there next time. We shall see.»
Some data:
Day: 7
Latitude : 0 43.40' N
Longitude : 25 55.84' W
Recorded speed: 14.3 knots
Recorded bearing : 176
Average speed: 13.0 knots
Speed over 24h: 21.3 knots
Distance over 24h : 512 nautical miles
Speed since the start: 20.3 knots
Total distance: 3410 nautical miles
Remaining distance: 21467.60 nautical miles
Lead over the J.Verne record : 189 nautical miles
Lead over the absolute record: 534 nautical miles
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Orange II will need to get faster
Orange II has crossed the equator in a time of 7 day 3 hours/171 hours. This puts them 27 hours ahead of Chyenne the outright around the world record holder and 19 hours ahead of Geronimo which holds the slower Jules Verne trophy record. The only faster time was that of 153 hours by Geronimo set on an ultimately unsuccesful attempt at the Jules Verne record.
Looking ahead Cheyenne holds the record for 3 of the 4 remaining course segments. This includes the next 2 segments to the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Leeuwin.
Although Orange II is off to a good start, the coming days will show how much a chance she is in with.
Hands are shot
KEY DATA DAY 64 1510 GMT:
Distance ahead: 569 miles
Time ahead: 2 day 8 hours [representing 29.92% of time remaining] calculated using the time it took for Joyon to get to the same Distance to Finish as Ellen's current position
OMEGA: Official timekeeper for Ellen MacArthur
Lat/Long: 21 19N / 031 54 W (849 miles SW of the Canary Islands)
Average Boat speed: 14.2 knots (N)
True Wind speed: 16.1 knots (ESE)
Sea temperature: 23.4 degrees C
Distance sailed so far: 25,017 miles at an average speed of 16.2 knots
(data communicated by Thrane MiniC via BT Business Broadband)
IN BRIEF:
* Not enough sleep, hands that are falling apart - this all part of Ellen's 24/7 life on board <
FROM ELLEN:
How was last night?
Conditions were presumed to be stable and yesterday afternoon I put the first reef in again, even though I wasn’t sure what was going to happen to the weather it seemed the right thing to do at the time. So I sat with a decreasing breeze with the reef in and I was thinking all the time, shall I pull it out, maybe not, it was the middle of the night and I just wanted to be sure. And then I tried to get some sleep and the breeze died to average 16 knots, then it started raining and the breeze died to 7 knots and the forescast was for it to be in the high teens maybe twenties, then it was punching up to 21, 22 knots. Then all of a sudden a second set of cloud came over and the breeze came up to 25, gusting 26 knots, and it averaged that for about six hours. It’s just slowly died down and it’s gusting 22-23, so it was pretty unexpected and pretty brutal in the night, to be honest.
What sail configuration do you have now?
I’ve got 2 reefs in [the main], I had to put two reefs in with that amount of breeze, and the Solent. I’ve only had two hours max of sleep since yesterday morning so I’m pretty tired.
What are the general conditions onboard like?
The motion is **** in the boat. Because we’re now going to start heading into the Trade Winds, heading east of north, so the swell form the Trade Winds are right on our nose. We don’t have an option we’ve just got to go with it so, here we go.
Can you talk more about this high pressure system?
I don’t know what’s going to happen with the high... I’m sitting here and every single report that’s coming in its moving - the four different models this morning, all say different things. The only thing I hope really doesn’t happen is that we end up finishing with 35 knots upwind and, to be honest, I think that’s the most likely scenario. I’m not trying to be negative, it’s going to be really, really bad at the end if that’s what happened. It will be 'boat-breaking' scenario.
How are you generally?
My hands are so hard and so tight and so rotten...they look quite disgusting! There is white rot underneath all my fingernails, I can chew bits of the skin off without feeling a thing, it’s that hard and that knackered. Not very beautiful. We’re getting a bit closer everyday, bit by bit, as long as the wind keeps blowing we’ll make it home one way or the other, as long as we don’t do anything stupid.
How are sailing at the moment, are you happy with the condition of the boat?
I’m sailing with a second reef in at the moment but I’ve got the headboard car right at the top of the box and I think it’s probably okay. I can’t really hear any weird noises, I was pulling the reef in and I thought 'what’s the worst scenario', and I thought if we do lose the crayons again and the track is ripped off or damaged again, the best place that could happen is at the top of the second reef not the bottom of the second reef. So that’s why I’ve pushed the car to the top - I’ve put it above all the damage - to be honest, it’s very close to the reinforcement. If it screws itself again and if it rips off, at least we can get back to two reefs which is not an insignificant amount of sail.
Final Straight for Delivery Crew
Firstly we would like to apologise for a lack of reporting on Friday, we had a bit on, in fact we were being battered by gale force winds on the nose and crashing into a short steep sea, which made typing impossible, sleeping difficult and anything else was plain hard work. However, we had a great day's sailing on Thursday, cracking along at 18-20 knots with our Code 6 up, (a very big reaching headsail.) We all enjoyed a good drive before the wind came forwards and our fast run came to an abrupt end. We are now sailing in the same weather system that is giving the UK the freezing conditions that you have all been experiencing. “Ha ha”, I can hear you all say, “about time”. The cold has definitely arrived, and with it, the thermals, the middle layers, hats, gloves, hot chocolate and the heater, which I prudently had fitted for the coldest days in the South but works equally well in the northern hemisphere!
We have been sailing up the course alongside the Vendée leaders who are sailing a little faster and harder than we are. Two days ago Bonduelle passed a couple of miles in front of us and now Mike Golding is within 10 miles of us. We will be splitting slightly now as we are heading further north than them. What a way to finish such a gruelling race though, so close and any of the three leaders could do it. PRB is in a good position but will see the wind go lighter than the others first. Bonduelle is also in a good position and I think my money would be on Jean to take 1st place. The conditions over the past 48 hours would have been very hard on them all as the wind has been very shifty, and very up and down. No sooner have you pulled out the big sails the wind is up and the smaller ones are needed again. A hard way to finish the Vendée indeed. But Mike Golding is still in with a shot, it wouldn't take much good luck to put Ecover in first for a British victory.
After our last report I have taken some stick from Mr B, quite rightly, he told me he would get even and he did, read on! Mr B has received a lot of fan mail since that report which makes very interesting reading. Thanks especially to Katie, Bel, Emily and Ails, but we did not receive the picture, please resend! All emails that are sent via the website are sent to the boat and read by us. It’s turning into a really long trip, so please keep the emails coming.
Down below on Hugo Boss can only be described as a bedsit; a couple of hard beds with thin mattresses, a seat and a tiny single burner cooker and little heater. It is only 2.5m x 4m and gets very untidy with four blokes living inside it! Simon keeps it tidier than the rest of us for which we are very grateful. Food is down to the basics again, freeze dried or freeze dried. It is the food that I didn't eat on the race and as such I choose it, and not everyone likes it, which isn’t that good, when you have to eat it for three weeks! We only have three flavours so decision making at dinner times doesn't take too long!
Two days ago we passed within sight of the eastern island of the Azores, Santa Maria. That was the first land we have seen since we set off on the 7th of Jan, it was also the time when Mr B got even with me over the last report, which may have been constructed with lies and hearsay! He told me at the time that he had got me back, but I had no idea what. On going to sleep that night I woke up with jolt when my finger got trapped in the bunk fan - much to the amusement of the others, especially Mr B. Alas though, that was not my come-upence. It was only yesterday that I found out when Ross put on my oilskin top, put his hand in the pocket and brought out a nicely rotting, stinking flying fish in a ziplock bag, which completely failed to contain the smell. Good one and well deserved! As time goes on, it is important to keep our spirits high, especially with the encroaching freezing conditions and lack of interesting food. With this being the case 'stitch ups' are common place and very amusing. I suspect there are several more in the offing, more on how they are getting on next time. Nicknames are flying around all the time, Mr B obviously has his, I have lots, the reaper, slugman and fringeless being the most polite. Not many people get to earn their nicknames but David has certainly done that, we call him the Hibernator for his ability to sleep at any given opportunity. We are missing a good one for Ross, although I am sure a few can be suggested after that lovely picture of him in the tiara. On the website today you can find one of him showing off his beautiful rainbow, along with a new picture of the four of us together ..... Many of you have asked what happened to the scorpion from last week as he seems to have gone AWOL. The Hibernator insists that he is just well hidden but we are not convinced, so we have asked for proof but that has been denied so we are in a bit of a stalemate situation. Finding Boris wasn't that good a game anyway!
ETA – everyone is asking, but they aren't that easy to give. We reckon late Thursday or early Friday will be a good bet. We will be having a welcome home bash in Gosport on our arrival night so please do come down and drink a few sherberts with us. We will of course be taking it easy having not had a drink for 4 weeks!! Look forward to catching up with you all in person in just a few days...
Next the Equator
Elapsed Time: 85 days, 02 hours, 50 mins
Vendée Globe Fleet Leader: PRB (V Riou, FRA)
HELLOMOTO: 8th out of 13, level with Salvador, Brazil (where Conrad finished first in the 2-handed 2003 Transat Jacques Vabre on Open 50 HELLOMOTO!)
ETA Equator: early on Wednesday 2nd February
• HELLOMOTO is creeping up on Arcelor Dunkerque, now 113 miles behind as they both sail in the South East Trades below the Equator, which he hopes to cross in 2 days and be back in the Northern Hemisphere again!
• Conrad explains exactly how he managed to resolve the problem with the hydraulic keel canting system – and praises the efforts of his shore team who effectively kept him in the race with their ingenious problem solving!
• Weather: Conrad must keep the pedal down in order to avoid the Doldrums or ‘ITCZ’ (Inter Tropical Convergence Zone) between the 4 – 6th Feb when they could be at their most active…
Conrad Humphreys interview from onboard HELLOMOTO this morning courtesy of Geolink/Iridium:
“In terms of what we did to cant the keel, it really was a pretty ingenious solution. The oil reservoir is designed to work when the boat is inverted so you can still pressurise the keel to be able to cant the keel with the boat upside down. Because we had lost so much oil due to the leak in the rams we isolated the good ram which was still able to push the keel. We knew it couldn’t pull the keel but the pushing action was still in place. We cut a hole in the top of the tank so I could get my arm inside and then reduced the height of the tube which was sat above the oil level which meant that the ram was just sucking air. Having done that I had to drain the oil off which was tedious and very messy. I got hydraulic oil all over the boat and mixed in with my sweat meant it was pretty disgusting, really. I put oil back into the reservoir so now it is above the tube and have cut the tube down so it is flushing the tank effectively without using the reservoir - before, the oil level was below the height of the tube so it was just sucking air. That gave us positive pressure on the starboard ram and as I made about 100 pumps to get the air out of the system it started to push the keel over so I gave it another 200 pumps and the keel went to about a third of the way over and then I re-lashed it at that point so currently the keel is being held by the ram and the lashing is there as a safety measure as well as back up. After all this, I had to go and duck my head over the bow of the boat and it took a few breaking waves to clean off all the oil!
“Thanks to my very lateral thinking shore manager, the boat builder Marco at V1D2 boat yard and the architects at Finot, they have done an amazing job of effectively keeping me in the race! It would be nice to fully cant the keel but we’re taking things as they come. The wind was stable last night and will start to back to the south east as we near the Equator. When I can get my genoa out I’ll start to make up some miles, there’s limited time between now and the Equator to get a jump on Arcelor Dunkerque as after then it’s upwind 15 – 20 knots in the NE trades so Joe will be marginally better with a fully canting keel in those conditions. Our boats have a similar set up and design, so I’m not sure why I’ve made up more on him given my problems. The Doldrums look extremely active between the 4th and 6th February so I’m keeping the hammer down to try and cross the Equator early on Wednesday morning so that I can try to pass the Doldrums before they extend.
“This feels like the first time I’ve actually been sailing the boat instead of repairing it since the Indian Ocean – the Vendée Globe doesn’t guarantee 100 days sailing! I’ll be very happy when we’re half way up the Atlantic and I can see the finish line on the chart…”
Linky Sailing News
Racing VG D day. OCR Champs
Records B&Q + 2D 2H. Orange II + 534 miles
News Pineapple Cup
Great Lakes Mussel News
Vendee Globe Report 31 January
Whilst we go about our daily routines 20 lone sailors are racing around the world without a stop.
Each weekday ATWOS will present a report on the 2004-2005 Vendee Globe race. Who will join Lamazou, Desjoyeaux etc. as winners? Who will be a breakout young star like Ellen Macarthur? Which sailors will participate in dramas such as those of Pete Goss & Yves Parlier?
The report will cover the rhythm of the race, whether it's fast or slow, what's the degree of difficulty, is it iceberg territory?
Each day we'll check the standings to see who the leaders are and who else is on the move.
The fleet roundup will cover news of interest from any and all boats both the success's and the inevitable failures.
From the lone sailors will highlight the most interesting communications from the multi national group of sailors.
Rhythm of the Race "All should become a little clearer today as the three leading boats are expected to tack to make what should be their final approach to Les Sables d’Olonne, and the finish line."
Standings 1. PRB 2. Bonduelle 4.6 miles back 3. Ecover 51.1 miles back
Fleet Round Up Nick retires. Conrad's keel issues. End game
From the Lone Sailors Bruce Schwab: "All of our ropes, including the halyards, sheets, runners, etc. are made Samson Rope Technologies and have been great." Vincent Riou: "I am likely to arrive on the night of the 2nd February, it all depends on how the high evolves. If we can turn right at the correct time then it could be fast." Joe Seeten: "I sent my congratulations to Karen. It’s great what she’s done on my old boat. That’s the sixth time the boat has been round the Horn, five times in the right direction and once against the wind and currents."
Nick Retires
This is a note to officialy declare that I have withdrawn my participation in the 2004-5 Vendee Globe.
This is a very disappointing e-mail for me to write but I have fond memories. This experience has been unique. Skandia Multimanager entry was a fantastic team in which I absolutely loved working with. The race organization was very kind and caring and very perpared to listen to skippers in order to make the adventure safer and more enjoyable. I will never forget the comforting conversations and e-mails i recieved from the organization at the most crucial point of the wildest and most dangerous Southern Ocean storm that I have ever experienced. A very experienced and professional organization.
Asside from the sailing. my most fond memories are the friendships developed between skippers. I really felt ´together alone´ in our adventure. I drew great strength from my fellow adventures and their messages. When Patrice was struggling with his broken boom I was very low within my spirit. His efforts and e-mails made me lift again and continue with solid strength. Every day someone provided a reason to be stronger and to feel fortunate, and incredible gorup of people.
I am incredibly proud of all of the competitors no matter how fast or slow. they are my heros and heroine´s. The Vendee Globe is special....very, very special. I have sailed in many hight profile events around the world from the Americas Cup to Whitbread etc. Never before have i felt such intense emotion and pride of participation. I have lived a great life. i am lucky and furtunate. One of my greatest life experiences was in this race and it was not under sail. It was the tow out of the port of Le Sables d´ Olonne.....this I do not know how to describe but i thank every waving, cheering person lining that shore to wish us well. I must admit, i was not prepared for such an overwhelming experience.
My journey ended prematurely and for this I am disappointed but I experienced a great deal of this great event. I have recieved many flattering e-mails from all over the world and my solo friends at sea. I cannot thank those enough. you have helped me realize that this was not meant to be for me but I am still very lucky.
I wish all of those still pressing towards Le Sables a beautiful and safe passage. Thank you my friends for your inspiration that allowed me to continue for as long as I did. I dearly hope to see you soon.
Enjoy the sea.
best regards always
Nick Moloney
New Flagpoles
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Conrad's Keel Rams
As I sit here typing this journal, I'm listening to a sound that a few days ago, I would not have believed possible.
Three days ago, the starboard hydraulic ram that swings the keel failed after an oil seal blew. On Hellomoto we have two hydraulic rams in the event that one fails the other is robust enough to still swing the keel 100%. Having isolated the faulty starboard ram, the port ram was only just holding the keel at half cant, which was ok, but over the next few days the pressure in the system gradually failed, eventually this ram has also failed. Yesterday morning I notified Race Controle of the situation asking them to standby incase I could not contain the keel which was now freely swinging fron side to side. At the time the conditions where moderating with the wind speed 20kts and the sea state still running fairly high.
Joff (Project Manager) was in contact with the yacht designer (Finot) and builder (Marco Leferve check spelling) to look at how we might be able to centralise the keel and hold it with a series of lashings around the keel structure. We had discussed this possibility a few days before and Joff had suggested that if the rams failed we might we able to contain the keel by wrapping tightly the strom jib sheets around the piston part of the rams which would stop them sliding in and out. He then suggested we would then simply "chuck as much rope at it as possible" to stabilise the keel and try to keep racing towards LSD. Out here, 500 miles from Rio, alone and only days after Skandia had lost her keel, I didnt feel at all confident. I put the grab bag by the stern hatch and walked through the boat imagining it upside down in darkess, feeling my way through to the aft emergency hatch.
With the keel swinging violently from side to side, I wrapped the strom jib sheets around each ram carefully. Gradually the keel had less and less range to swing, until eventually it was contained on the centreline. There was still a alarming fore and aft pitching of the keel in the bearing, so I tried unsucessfully to lash the keel forward of the mast base. I then continued to apply every spare bit of rope to try and hold the keel steady, tightening each turn using a spanish windless technique. It was better, but still rocking around, the noise was terrible and I felt very uneasy trying to rest. Overnight, the boat felt better pressed, so with two reefs and the trinquette, I continued sailing down the track, reaching at speeds of 17kts. The lighter winds were forecast to be just a few hours away and in the early hours of this morning the wind died. With no pressure on the keel, it began rocking again in the swell and it sounded awful. I contacted Joff and he confirmed that we needed to get the keel canted to stop the wear in the bearing and keep the boat pressed.
The only way to cant the keel would be to crash tack Hellomoto and let gravity do the work. With Hellomoto lying on her ear, I could then relash the keel before tacking back. I knew Mike (Golding) had done a similar trick during the Transat, the difference being he had a failed electric motor fail rather than failed rams! I pushed the helm over and hove to with the trinquette backed and the main pinned. Hellomoto was heeled over and sliding sideways. It took me half and hour to re-set the lashing before tacking the boat back. I was covered in sweat. I'd gained 10 degrees of keel cant, just enough to stop the keel rocking on the centrline. 4 hours later as the pressure in the lashings stretched, I would need to re-do the whole manouvre. I've just finshed the last lashing and as I throw 2 litres of sports drink down my neck, the keel is secured and I will have to get used to that gut wrenching sound as the spectra is squeezed by the rams.
As to the future and whether we can sail 5000 miles like this to the Finish in LSD, I dont know. Tomorrow we will try and repair the starboard ram and replace the oil lost. Realistically, we have to do this to give us any chance. For the moment, Hellomoto is sailing on course for the finish. We will pass Salvador in a day or so which may be the last port before crossing the Equator and heading into the north Atlantic. My team as always have the utmost confidence we can find a solution and until it is not safe to do so, I will continue on racing to LSD.
Cheers Conrad
OCR Champs Decided
Champions were crowned today in nine Olympic and two Paralympic classes at US SAILING,s 16th annual Rolex Miami OCR. The last of five racing days concluded with all but one of yesterday,s leaders at the top of the scoreboard. Laser Radial sailor Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla.), one of over 320 sailors from 26 countries competing on Biscayne Bay for the regatta,s 16th edition, had some business to settle on the water today with Anna Tunnicliffe (Norfolk, Va.), and a good breeze interspersed with squalls helped her do it.
"The storms would leave, and it would get light," said Railey, a 2003 World Youth Champion who is now age 17, "and then you'd see them come again and you'd have to get over to the wind." By the third of three races, Railey had put four points on Tunnicliffe, who was then tied in points with 2004 Europe dinghy Olympic Medallist Lenka Smidova (CZE). "I just had to play it calm," said Railey. " It was a lot nicer than the last few days when I made too many mistakes."
The Laser Radial is a class newly added to the Olympics for 2008 and Railey is one of many rising U.S. stars who have flocked to it. "It,s so exciting to win," she said, "because it's my first Olympic ranking regatta ever."
Yngling skipper Sally Barkow (Nashotah, Wis.) finished off her closest competition in two races. In the first race, she passed Canada's Felicity Clark on the last downwind leg to win. With a second-place finish in the second race, her accomplishments fell comfortably in line with her goals. "It was a good day for us," said Barkow. "We didn't put pressure on ourselves and stuck with a solid conservative game plan. Winning means we show everyone we're serious about the Olympics, and it's a good jumpstart for the next four years."
The Rolex Miami OCR is the only qualifying event used for determining US Sailing Team members in the 470 (Men and Women), 49er, Tornado and Yngling classes; therefore, Barkow has met this goal as well. Making the team with her are crewmembers Deborah Capozzi (Bayport, N.Y.) and Carrie Howe (Grosse Pointe, Mich.).
In the Star class, Andrew Horton (Newport, R.I.) and Brad Nichol (Hanover, N.H.) successfully fended off a pack of aggressors that included Sweden's Fredrik Loof, the class' 2004 World Champion who finished second overall with crew Anders Ekstrom. Although Horton and Nichol led the regatta from the beginning, the two had predicted any of the five teams immediately behind could take them on the last day. Loof pounced but fell short, posting finishing scores of 5-1 to Horton/Nichol's 8-3 to go from fifth overall yesterday to second overall today.
Final scores were too close for comfort for Brad Funk (Belleair Bluffs, Fla.), but with one point over Andrew Campbell in the end, he snagged not only victory in the Laser class but also the Golden Torch Award, given to the American sailor deemed to have the best overall performance among all classes. "Andrew was winning the last race until the last leg. I had said to myself I was going to finish that race exhausted, and that's what I did." Funk, who had rounded the weather mark in sixth, didn,t catch Campbell, but Campbell fell to second on that last leg while Funk caught three boats to finish third. "I was able to get a nice lead in the light breeze (earlier in the week) and hold it. I'm feeling I was prepared for this event. I kept my head out of the boat and was told I sailed pretty smart."
Other Action
Tornado sailors John Lovell (New Orleans, La.) and Charlie Ogletree (Kemah, Texas), the USA's 2004 Tornado Olympic Silver Medallists, made it look easy once again today, winning both races and adding the victories to three previous ones in their six-race lineup. "It's never easy," laughed Lovell about today's performance. "We've been sailing for the last couple of years and at the Olympics while everyone else took a year off, so that made a difference."
49er sailors Morgan Larson (Capitola, Calif.) and Pete Spaulding (Miami Beach, Fla.) won their class, while the teams of Sven Coster/Kalle Coster (NED) and Amanda Clark/Sarah Mergenthaler (Shelter Island, N.Y./Matawan, N.J.) won the 470 Men's and Women's classes, respectively. Christopher Cook from Canada won in the Finn class.
In Paralympic sailing, Sweden's Stellan Berlin took the 2.4 Metre class, while Great Britain's John Robertson and crew Hannah Stodel and Steve Thomas topped the Sonar fleet.
2 Day Lead
KEY DATA DAY 64 0710 GMT:
Distance ahead: 521 miles
Time ahead: 2 days 2 hours [representing 23.15% of time remaining] calculated using the time it took for Joyon to get to the same Distance to Finish as Ellen's current position
OMEGA: Official timekeeper for Ellen MacArthur
Lat/Long: 018 49 N / 032 06 W (1130 miles N Equator/400 miles WNW Cape Verde Is)
Average Boat speed: 18.97 knots (heading N)
True Wind speed: 21.0 knots (direction ESE)
Sea temperature: 23.6 degrees C
Distance sailed so far: 24,869 miles at an average speed of 16.3 knots
(data communicated by Thrane MiniC via BT Business Broadband)
Update based on data recorded 0710 GMT...check http://www.teamellen.com for the latest data updated hourly
IN BRIEF:
* FAST NIGHT, GAINS MACARTHUR MORE TIME ON THE CLOCK, but hard core on board <
* <
* MACARTHUR PASSES THE CAPE VERDE ISLANDS, B&Q now 400 miles to the north-west of the islands. Ahead are the Canary Islands another 970 miles further up the race track. Temperatures start to cool slighly on board - down to 23 degrees C as conditions on board become a bit more comfortable in terms of heat.
* POTENTIAL FOR SQUALLY CONDITIONS TODAY as MacArthur sails on the eastern edge of a north-south band of cloud. Trade Winds expected to remain in the 16-22 knot range through today, continuing their turn to the right and into the south-east. Tomorrow the breeze will increase as a low to the west of B&Q delivers 20+ knots of breeze, although Ellen is trying to keep as much easting as she can to avoid the stronger stuff closer to the low - it should prove to be a fast reaching day, if the sea state allows. The high pressure system to the west of Ireland will be the main focus for her weather routers, watching to see which way it moves and how much it will impact on her course to the finish line. For now, they expect Ellen to have to sail into the high, as it drifts SSW, then tack out again - the key to success is not going too far in that you get trapped by the windless zone in the middle. A developing low pressure will move along the north side of the high and drop down SE into Europe to bring strong 35-40 knot upwind conditions which is a pretty frightening prospect for Ellen as she gets close to the finish line. In these kind of conditions high boat speed is the last thing you want or can afford, and it could be a slow slog to the finish at a time when Joyon was exceptionally quick. The simple calculation of VMG required to the finish, hides the fact that going upwind in this kind of breeze, <
WEATHER ANALYSIS FROM COMMANDERS' WEATHER 0600 GMT:
In the rules of record attempts, skippers are allowed to use the advice of shore-based weather experts to assist them with their choices. Ellen is working with two teams, principally Commanders Weather in the USA, backed up by Meeno Schrader in Germany.
Ellen is on the east edge of a north to south band of cumulus clouds. This band of clouds is moving from SSE to NNW. The squally conditions should be brief and should not exceed 25 kts.
Huge high pressure area WSW of Ireland looks to be the main weather feature over the next 7 days. Through Thursday, the high pressure area will move slowly SSW. Cold front will move along the N side of the high and then SE into Europe. High pressure area will be pushed south and then relocates to the NW – looks like Ellen will have strong N winds in the final approach to the finish.
Until that time, wind speeds fairly typical for the trades, mid teens to low 20’s. Wind speeds will slowly increase both Tue and Wed. Wind directions thru Wed will favor ESE to SE. This will allow Ellen to stay E of the strongest winds on Wed/Thu.
Strategy is to hold as much easting as possible. We will sail for the huge high pressure area and then tack when winds back into the N
Wind forecasts
Wind directions are TRUE, wind speed in kts, time is UTC
Mon, Jan 31
09: 090-110/17-23
12: 090-110/16-22, near 20 30N/32W
18: 100-120/16-22
Partly cloudy
Tue, Feb 1
00: 100-120/15-21
06: 100-120/16-22 - stronger wind to the N
12: 110-130/18-24, near 26 30N/30W
18: 110-130/17-23 - wind stronger to the W, lighter to the E
Partly to mostly cloudy Tue - Thu, maybe a shower or 2.
Wed, Feb 2
00: 110-130/18-24 - wind much stronger W and potentially over 30 kts west
of 30W
06: 100-120/18-24
12: 110-130/20-26, near 33 30N/28W - wind much stronger west of 30W
18: 100-120/20-26
http://www.commandersweather.com
FRANCIS JOYON 24 HOUR RUNS
Francis Joyon's 24 hour runs. These are VMG distances, ie distance sailed towards the finish, not through the water:
26.1.05 IDEC 162 miles / B&Q 388 miles
27.1.05 IDEC 130 miles / B&Q 367 miles
28.1.05 IDEC 232 miles / B&Q 258 miles
29.1.05 IDEC 257 miles / B&Q 317 miles
30.1.05 IDEC 300 miles / B&Q 374 miles
31.1.05 IDEC 299 miles
1.2.05 IDEC 278 miles
2.2.05 IDEC 221 miles
3.2.05 IDEC 212 miles
4.2.05 IDEC 162 miles
5.2.05 IDEC 284 miles
6.2.05 IDEC 383 miles
7.2.05 IDEC 400 miles
8.2.05 IDEC 439 miles
9.2.05 IDEC 345 miles
[dates normalised to Ellen's]
Speed Again
Since midnight, Orange II found speed again! Her speed is stabilized at 20 knots. Cape in the South. VMG is good to the equator and the Doldrums.
Bruno Peyron's maxi catamaran is this Sunday morning halfway between Cape Verde and the doldrums. Doldrums which are also more or less halfway between the giant and the equator.
Passing the Doldrums is always a delicate moment when crossing the Atlantic over its length. This time, the disturbed zone seems rather stuck to Africa.
The wind is regular, from east-north-east, of 10 knots approximately. On port side, Orange II can create an apparent wind which has enabled her to hold its current speeds... 396 miles for the last 24 hours, it goes up.
January 30, 2005
Thru the Cape Verdes
Orange II arrived at 4:45 GMT this morning in the north of the archipelago of Cape Verde. Bruno Peyron's maxi catamaran was in the North-East of the island of Sao Antao, the island located at the North-West of this group of islands.
Orange II sailed South during one hour and ahalf until tracing her route between Sao Vicente and Santa Luzia. Then she started to oblique her route to the west in order to release herself from the highest islands.
In a moderated North-East wind, the crew sails the "wind making machine" at more than 15 knots. It has been the mean velocity besides of the catamaran from 7 p.m. Friday evening, when she finally escaped from a no wind area where she get becalmed few tens of minutes.
Now, Orange II will continue her route in the west of the other islands of the archipelago, including Brava and Fogo, both located at south-west. Next obstacle on her route : the doldrums.
Ok Despite Collision
KEY DATA DAY 63 0710 GMT:
Distance ahead: 447 miles
Time ahead: 1 day 12 hours [representing 15.00% of time remaining] calculated using the time it took for Joyon to get to the same Distance to Finish as Ellen's current position
OMEGA: Official timekeeper for Ellen MacArthur
Lat/Long: 12 08 N / 031 55 W (728 miles N Equator, 470 miles SW Fogo, Cape Verde Islands)
Average Boat speed: 13.87 knots (heading N by W)
True Wind speed: 12.6 knots (direction E by N)
Sea temperature: 25.5 degrees C
Distance sailed so far: 24,465 miles at an average speed of 16.2 knots
(data communicated by Thrane MiniC via BT Business Broadband)
Update based on data recorded 0710 GMT...check http://www.teamellen.com for the latest data updated hourly
IN BRIEF:
* COLLISION IN THE NIGHT AND A NEAR COLLISION WITH A WHALE YESTERDAY is a sharp reminder of how close to disaster she can be at any point on the remaining 2,600 miles left on the race course: "I hit something last night - I don't know what it was, maybe a fish or squid, I don't know but it wasn't huge. It went on the leeward rudder [and got stuck there] so I ended up doing a 360 [turning the boat full circle] to get that off. I gybed the boat so the rudder just lifted out of the water and it came off and drifted away. The rudder seems fine, it wasn't massive maybe the size of a bin bag but I really felt the thud." With the equivalent of a transatlantic race to go in terms of distance, a tired boat, an exhausted skipper and a damaged mainsail track, Ellen's record attempt still has a long, long way to go.
* <
* HIGH PRESSURE DEBATE CONTINUES to see which way the high pressure area off to the west of Ireland decides to move: "The high pressure doesn't appear to be moving quite how it was yesterday, so we'll probably end up going upwind into it, rather than downwind through it - going on the south-east side but we'll have to see. But conditions are pretty much for me, going to stay like this for another couple of days - it's still Trades and we're going to start reaching soon." For now, the upwind slog continues until the winds back to the south-east tomorrow and into Tuesday then fast conditions mid-week as the effects of a low pressure to the west deliver some strong breeze.
* CONSTANT STATE OF NERVOUS TENSION as each day of the remaining 10 days tick by: "Still very nervous, still miles to go. At moment full main solent, looks like we can keep this all day, breeze generally under 17-18 knots so would be stupid to be under-powered all day. Then build tonight a little, bit stronger and then by Wednesday seems a long way, way away. Feel like I'm playing the waiting game now..."
* TEMPERATURE STARTING TO DROP: "Have one layer of thermals on again...its really nice temperature at the moment, but I think I might need to get the second pair out in a few days. For now though during the day its pretty hot..."
WEATHER ANALYSIS FROM COMMANDERS' WEATHER 0600 GMT:
In the rules of record attempts, skippers are allowed to use the advice of shore-based weather experts to assist them with their choices. Ellen is working with two teams, principally Commanders Weather in the USA, backed up by Meeno Schrader in Germany.
Satellite imagery shows a lot of haze in Ellen’s vicinity. The haze will clear north of 13N or around 1200UTC Sunday. Wind speeds are down a bit and will continue to hold in the 12-17 kt range for another 6 hours or so. Wind speeds will slowly increase Sunday afternoon and night. However, by staying further east on Tue and Wed, Ellen may not see the gales that will definitely occur west of 35W.
Wind directions will continue to oscillate between 070-090. Sunday night and Monday, wind directions will veer into the E-SE and reach SE for a while on Tuesday.
Huge high pressure just SW of Ireland today will be main weather feature for Ellen this week.
Wind forecasts
Wind directions are TRUE, wind speed in kts, time is UTC
Sun, Jan 30
12: 070-090/12-17
18: 070-090/12-17
Partly cloudy, maybe a brief passing showery squall
Mon, Jan 31
00: 070-090/14-20
06: 080-100/15-21
12: 090-110/16-22, near 19N/32 20W
18: 090-110/15-21
Partly cloudy to fair
Tue, Feb 1
00: 090-110/13-18
06: 120-140/16-22
12: 110-130/20-25, near 24 40N/30 40W
18: 120-140/16-22
Partly to mostly cloudy Tue - Thu, maybe a shower or 2.
http://www.commandersweather.com
FRANCIS JOYON 24 HOUR RUNS
Francis Joyon's 24 hour runs. These are VMG distances, ie distance sailed towards the finish, not through the water:
26.1.05 IDEC 162 miles / B&Q 388 miles
27.1.05 IDEC 130 miles / B&Q 367 miles
28.1.05 IDEC 232 miles / B&Q 258 miles
29.1.05 IDEC 257 miles / B&Q 317 miles
30.1.05 IDEC 300 miles
31.1.05 IDEC 299 miles
1.2.05 IDEC 278 miles
2.2.05 IDEC 221 miles
3.2.05 IDEC 212 miles
4.2.05 IDEC 162 miles
5.2.05 IDEC 284 miles
6.2.05 IDEC 383 miles
7.2.05 IDEC 400 miles
8.2.05 IDEC 439 miles
9.2.05 IDEC 345 miles
[dates normalised to Ellen's]
January 29, 2005
Mini Doldrums
HELLOMOTO lies in 8th place, under 140 miles from Arcelor Dunkerque, as Conrad sails through what he describes as a ‘mini-Doldrums’ with light, shifty winds & the odd squall.
• With 4,530 miles to cover until the finish – which is still longer than the longest transatlantic race – the last 5,000 miles are proving to be the hardest fought ones of the entire race
• Conrad reports that the port ram is showing the same symptoms as the failed starboard ram did and so is currently working on a solution to cant the keel with his shore team, whilst keeping the boat heading in the right direction at speed in the fickle conditions – an exhausting set of challenges for one day
HELLOMOTO this morning lies in 8th place, under 140 miles from Arcelor Dunkerque, as Conrad sails through what he describes as a ‘mini-Doldrums’ with shifting and light winds around 10 knots, but also the occasional squall of increased winds. In the last week HELLOMOTO has made extremely good course northwards towards the finish, making for a crossing point up ahead at the Doldrums, but currently the boat is heading towards the Brazilian coast line as Conrad meets north easterly headwinds. A few hundred miles up the track HELLOMOTO will reach the stable SE Trade winds before the Equator. With 4,530 miles to cover until the finish – which is still longer than the longest transatlantic race – the last 5,000 miles are proving to be the hardest fought ones of the entire race as both man and machine suffer from ‘wear and tear’ after 20,000 miles under the belt.
On Tuesday 25th January in the evening, just hours after Nick Moloney had announced that the keel had broken away from Skandia, which forced his sudden retirement, Conrad reported to have lost all pressure in his keel and discovered that the starboard ram had failed. The hydraulic ram system to cant the keel is designed to cope by isolating the faulty ram as they work independently and are used as a back up for each other. Conrad followed this procedure and carried on sailing using the port ram alone to cant the keel. After two days, Conrad reported that the port ram was showing similar symptoms as the starboard ram. After discussion with his shore team, Conrad is today looking into different solutions of being able to cant the keel to some degree.
Given the current fluky conditions over the last 24 hours, Conrad has not had much rest as he needs to be regularly changing sails and altering course to keep the boat moving in the right direction at speed as well as making progress with canting the keel.
Please go to www.conradhumphreys.com and check UK Skipper Breaking News window under the main image plus the ticker for further updates on Conrad’s progress during the weekend.
Notes on the keel: the carbon keel on HELLOMOTO is a canting keel, and it is swung from side to side by two hydraulic rams, which Conrad controls with the push of a button. There are two rams positioned on the port and starboard side of the keel and as the keel is canted one ram will extend and the other will contract. They do work together but are independent and so are also a back up for each other. The keel is canted in order to increase righting moment (stability), so as the breeze strengthens, the keel is canted further over.
January 28, 2005
Cape Verde
On this fifth day of racing, the Orange II maxi-catamaran is sailing 350 miles off Nouadhibou (Mauritania). The next waypoint marked on Roger Nilson’s navigation screen is off Santo-Antao and Sao Vicente, the two most westerly islands in the Cap Verde archipelago. After the Canaries, the next little group of islands, which were some 250 miles ahead of the maxi-catamaran early this afternoon, should be passed in the middle of the night. For the moment, it is still under full sail with the staysail and main gennaker that Orange II is cruising along, averaging 18 knots in a wind varying between 11 and 15 knots from the north / north east. After a long 600 mile starboard tack (wind coming from the right), Orange II gybed in the middle of the day, and again in mid-afternoon. The giant is having to deal with this wind, which is almost directly aft to head for this waypoint in the Cape Verde Islands.
Great satisfaction…
«In the end, we managed to thwart the traps in the high-pressure area and the passage through the Canaries » explained Bruno Peyron during today’s radio session. «It cost us a fair amount, as we were parked up for three hours after the Canaries. Since then, there hasn’t been much wind, but the boat does well in these very light winds. It’s what makes the difference from the old boat!». It should be pointed out that the average speeds achieved over the last 48 hours are quite astonishing. Managing to achieve these speeds of between 15 and 20 knots over 24 hours in winds of less than 15 knots is certainly one of the main advantages the maxi-catamaran has acquired since last year. Bruno and his men are taking advantage of the results of the months of hard work preparing for this moment!
The Equator in less than 7 days?
“As far as the Doldrums are concerned, we’re aiming at between 26 and 27° West. On the other side, there were forecasts announcing the dream scenario, but it may be a trap. We’ll see in a few days with the evolution of the weather and are remaining cautious for the moment. In theory, we have taken the right decisions, but we have to know how to adjust our plans and adapt to the situation.»
Adapting to the situation is indeed what is required at the moment. Thus, Bruno and Roger are working on what lies ahead, in other words the approach to the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone, the Equator and in the longer term the St. Helena high. «Of the various windows we were looking at between Monday and Thursday, we preferred the first one. By chance, it wasn’t that good. But in the virtual race against our friends, things are going well. If we manage to reach the Equator in less than seven days, it would be quite reasonable, as it’s not on this stretch that the result will depend.”
Bruno Peyron : «We arrived to the north of Lanzarote during the night. With the large gennaker. That wasn’t good enough. We had to gybe three or four times to get as far east of Gran Canaria as possible. We were 60 miles away, but that wasn’t enough to stop us being becalmed. Orange II is a great machine for making the wind, as it looks for air 50 metres up!»
«At the moment, it’s rather dull. It was fairly cold until last night. We’ve still got our fleeces and waterproofs on, which is astonishing at these latitudes, as we’re down level with Mauritania. That can be explained by the northerly winds caused by the anticyclone. It’s the first time I have ever seen that.»
«Orange II is a craft capable of impressive performances even on a millpond. When we say it’s a 4x4, it’s because it’s a boat that can get through all sorts of seas. We tried her out this summer. With the previous generation, the arms were lower on the water. When you’re flying along at 30 knots on the water, the sea is like concrete.»
«We follow closely all the time where the others had reached. We also have a third virtual opponent and that is Orange I. As far as the weather is concerned, it’s not as good as in 2002, as in a boat that wasn’t as fast, we were more or less in the same position. It is a little better than for our second start last year. But it’s not as good as if we had set out two days later!».
Sébastien Audigane : «We’re starting to get into the rhythm of the watches. We started to get our books out yesterday. We grant ourselves two or three minutes of reading now and then. I’m currently reading “L’Enchanteur” by Barjavel. Our first two days went well. The boat is in finer form than last year. She sailed well during the records, but this time with a load on board to go around the world, she is sailing even better.»
The data from 10 this morning GMT:
Date/start time: Monday 24th January 2005 at 10h 03 mins and 07 seconds GMT.
Position : 21° 23.76’ North / 23° 05.28 West
Current bearing: 262°
Current speed: 23.5 knots
Average speed over 24 hours: 21.1 knots
Team Abn Amro Brazil crew selecton
TEAM ABN AMRO is pleased to announce that we have just completed our Brazilian crew selection process. Out of an original pool of 19 sailors, five have been chosen to continue on to a final crew selection in Portugal in March. These five are hoping to become one of two Brazilian finalists in the ABN AMRO Volvo Ocean Race crew selection.
The five sailors are:
Lucas Brun
Andre Mirsky
Mauricio Baptista
Bruno Santos
Edgardo Vieytes
B&Q Records
<
Cape Horn to the Equator was not a fast phase of the course for Macarthur. Her time was 374 hours, 64 slower than Joyon.
Subject to WSSRC ratification, she has also set a new solo Equator-Equator record of 51 days, 19 hours and 15 minutes.
Looking ahead Macarthur's advantage is nearly 35 hours. From the equator to the finish Joyon took 262 hours/10 days 22 hours. This gives Macarthur 12 days and 9 hours/297 hours to reach the finish and set a new record. In the history of the Jules Verne fully crewed attempts final stage times have ranged from 189 hours for Cheyenne to 352 for Geonimo. The average has been 280 hours. So, Macarthur would seem to have some built in slack.
About her chances of meeting that time deadline she says:
"I think realistically the biggest hurdle we have is the high pressure which is hovering around the western approach to the English Channel at the moment. The movement of that high pressure will dictate whether the record is breakable or not, pretty much, and if it decides to eat us up and sit over us and not allow us to get to the finish line or, in fact, sit over the finish line, we could be in big trouble. But if that high pressure helps us and is situated in a reasonable position to allow us to sail into it and out of it, or indeed round the west side of it then that will help us enormously. So our destiny really is in the hands of the high pressure system. We've still got 3000 miles to go, which is a one-seventh of the whole trip. We've just got to try and grunt up and get on with it. The good news is that the breeze will get lighter as we get further north - it will be at a better angle to sail and good for the preservation of the boat too."
ELLEN MACARTHUR SOLO ROUND THE WORLD - NEW SOLO TIMES:
Ushant-Equator 8d 18h 20m 7/12/04 0230GMT (taking 14h 3m off Joyon's time)
Ushant-Cape of Good Hope 19d 9h 46m 17/12/04 1756GMT (taking 10h 45m off Joyon's time)
Ushant-Cape Leeuwin 29d 14h 5m 27/12/04 2215GMT (taking 17h 24m off Joyon's time)
Ushant-Cape Horn 44d 23h 36m 12/1/04 0746GMT (taking 4 days 2h 45m off Joyon's time)
Ushant-Equator 60d 13h 35m 27/1/05 2145GMT (taking 1d 10h 50m off Joyon's time)
Linky Sailing News
Racing 1 day remains at OCR. Equator record. Orange II island hopping
News NZL at home
Great Lakes Ferry suit
Water Level Update
Below you'll find water level info that pertains to Lakes Michigan and Huron.
Reference Point- Measurements in Inches
Difference from Chart Datum +3
Difference from last month -1
Difference from last year +10
Difference from long term average for January -10
Difference from Record High -43
Difference from Record Low +19
Forecast for 28 February 2005 0
Vendee Globe Report 28 January
Whilst we go about our daily routines 20 lone sailors are racing around the world without a stop.
Each weekday ATWOS will present a report on the 2004-2005 Vendee Globe race. Who will join Lamazou, Desjoyeaux etc. as winners? Who will be a breakout young star like Ellen Macarthur? Which sailors will participate in dramas such as those of Pete Goss & Yves Parlier?
The report will cover the rhythm of the race, whether it's fast or slow, what's the degree of difficulty, is it iceberg territory?
Each day we'll check the standings to see who the leaders are and who else is on the move.
The fleet roundup will cover news of interest from any and all boats both the success's and the inevitable failures.
From the lone sailors will highlight the most interesting communications from the multi national group of sailors.
Rhythm of the Race "The drag race continues"
Standings 1. PRB 2. Bonduelle 116 miles back 3. Ecover 195 miles back
Fleet Round Up Golding report. Retirees. Record?
From the Lone Sailors Mike Golding "t’s not looking very good, it’s looking like there is breeze all the way in. Even the ridge we’re about to go through looks quite benign, whereas a few days ago there were some real holes in it. The forecast looks good for getting to Les Sables d’Olonnes quickly, but not so good for getting past Vincent Riou." Bruce Schwab "I made a nice breakfast of hash browns, with a bit of chorizo added in. Not bad at all! Then I did my inspection of the boat looking for things that need attention. Nothing really, so I feel pretty ready for the strong easterlies coming this weekend. But I will have to stay on our toes and be ready for anything." J.P. Dick "Under the clouds, my batteries are barely recharging. I’m relaxing by helming a little, 3 hours a day, and I’m reading too. I can’t listen to my stereo, just a little walkman which I know all the songs on by heart. I’m having some fine days though."
1 Day to Go at OCR
Tomorrow is the "make it or break it" day for leaders at the Rolex Miami OCR. After four days of racing, only one day remains to secure - or sacrifice - a coveted victory in one of the nine Olympic and two Paralympic classes competing. The Rolex Miami OCR is an ISAF Grade 1 event that helps establish the rankings of elite sailors worldwide and those aspiring to become members of the US Sailing Team and Disabled Sailing Team. Over 320 sailors, representing 26 countries, are participating.
In the Star class, Andrew Horton (Newport, R.I.) and Brad Nichol (Hanover, N.H.) had a "worst and first" today. They posted an OCS for starting early in the first race and not turning back, then followed it up with victory in the second race.
"We wanted to win the pin and go left," said Nichol about the fatal first start, "but everyone stacked up and the Germans under us pushed us over." Had the team turned back, they could have accepted a lesser "Z" flag penalty of 20%. "I should have gone back; that was stupid of me," said Horton.
Horton and Nichol still lead the 40-boat fleet but must watch again for those who have stacked up under them, this time on the scoreboard. Olympic Gold Medallist Mark Reynolds (San Diego, Calif.) and crew Phil Trinter (Port Washington, N.Y.) have risen from sixth yesterday to second overall, nine points behind the leaders. The next three finishers are tied in points, only three points behind Reynolds and Trinter.
"I would say that out of the top five players, whoever gets two good races tomorrow will win the regatta," said Horton. "It should be fun!"
49er sailors Morgan Larson (Capitola, Calif.) and Pete Spaulding (Miami Beach, Fla.) finished second in each of their two races today, while Dalton Bergan (Seattle, Wash.) and Zack Maxam (Coronado, Calif.) claimed double victories.
"It could,ve been worse," said Spaulding. "Dalton had very good starts and they are fast in light air; our speed was okay, but we just didn,t get off the line quite as fast as we wanted." Larson claimed that his team,s strategy for tomorrow, when the winds are expected to increase substantially from today, is "to not tip over."
"Seriously," Larson said, "I'm keeping it simple. I,ll keep tabs on Dalton and Zack, but match racing is a little hard to do in a 49er if there's big wind."
The teams of Sven Coster/Kalle Coster (NED) and Amanda Clark/Sarah Mergenthaler (Shelter Island, N.Y./Matawan, N.J.) held their leads in the 470 Men,s and Women,s classes, respectively.
"It's okay that it has been light air for the last few days," said Coster, who finished sixth with his brother at the 2004 Olympics, "because we need to focus on that for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. We are actually more expert in strong air, so we are not too concerned about tomorrow. We,re right up there and being smart."
Clark, a two-time College All-American, and Mergenthaler have a whopping 23-point lead on their women,s fleet and in combined scoring for men,s and women,s fleets are sitting in second overall. "That,s a significant accomplishment for us," said Clark. "The first part of the regatta, we focused on securing our lead in the women,s division. A secondary outcome was that we,re doing pretty well overall, too. We like light air, but some better breeze tomorrow will liven things up."
Other Action
Sally Barkow (Nashotah, Wis.) reclaimed her lead today after winning the first of today,s two races in the Yngling class and finishing fifth in the second. Only two points stand between her and yesterday,s leader Carol Cronin (Jamestown, R.I.). Barkow sails with Deborah Capozzi (Bayport, N.Y.) and Carrie Howe (Grosse Pointe, Mich.), while Cronin sails with Jamie Haines (Newport, R.I.) and Kate Fears (Washington, D.C.).
The Tornado class, which did not sail for a second consecutive day, should get a boost with the heavier breezes expected tomorrow. John Lovell (New Orleans, La.) and Charlie Ogletree (Kemah, Texas), the USA,s 2004 Olympic Silver Medallists in this class, are the current leaders.
Brad Funk (Belleair Bluffs, Fla.) still holds his lead in the Laser class after three races today, as does Canada,s Christopher Cook in the Finn class after two races.
In Paralympic sailing, Sweden,s Stellan Berlin is still dominating the 2.4 Metre class after three races today, with Nick Scandone (Fountain Valley, Calif.) moving up to second overall. Great Britain,s John Robertson and crew Hannah Stodel and Steve Thomas have not let go of their Sonar fleet lead since the regatta,s beginning. They won both of their races today.
The Rolex Miami OCR is the only qualifying event used for determining US Sailing Team members in the 470 (Men and Women), 49er, Tornado and Yngling classes. Top-five finishers will claim the distinction tomorrow, and the Golden Torch Award will be given to the American sailor deemed to have the best overall performance among all classes.
In addition to Rolex, other sponsors of the event are Nautica, Sperry Top-Sider, Team McLube and Zodiac. Regatta Headquarters for the 2005 Rolex Miami OCR are at the US Sailing Center, with classes hosted by the US Sailing Center; Coral Reef, Key Biscayne and Miami Yacht Clubs; the Coconut Grove Sailing Club; and Shake-A-Leg-Miami.
For more information, including the latest results and photos, visit the event web site at www.ussailing.org/Olympics/RolexMiamiOCR. Video produced by T2P TV can be viewed after 9 p.m. Eastern tonight and for each of the remaining days of the event at www.t2p.tv .
Rolex Miami OCR
Day 4 (Jan. 27, 2005) Results
Position, Skipper/Crew, Hometowns, Finishes, Total Points
Finn (26 boats)
1. Christopher Cook, CAN, 2-1-[4]-2-1-4-3-1-3, 17.00
2. Kevin Hall, Bowie, Md., USA, 1-4-6-1-2-[8]-1-5-1, 21.00
3. Bill Hardesty, San Diego, Calif., USA, 5-8-1-[14]-7-1-4-4-5, 35.00
470 Men (11 boats)
1. Sven Coster/Kalle Coster, NED, 1-2-1-2-[5]-1-2-1-4, 14.00
2. Mike Anderson-Mitterling/David Hughes, San Diego/San Diego, Calif., USA, 2-3-2-[7]-1-4-3-2-5, 22.00
3. Stuart McNay/Graham Biehl, Chestnut Hill, Mass./San Diego, Calif., USA, 3-5-3-9-4-6-4-[14]-6, 40.00
470 Women (9 boats)
1. Amanda Clark/Sarah Mergenthaler, Shelter Island, N.Y./Matawan, N.J., USA, 5-1-4-1-2-3-[6]-5-1, 22.00
2. Henriette Koch/Lene Sommer, DEN, 4-4-5-6-7-5-10-4-[14], 45.00
3. Erin Maxwell/Alice Manard, Stamford, Conn./Evanston, Ill., USA, [21/OCS]-7-8-12-3-9-1-6-2, 48.00
49er (17 boats)
1. Morgan Larson/Pete Spaulding, Capitola, Calif./Miami Beach, Fla., USA, 1-1-1-[3]-1-2-2, 8.00
2. Dalton Bergan/Zack Maxam, Seattle, Wash./Coronado, Calif., USA, 4-2-2-2-[5]-1-1, 12.00
3. Rodion Luka/George Leonchuk, UKR, 2-3-4-1-[6]-3-3, 16.00
Laser Full (46 boats)
1. Brad Funk, Belleair Bluffs, Florida, USA , 2-1-2-[3]-3-2-1-3, 14.00
2. Andrew Campbell, San Diego, Calif., USA, [4]-4-4-2-1-3-2-2, 18.00
3. John Pearce, Ithaca, N.Y., USA, [10]-2-1-4-10-1-7-9, 34.00
Laser Radial (24 boats)
1. Anna Tunnicliffe, Norfolk, Va., USA 3-[6]-1-5-1-2, 12.00
2. Paige Railey, Clearwater, Fla., USA, 1-3-2-4-[8]-3, 13.00
3. Lenka Smidova, CZE, 2-[7]-3-3-5-1, 14.00
Star (40 boats)
1. Andrew Horton/Brad Nichol, Newport, R.I./Hanover, N.H., USA, 3-1-8-3-9-11-[41/OCS]-1, 36.00
2. Mark Reynolds/Phil Trinter, San Diego, Calif./Port Washington, N.Y., USA, 2-5-14-[23]-8-9-2-5, 45.00
3. Vincent Brun/Douglas Brophy, San Diego, Calif./Rowley, Mass., USA, 10-4-3-11-[41/OCS]-2-1-17, 48.00
4. Eric Doyle/Brian Sharp, Costa Mesa, Calif./Franklin, Mass., USA, 6-2-11-2-[30]-4-15-8, 48.00 5. Fredrik Loof/Anders Ekstrom, SWE, 7-6-5-4-5-8-13-[14], 48.00
Tornado (11 boats)
1. John Lovell/Charlie Ogletree, New Orleans, La./Kemah, Texas, USA, 2-1-1-1, 5.00
2. Roland Gabler/Gunnar Strukmann, DEN, 1-2-5-3, 11
3. Rob Parrish/Lars Guck, Hillsborough, Calif./Bristol, R.I., USA, 3-5-3-4, 15.00
Yngling (8 boats)
1. Sally Barkow/Deborah Capozzi/Carrie Howe, Nashotah, Wis./Bayport, N.Y./Grosse Pointe, Mich., USA, 1-1-[6]-1-4-6-1-5, 19.00
2. Carol Cronin/Kate Fears/Jamie Haines, Jamestown, R.I./Washington, D.C./Newport, R.I., USA, 5-2-1-2-2-2-[7]-7, 21.00
3. Liz Baylis/Nancy Haberland/Katie Pettibone, San Rafael, Calif./Annapolis, Md./Sacramento, Calif., USA, [7]-6-4-4-6-1-3-1, 25.00
4. Felicity Clark/Kari McKay/Joanne Abbott, CAN, 4-[8]-2-3-5-5-2-4, 25.00
2.4 Metre (18 boats)
1. Stellan Berlin, SWE, 2-1-1-[4]-4-1-1-3-1-1, 15.00
2. Nick Scandone, Fountain Valley, Calif., USA, [12]-2-10-1-3-2-7-2-4-2, 33.00
3. Marko Dahlberg, FIN, 1-4-7-5-2-3-[10]-4-3-6, 35.00
Sonar (7 boats)
1. John Robertson/Hannah Stodel/Steve Thomas, GBR, 1-1-1-2-[3]-1-2-1, 9.00
2. David Schroeder/Keith Burhans/Bradley Johnson, Miami, Fla./Rochester, N.Y./Hollywood, Fla., USA, 3-2-2-[8/DSQ]-1-5-3-2, 18.00
3. Ken Kelly/Robert Jones/Andre Belcourt, CAN/Issaquah, Wash., USA/CAN, [4]-3-4-4-2-2-1-3, 19.00
Equator Record for Macathur
KEY DATA DAY 61 0710 GMT:
Distance ahead: 426 miles
Time ahead: 1 day 13 hour [representing 12.85% of time remaining] calculated using the time it took for Joyon to get to the same Distance to Finish as Ellen's current position
OMEGA: Official timekeeper for Ellen MacArthur
Lat/Long: 01 43 N / 029 23 W (104 miles N Equator / 870 miles SSW Cape Verde Is)
Average Boat speed: 5.99 knots (heading NW by N)
True Wind speed: 5.8 knots (direction ENE)
Sea temperature: 28.1 degrees C
Distance sailed so far: 23,819 miles at an average speed of 16.3 knots
(data communicated by Thrane MiniC via BT Business Broadband)
Update based on data recorded 0710 GMT...check http://www.teamellen.com for the latest data updated hourly
IN BRIEF:
* <
* LONG WAY TO GET OUT OF HIGH RISK DOLDRUMS and Ellen not expecting to clear this area until late tonight
* JOYON STARTING TO SPEED UP AGAIN after a slow couple of days inching northwards close into the Brazilian coast.
* MORE UPWIND CONDITIONS EXPECTED AFTER THE DOLDRUMS as the north-easterly trades are not expected to veer into the east until Sunday.
* CONCERN GROWS FOR SLINKY as hundreds of emails pour in overnight from everyone wanting to know whether MacArthur had sacrificed Slinky to Neptune when crossing the Equator.
IN DETAIL:
<
There is still a long way to get out of high risk doldrums and Ellen is not expecting to clear this area until late tonight: "Wind up and down, fluctuating between 5 and 9 knots, and its gone further to the north which is a good sign. Have been hesitating about putting the Code 0 up [giant light wind sail, good up to 8 knots only, takes massive effort to put up and get down]...There is a very thin line of cloud I can see on the sat pics that looks like the end of the Doldrums to me, but its 195 miles to the north which is a long way at 8 knots..." Since crossing the Equator, <
Francis Joyon, on board IDEC, started to speed up again after a slow couple of days inching northwards close into the Brazilian coast. From today his Distance Made Good [ie effective miles covered towards finish line] starts to improve dramatically - 232 miles today, 257 miles tomorrow then 300 miles. Ellen can expect to lose some of her advantage as she stays slow through the Doldrums today. [See below for Joyon's daily VMG runs to the finish]. Joyon crossed the Equator after 62 days and 25 minutes on 23.1.04 [on Ellen's timetable, tomorrow the 29th] and was fortunate not to get trapped by any Doldrums activity - picking up the beginings of the NE Trade Winds before even reaching the Equator.
Further upwind conditions are expected after the Doldrums as the north-easterly trades are not expected to veer into the east until Sunday. Commanders' Weather warn Ellen to keep east of 35 degrees West or risk getting caught in lighter winds. For now, <
Concern is growing for 'Slinky' as hundreds of emails pour in overnight from everyone wanting to know whether MacArthur had sacrificed him to Neptune at the Equator. On the outbound crossing it was a copy of Lance Armstrong's "It's Not About The Bike" but this time, she promised to offer up the most valuable thing she had on board. Slinky is MacArthur's long-suffering on board companion - furry looking, around six inches long and purple in colour, you sometimes see him hanging around the webcam. His has suffered in silence for the past 62 days and now he has disappeared from view: "Slinky? I'll try to do some photos to clarify the situation soon..." was MacArthur's only comment. For most sailors including MacArthur, offerings to Neptune are a serious business, not to be taken lightly.
WEATHER ANALYSIS FROM COMMANDERS' WEATHER 0600 GMT:
It has been fine in the doldrums area so far, but Ellen will be not clear of the doldrums trap until she is north of 4N.
Wind speeds have been mainly 8-13 kts, but will likely diminish further over the next 6 hours. There are no heavy showers/squalls on the satellite imagery at this time – hopefully wind speeds will not fall below 3-4 kts, without the shower/squall activity. Regardless, it will be a tense situation until Ellen is north of 4N.
Once north of 4N, the ENE and NE trade winds will increase to 13-18 kts on Saturday. It will be important to stay east of 35W, to sail a shorter distance and there will be more wind speed E of 35.
This will require Ellen to sail tight to the wind. Winds will not veer into a more favorable easterly wind direction until later Sunday.
The large high pressure area NW of Ireland this morning will play a role in Ellen’s approach to the finish line. Hopefully the high pressure area will be over the Bay of Biscay instead of over or north of Ellen’s projected route.
Wind forecasts
Wind directions are TRUE, wind speed in kts, time is UTC
Fri, Jan 28
12: 050-080/ 6-12, near 2 45N/29W
18: 040-070/ 6-12
Weather∑Variable clouds with some scattered showers/squalls.
Sat, Jan 29
00: 050-070/10-15 - wind stronger to the N (around and N of 5 30n)
06: 040-060/13-18
12: 050-070/15-20, near 7N/31 30W
18: 050-070/13-18
Partly cloudy Sat and Sun with a brief squally shower or 2.
Sun, Jan 30
00: 060-080/13-17
06: 060-080/13-18
12: 070-090/14-20, near 11 30N/33 30W
18: 070-090/13-18
http://www.commandersweather.com
ELLEN MACARTHUR SOLO ROUND THE WORLD - NEW SOLO TIMES:
Ushant-Equator 8d 18h 20m 7/12/04 0230GMT (taking 14h 3m off Joyon's time)
Ushant-Cape of Good Hope 19d 9h 46m 17/12/04 1756GMT (taking 10h 45m off Joyon's time)
Ushant-Cape Leeuwin 29d 14h 5m 27/12/04 2215GMT (taking 17h 24m off Joyon's time)
Ushant-Cape Horn 44d 23h 36m 12/1/04 0746GMT (taking 4 days 2h 45m off Joyon's time)
Ushant-Equator 60d 13h 35m 27/1/05 2145GMT (taking 1d 10h 50m off Joyon's time)
FRANCIS JOYON 24 HOUR RUNS
Francis Joyon's 24 hour runs. These are VMG distances, ie distance sailed towards the finish, not through the water:
26.1.05 IDEC 162 miles / B&Q 388 miles
27.1.05 IDEC 130 miles / B&Q 367 miles
28.1.05 IDEC 232 miles
29.1.05 IDEC 257 miles
30.1.05 IDEC 300 miles
31.1.05 IDEC 299 miles
1.2.05 IDEC 278 miles
2.2.05 IDEC 221 miles
3.2.05 IDEC 212 miles
4.2.05 IDEC 162 miles
5.2.05 IDEC 284 miles
6.2.05 IDEC 383 miles
7.2.05 IDEC 400 miles
8.2.05 IDEC 439 miles
9.2.05 IDEC 345 miles
[dates normalised to Ellen's]
Orange II heads to Cape Verdes
Orange II goes faster since 10:30 this Thursday morning. Her speed went up above 20 knots and from that moment the maxi catamaran sails between 20 and 26 knots of average speed.
Bruno Peyron's cat has escaped from the disturbed zone of the Canaries and can from now head to south-west (course at 230° at 5 pm). She sails on starboard tack to go down towards the South while nibbling gradually in the west. Her VMG is slightly weaker than its real speed because the crew seems decided to sail away from the African coasts to take the direction of the archipelago of Cape Verde.
If there is not a news from on board as it is difficult to join the crew by satellite phone, Jean-Baptiste Epron has been able to send some images of the day. He photographed Jacques Caraës, his assistant to the embarked images, when this one was filming the boat with its digital camera. Also in the galery, Yann Elies' board, with Ludo A glaor and Yves Blévec, having diner...
Facts: 497 miles in 24 hours...514 miles ahead of Cheyenne's record.
Orange II Crew fuels Up
January 27, 2005
What does Nellie Bly have to do with Sailing?
With the Jules Verne trophy carrying the name of the author of Around the World in 80 days, Mr. Verne is suitably honored by sailing.
A recent listed to news on the radio introduced me to Nellie Bly which was a pen name for Elizabeth Jane Cochran. Bly was a journalist who enacted Verne's proposition of a world circling voyage in under 80 days.
In 1888, it was suggested that the New York World should send a reporter on a trip around the world, mimicking Jules Verne's book Around the World in Eighty Days. It was decided that Nellie Bly should be that reporter, and on November 14, 1889 she left New York on her 24,899-mile journey. "Seventy-two days, six hours, eleven minutes and fourteen seconds after her Hoboken departure" (January 25, 1890) Nellie arrived in New York. This was a world record for circling the earth, which would stand until 1929, when the Graf Zeppelin did it in "20 days, four hours and fourteen minutes".
Bly wrote of these adventures in Around the World in 72 days
Today Andy Green a British sailor writing in the Daily Sail had this comment about Ellen Macarthur's Around the world Record Bid "Ellen on the other hand needs to break the record for all of us: her blinding determination and guts can only be a good reflection on sailing as a whole." This comment shows how top of mind and popular Ellen really is.
It's interesting that while Vernes book was fiction, Bly's trip actually occurred. I don't know how popular Bly was, but indications are she was a determined under cover journalist. We know that Macarthur is a determined and very public sailor.
Currently she seems to be right on the edge of breaking Francis Joyon's solo around the world record of 72 days 22 hours. Perhaps an additional goal might be for her to break Bly's time of 72 days 6 hours. In fact maybe there should be a Nellie Bly trophy for the 1st to post a time under 72 days 6 hours....
During her trip Bly met Jules Verne. Bly wrote this of their meeting, ""If you do it in seventy-nine days, I shall applaud with both hands," Jules Verne said, and then I knew he doubted the possibility of my doing it in seventy-five, as I had promised. In compliment to me, he endeavored to speak to me in English, and did succeed in saying, as his glass tipped mine: "Good luck, Nellie Bly."
Finally one of Verne's less known works is 'An Antarctic Mystery' as a sequel to Poe's 'The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym.' The 1st page of this story mentions: Desolation Islands (see Desolation Peak), Captain Cook and the Kerguelen Islands....delicious
P.S. The Rowing Reporter plans to produce Book Scout Look out pieces on both Bly's trip and Verne's Antarctic Mystery in the near future.
Short Side of 5000
Elapsed Time: 81 days, 01 hours, 30 mins
Vendée Globe Fleet Leader: PRB (V. Riou FRA)
HELLOMOTO: 8th out of 13, level with Florianopolis & SE of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• HELLOMOTO has passed under the 5,000 mile barrier to the finish and moved up to 8th place after the retirement of Skandia, but as Conrad knows, the biggest dangers lie in the final stage of such a marathon race when both man and machine have been at sea for 80 plus days…
• However, the situation with the failed keel ram has stabilised, and Conrad is enjoying the tactical duel up the Atlantic with French skipper Joe Seeten as HELLOMOTO lies 210 miles behind Arcelor-Dunkerque
• This morning Conrad cooked up a high-protein breakfast of flying fish – and squid! He has also let his pasty legs see some sunshine and fresh air as he dons a pair of shorts for the first time in 2 months!
Conrad Humphreys interview from onboard HELLOMOTO this morning courtesy of Geolink/Iridium:
“Joe Seeten and I have sort of switched sides. Things are looking a little clearer than yesterday, the weather models are showing tricky soft patches 800 miles ahead at around 17 degrees South and through that the Trades are quite established up to the Doldrums. The Doldrums are changing and widening, but we’re still heading for the same crossing point. So far so good…the keel’s okay it’s losing a bit of pressure, which is a little annoying more than anything else, I don’t know if it’s a signal of things wearing or the ram getting worse, but fingers crossed its nothing serious. Right now I’m losing a fraction of performance, may be only 1/4 knot of boat speed, but it will be more telling in the stronger reaching conditions of the Trades when the boat sails much quicker if the keel is canted right over. Joe doesn’t I think have any gennaker or solent headsails and so what with my handicap and his, it will probably even out but as I have all my sails, I hope we’ll have the edge.
“It’s almost Trade wind conditions here, we’ve got 14 knots of breeze from the south, it’s dying and going forward, I’m pretty much making course, I’m about to put the spinnaker staysail up, so it’s pretty cool. I have got my shorts on now and so my pasty legs have absorbed some sunshine for the first time in a couple of months! Oh, and this morning I cooked up my first breakfast of flying fish – and squid! The squid landed on deck and as it had already died I got my mallet out to bash it, which tenderises the flesh, and then cut it into rings and fried it in lemon juice!
“I’m glad to hear that Nick is safely ashore, he’s been incredibly positive about it all, and it’s so hard to put yourself in his shoes and know what he must be feeling. I just have to stay on top of things with boat maintenance, check and double check every part of the rigging, as something as small as a damaged winch or chafe on a sheet can lead to bigger problems if you don’t spot them in time. More dangers lie in the last 5,000 miles of a race like this, as the boat and the skipper are more fatigued.
“I can honestly say that the last 10 days has flown by. This leg is so tactical you’re spending every waking hour deciding where to position yourself, changing sails and watching the weather, you’re so busy you’re not thinking about the days. I know from experience the next 15 days will be the same, and then when you’re a week away from port it’s only then you really count down the days! At the moment I’m enjoying the sailing and the tactical battle with Joe Seeten. I think there’s a lot of mileage in that, Virbac is now under 1,000 miles ahead, which is amazing considering where they were a week ago. We’ve had a good run up the South Atlantic and I hope it continues!”
Linky Sailing News
Racing OCR B&Q ahead. Orange II day 3
News Brasil 1 VOR Team
Great Lakes Ontario level study. Muskegon Lake Health
Vendee Globe Report 27 January
Whilst we go about our daily routines 20 lone sailors are racing around the world without a stop.
Each weekday ATWOS will present a report on the 2004-2005 Vendee Globe race. Who will join Lamazou, Desjoyeaux etc. as winners? Who will be a breakout young star like Ellen Macarthur? Which sailors will participate in dramas such as those of Pete Goss & Yves Parlier?
The report will cover the rhythm of the race, whether it's fast or slow, what's the degree of difficulty, is it iceberg territory?
Each day we'll check the standings to see who the leaders are and who else is on the move.
The fleet roundup will cover news of interest from any and all boats both the success's and the inevitable failures.
From the lone sailors will highlight the most interesting communications from the multi national group of sailors.
Rhythm of the Race "With seven days to the finish, Vincent Riou is ideally placed to take on the final sprint which may end with a match race in the Bay of Biscay"
Standings 1. PRB 2. Bonduelle 150 miles back 3. Ecover 225 miles back
Fleet Round Up Potential winner certain non finisher. Skandia reaches Brazil. Day 81.
From the Lone Sailors Nick Moloney "My initial concern at the start was that I wasn’t mentally strong enough to get around the world. But I was overcoming the problems, and I was on the home stretch and my focus was the finish. I felt I was strong enough to do the Vendée. I never ever expected the boat to fail in any way." “After passing New Zealand, I knew there was no going back, and Cape Horn really did mark the moment that I had passed the 3 Capes, and I really felt like I’d completed my 3 round the world voyages at that time.” Benoît Parnaudeau "Thinking of you Nick. The goal of any sailor is to bring his boat back to port, which isn’t always possible and not always easy. That wasn’t the case for Nick though. He got his boat into port even without a keel. A boat without a keel is like a man without balls or a parrot without a voice, if you know what I mean." Mike Golding "My plans after the Azores are to try and bag some sleep before I get into the Bay of Biscay. Though the weather is unlikely to be wild there it does look a bit tricky."
Nick Moloney and Skandia getting a tow
Final Word on '05 Key West
Winners of high profile classes at Key West 2005, presented by Nautica, included Pegasus Racing's Melges 24 from Hawaii, with San Diego's Bill Hardesty driving and Olympic gold medalist Kevin Burnham aboard; Hasso Plattner's Farr 40 from Germany, Makoto Uematsu's Transpac 52 from Japan, Tom Coates' J/105 from San Francisco and Andrzej Rojek's Swan 45 from Newport, R.I.
From across the country and across two oceans they came, 295 boats and some 3,000 sailors strong, perhaps the greatest gathering of eagles alongside recreational racers that North America has ever seen. An unofficial count tallied 21 Olympic medalists with 29 medals across the span of two decades and enough America's Cup veterans to reach from Auckland to Valencia, sailing in the 20 various of classes of boats from 24 to 75 feet.
But you probably knew all of that from last week's reports. Apart from the obvious---mild climate, good breeze, intense competition---is another reason why the world's best sailors keep coming back: race management. Over five days in challenging conditions ranging from 25 knots down to 2, the principal race officers on the four courses---Ken Legler, Bruce Golison, Dave Brennan and Wayne Bretsch---started a total of 170 races. Without a single general recall.
"I don't do that," said Brennan, who ran the two largest fleets of 58 Melges 24s and 40 J/105s on Division 3. "This was my fifth year and I haven't had any."
Event director Peter Craig, who ran Division 2 before Golison succeeded him, said, "I had one before Bruce arrived, and that would be pre-1999."
At Key West, the starting process is managed not by calling everybody back when a few are over early but by identifying those who were guilty and hailing their numbers by radio.
Golison, running the big PHRF-1 boats, including five TP52s, on Division 2, said, "I have been on the big boat course for six years . . . and there has not been a general recall in that time. A lot of it is philosophy. In one of our first races two boats were over. In the third race 7 of the 10 were over, and we called those seven back. After that we didn't have one boat over in that class. They were still all lined up bow to bow, but they were 20 feet off the line."
Ken Legler, on Division 1 with the Farr 40s, Swan 45s, Mumm 30s and 1D35s, said, "The last one I signaled was on the Melges course in
1996."
Bretsch, managing the smallest boats on Division 4: "This year we almost had one with the Tartan 10 class, but instead we individually recalled 7 out of 9 boats."
Professional sailors expect that level of efficiency, and there were plenty of them at Key West. For a seminar on tactics in the "big top" reception tent one night the panelists were, left to right, Terry Hutchinson, Ken Read, Ian Walker, John Kostecki, Dave Ullman, John Cutler and Kevin Burnham, with Mike Toppa as emcee. Mark Reynolds was scheduled but was still out practicing on Philippe Kahn's Farr 40.
Other notables across the seascape of the Conch Republic included Russell Coutts, Brad Butterworth and the core of the Alinghi crew, Morgan Larson, Chris Larson, Hamish Pepper and Luna Rossa's America's Cup helmsman James Spithill, who sailed a Melges 24 to second place. His crew included Seattle brothers Jonathan and Charlie McKee, each an Olympic double medalist, and perhaps the youngest sailor in the regatta: 10-year-old Mac Agnese of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., a member of the U.S. Optimist Dinghy Association Development Team whose 60 pounds hardly counted against the class weight limit.
But if race management is the heart of Key West competition, the lesser known racers are the soul, and winning in that class of company becomes a lifetime achievement. It took Coates seven years.
“It feels fantastic," Coates said after Masquerade won the next-to-last J/105 race in light and tricky conditions to clinch his victory. “When we realized we were going to be second last year, it took us about five minutes to say we were coming back with the same crew to try and get over the hump. Key West is a phenomenal event. To win this regatta in a very deep and talented 40-boat fleet is very rewarding.”
Masquerade charged out of the gate to win the first two races and was chosen as Nautica Boat of the Day on Monday. Other Boats of the Day:
--Peter de Ridder's Farr 40, Mean Machine, from Monaco and Holland on Premiere Racing Day Tuesday;
--Maspero Giovanni's Melges 24, Joe Fly, from Coto, Italy on Mount Gay Rum Day Wednesday;
--Chris and Kara Busch's 1D35, Wild Thing, from San Diego on Industry Partners Day Thursday;
--Jim Bishop's J/44 (PHRF-2), Gold Digger, from New York, N.Y. on City of Key West Day Friday.
Melges Performance Sailboats of Zenda, Wis., swept overall honors. The Pegasus Racing Melges 24 was Boat of the Week. Kahn drove the team's Farr 40 while Hardesty drove the Melges, which was honored for winning the most competitive class. He had help. Also on board were Burnham, Sweden's Freddy Loof, winner of a bronze medal at Sydney in 2000; Mark Ivey of Newport Beach, a four-time collegiate all-American, and Midge Tandy of Pensacola, Fla.
The new Melges 32, with Jeff Ecklund as skipper, won the Key West Trophy as PHRF Boat of the Week by winning PHRF-3.
The International Team Competition for the Nautica Trophy matched a designated eight pair of Farr 40s and Melges 24s. The dogfight ended with four teams separated by two points, led by the USA East team composed of Barking Mad and Neil Sullivan's M-Fatic from Annapolis, driven by Olympic silver medalist Morgan Reeser. They edged Europe A (Mean Machine and Team SBAB) by one point, followed by Europe B (Atalanti and Joe Fly) and Italy (Mascalzone Latino and Blu Moon).
Because of severe winds and sea state early in the week, the Mumm 30s, Corsair 28R catamarans, PHRF-3 and the small boats on Division 4 sailed only eight of the nine scheduled races. All boats except those on Division 1 discarded their worst scores.
Key West 2005 sponsors are Nautica, Mount Gay Rum, B&G, Lewmar, Samson Rope Technologies, and the Florida Keys and Key West Tourist Development Council. The Historic Seaport is the Official Site.
Support also comes from a record number of 29 Industry Partners.
Premiere Racing is also managing the new Acura Miami Race Week 2005 ("the SORC renaissance"). Race dates are March 10-13, 2005, with ocean and Biscayne Bay racing. Many Key West entrants were planning to store boats in Miami and Ft. Lauderdale and return for more South Florida racing.
Most OCR leaders stay ahead
Only one lead change took place today at the Rolex Miami OCR when Carol Cronin's Yngling team outpaced Sally Barkow's to take second in a single race. Extremely light breezes in the morning died in the afternoon, causing cancellation of racing in two Olympic classes (Tornado and Laser Radial) and completion of less races than desired in the other seven. Both Paralympic classes, however, managed three races apiece. The Rolex Miami OCR, in its 16th year, is an ISAF Grade I world ranking event and the largest Olympic and Paralympic classes regatta in the country. Over 320 sailors, representing 26 countries, began racing Monday and will continue through Friday.
Cronin, who sails with fellow Jamestown, Rhode Islander Jamie Haines and Kate Fears of Washington, D.C. capitalized on a nice start with Barkow beneath her. "Sally didn't pull the trigger in time and had to tack off to the right to clear her air. We went on to round the top mark in third with a pack of leaders." Cronin worked up to second place at the finish while Barkow settled for sixth, breaking the tied point score they shared after yesterday,s racing. "We've done lots of sailing here in these kinds of conditions, so we feel really comfortable," said Cronin, who has shown good speed in the light breezes that are expected to repeat tomorrow.
In Lasers, the largest fleet with 46 boats, a single race allowed Andrew Campbell (San Diego, Calif.) to close in on leader Brad Funk (Plantation, Florida) in overall scoring. Campbell, a two-time College All-American, won the race after leading from the start. "Things just fell into place," he said.
Funk, also a two-time College All-American who finished third at the Laser Olympic Trials last year, didn't much care for the light conditions but was satisfied with his third-place finish today. Both Funk and Campbell, like many sailors at this regatta, have announced their Olympic campaigns for 2008 in Beijing. "Right now I,m mostly training in the gym," said Funk, who weighs 168 pounds and needs to put on 12 more before the Laser Worlds. "I'm going to be a body builder, so that I'm the first guy to loosen his outhaul to power up in a big breeze."
Canada's Christopher Cook, who has led the 26-boat Finn class since the regatta began, was surprised to get in two races today. "I prefer a breeze because you don't have to worry as much about other competitors, but any wind is good," he said. Cook, a three-time North American and Canadian National Champion who finished second at his country's 2004 Olympic Finn Trials, added that he is mostly watching runner-up Kevin Hall (Bowie, Md.), who represented the USA in Athens in this class. Cook contends, however, that Bill Hardesty (San Diego, Calif.), in third overall, is "coming on strong."
Cook also believes the Rolex Miami OCR's expansion to five days from four aligns it more with other Grade 1 events in Europe. "In the grand scheme of things, I've always treated this as a very important event," said Cook, who has competed in this regatta three times in the Laser class and four times in the Finn. "It's the first big Grade 1 event of the season. You have to establish yourself as a player, and sponsors love it if you do well here."
Other Action
In Paralympic sailing, Sweden's Stellan Berlin is leading the 2.4 Metre class, while Great Britain's John Robertson and crew Hannah Stodel and Steve Thomas still top the Sonars.
With two races each today, respective leaders in the Star, 49er and 470 Men's and Women,s classes are: Andrew Horton and Brad Nichol (Newport, R.I./Hanover, N.H.); Morgan Larson and Pete Spaulding (Capitola, Calif./Miami Beach, Fla.); and Sven Coster/Kalle Coster (NED) and Amanda Clark/Sarah Mergenthaler (Shelter Island, N.Y./Matawan, N.J.).
Tonight,s shoreside activities for competitors feature a special dinner sponsored by Nautica, which is a sponsor of the regatta and the US Sailing Teams. Other sponsors of the event, in addition to Rolex, are Sperry Top-Sider, Team McLube and Zodiac. Regatta Headquarters for the 2005 Rolex Miami OCR are at the US Sailing Center, with classes hosted by the US Sailing Center; Coral Reef, Key Biscayne and Miami Yacht Clubs; the Coconut Grove Sailing Club; and Shake-A-Leg-Miami.
For more information, including the latest results and photos, visit the event web site at www.ussailing.org/Olympics/RolexMiamiOCR . Video produced by T2P TV can be viewed after 9 p.m. Eastern tonight and for each of the remaining days of the event at www.t2p.tv .
Rolex Miami OCR
Day 3 (Jan. 26, 2005) Results
Position, Skipper/Crew, Hometowns, Finishes, Total Points
Finn (26 boats)
1. Christopher Cook, CAN, 2-1-[4]-2-1-4-3, 13.00
2. Kevin Hall, Bowie, Md., USA, 1-4-6-1-2-[8]-1, 15.00
3. Bill Hardesty, San Diego, Calif., USA, 5-8-1-[14]-7-1-4, 26.00
470 Men (11 boats)
1. Sven Coster/Kalle Coster, NED, 1-2-1-2-[5]-1, 7.00
2. Mike Anderson-Mitterling/David Hughes, San Diego/San Diego, Calif., USA, 2-3-2-[7]-1-4, 12.00
3. Stuart McNay/Graham Biehl, Chestnut Hill, Mass./San Diego, Calif., USA, 3-5-3-[9]-4-6, 21.00
470 Women (9 boats)
1. Amanda Clark/Sarah Mergenthaler, Shelter Island, N.Y./Matawan, N.J., USA, [5]-1-4-1-2-3, 11.00
2. Henriette Koch/Lene Sommer, DEN, 4-4-5-6-[7]-5, 24.00
3. Allison Jolly/Isabelle Kinsolving, St. Petersburg, Fla./New York, N.Y., 9-9-[11]-3-8-2, 31.00
49er (17 boats)
1. Morgan Larson/Pete Spaulding, Capitola, Calif./Miami Beach, Fla., USA, 1-1-1-[3]-1, 4.00
2. Rodion Luka/George Leonchuk, UKR, 2-3-4-1-[6], 10.00
3. Dalton Bergan/Zack Maxam, Seattle, Wash./Coronado, Calif., USA, 4-2-2-2-[5], 10.00
Laser Full (46 boats)
1. Brad Funk, Belleair Bluffs, Florida, USA , 2-1-2-[3]-3, 8.00
2. Andrew Campbell, San Diego, Calif., USA, [4]-4-4-2-1, 11.00
3. John Pearce, Ithaca, N.Y., USA, [10]-2-1-4-10, 17.00
Laser Radial (24 boats)
1. Paige Railey, Clearwater, Fla., USA, 1-3-2, 6.00
2. Anna Tunnicliffe, Norfolk, Va., USA 3-6-1, 10.00
3. Leah Hoepfner, Corpus Christi, Texas, USA, 6-1-5, 12.00
Star (40 boats)
1. Andrew Horton/Brad Nichol, Newport, R.I./Hanover, N.H., USA, 3-1-8-3-9-[11], 24.00
2. Eric Doyle/Brian Sharp, Costa Mesa, Calif./Franklin, Mass. USA, 6-2-11-2-[30]-4, 25.00
3. Fredrik Loof/Anders Ekstrom, SWE, 7-6-5-4-5-[8], 27.00
Tornado (11 boats)
1. John Lovell/Charlie Ogletree, New Orleans, La./Kemah, Texas, USA, 2-1-1-1, 5.00
2. Roland Gabler/Gunnar Strukmann, DEN, 1-2-5-3, 11
3. Rob Parrish/Lars Guck, Hillsborough, Calif./Bristol, R.I., USA, 3-5-3-4, 15.00
Yngling (8 boats)
1. Carol Cronin/Kate Fears/Jamie Haines, Jamestown, R.I./Washington, D.C./Newport, R.I., USA, (5)-2-1-2-2-2, 9.00
2. Sally Barkow/Deborah Capozzi/Carrie Howe, Nashotah, Wis./Bayport, N.Y./Grosse Pointe, Mich., USA, 1-1-(6)-1-4-6, 13.00
3. JJ Isler/Pease Glaser/Laura Schmidt, La Jolla, Calif./Long Beach, Calif./Chicago, Ill., USA, 3-3-[5]-5-3-3, 17.00
2.4 Metre (18 boats)
1. Stellan Berlin, SWE, 2-1-1-[4]-4-1-1, 10.00
2. Marko Dahlberg, FIN, 1-4-7-5-2-3-[10], 22.00
3. Allan Leibel, CAN, 3-3-6-3-6-[11]-9, 30.00
Sonar (7 boats)
1. John Robertson/Hannah Stodel/Steve Thomas, GBR, 1-1-1-[3]-3-1, 7.00
2. David Schroeder/Keith Burhans/Bradley Johnson, Miami, Fla./Rochester, N.Y./Hollywood, Fla., USA, 3-2-2-2-1-[5], 10.00
3. Ken Kelly/Robert Jones/Andre Belcourt, CAN/Issaquah, Wash., USA/CAN, 4-3-4-[5]-2-2, 15.
Opti Regatta
The Optimist Dinghy was designed over 50 years ago to teach young children to become proficient sailors and provide the opportunity to learn and enjoy sailing. The "Opti" as it is termed, is one of the largest one-design fleets in the world, with over 150,000 boats being sailed competitively, in over 85 countries. Last year the MYC Opti Open, drew 125 boats from all over Fairfield County, and we expect just as many this year. Can you picture 125 little boats all trying to leave the harbor at the same time? It’s really exciting! Come down and see for yourself.
The boats are separated and raced in several different fleets based on age and experience. The four fleets are the Green Fleet, White Fleet, Blue Fleet, and Red Fleet. The top finishers in each fleet will receive a trophy at the festivities following the race. Unfortunately not every junior sailor will walk away with a piece of silver. In order to make this experience a memorable one for them, we are having a free raffle. We hope we can get enough donated prizes so everyone will go home with something and we are counting on your support. Anything that a child between the age of 8 and 15 would like would be appropriate.
Supporters will be recognized by having their name posted on our banner and in our program booklet, acknowledging them, and requesting the families, friends and juniors to support you. Your name will also be announced as having made a particular contribution, prior to the awarding of the raffle prizes. Kindly mail your contribution to the address below.
If you have any questions; please contact me at 203 374-5777 or at aliebnick@aol.com.
We appreciate your support and generosity in making this event a memorable one for all the junior sailors participating.
B&Q back ahead of pace
KEY DATA DAY 60 0710 GMT:
Distance ahead: 287 miles
Time ahead: 1 day 5 hours [representing 9.29% of time remaining] calculated using the time it took for Joyon to get to the same Distance to Finish as Ellen's current position
OMEGA: Official timekeeper for Ellen MacArthur
Lat/Long: 04 19 S / 029 58 W (400 miles NE Recife / 270 miles S Equator)
Average Boat speed: 19.61 knots (heading N by E)
True Wind speed: 18.7 knots (direction SSE)
Sea temperature: 27.6 degrees C
Distance sailed so far: 23,441 miles at an average speed of 16.3 knots
(data communicated by Thrane MiniC via BT Business Broadband)
Update based on data recorded 0710 GMT...check http://www.teamellen.com for the latest data updated hourly
IN BRIEF:
* <
* <
* BIG AREA OF SQUALLS IN THE DOLDRUMS will keep Ellen on full alert. With the airflow moving more vertically than horizontally as the SE and NE Trades come together, this can produce a suction effect resulting in either no wind or more often than not violent rain squalls with strong gusts of wind that can have a catastrophic result if a skipper is caught unawares. The main Doldrum activity appears to be west of 30 degrees west stretching over a 180 mile area north-south. Ellen will be aiming to pass through the narrowest band of Dodrum activity between 30-28 degrees west, although Commanders' still expect this band to be around 120 miles across. Today the breeze is expected to stay in the 15-20 knot range before starting to back towards the east as <
* OUTLOOK NORTH OF THE EQUATOR is showing NE and ENE Trade Winds filling in around 3-4 degrees north increasing steadily as Ellen's pushes northwards. The key objective for Ellen once back in the Northern Hemisphere will be not to get pushed west of 35 degrees west as winds will be much lighter from 12 degrees north. A low moving north towards the Azores will provide some fast sailing conditions early next week but a huge high pressure sitting to the west of Scotland will prove critical to <
* ELLEN'S OC SAILING TEAM MATE UPDATE: Nick Moloney has reached Rio de Janeiro safe and sound. Arriving late last night under tow from the Brazilian navy, smaller motor boats then took over to get Skandia to the dockside. http://www.nickmoloney.com
WEATHER ANALYSIS FROM COMMANDERS' WEATHER 0600 GMT:
SE trade winds are increasing for Ellen at this time. The SE trade winds will average around 20 kts by 1200UTC and continue quite fresh until about 1S to the equator. Winds will slowly back and wind speeds will diminish north of the equator.
Lots of squall activity near 1-4N/24-30W and moving west at this time. Squalls in the doldrums may have brief wind gusts over 20 kts, but they far more notorious for killing the breeze, as there will be little if any wind in the wake of the doldrums shower and squall activity.
It still appears that the earlier Ellen arrives in the doldrums, the easier it will be. At this time tomorrow, Ellen should be arriving in the doldrums. Ellen should pop out of the doldrums near 4N and the ENE trade winds will average around 12-18 kts – not terribly strong, but more favorable for sailing a NNW course.
Strategy
1) Lets get over to 30W by 0-1S and then northward as best as possible
2) Try to stay east of 35W when in the NE and ENE trade winds
Wind forecasts
Wind directions are TRUE, wind speed in kts, time is UTC
Thurs, Jan 27
12: 130-150/18-24, near 2 50s/29 45w
18: 140-160/15-20
Partly cloudy
Fri, Jan 28
00: 130-100/12-17 - wind lighter to the N
06: 100-070/16-6
12: 090-060/ 8-14, near 3N/29W
18: 050-070/10-16
Changeable skies Fri with a scattering of showers/squalls
http://www.commandersweather.com
FRANCIS JOYON 24 HOUR RUNS
Francis Joyon's 24 hour runs. These are VMG distances, ie distance sailed towards the finish, not through the water:
26.1.05 IDEC 162 miles / B&Q 388 miles
27.1.05 IDEC 130 miles
28.1.05 IDEC 232 miles
29.1.05 IDEC 257 miles
30.1.05 IDEC 300 miles
31.1.05 IDEC 299 miles
1.2.05 IDEC 278 miles
2.2.05 IDEC 221 miles
3.2.05 IDEC 212 miles
4.2.05 IDEC 162 miles
5.2.05 IDEC 284 miles
6.2.05 IDEC 383 miles
7.2.05 IDEC 400 miles
8.2.05 IDEC 439 miles
9.2.05 IDEC 345 miles
[dates normalised to Ellen's]
Orange II Near the Canaries
After two days of sea, Orange II has joined the Moroccan coasts. She was slowed down several times during the night by small weather systems which are in the border of the high centered on Ireland.
While following the edge of this high pressure, the maxi catamaran nevertheless sailed South at 24 knots of average speed. she now approaches to the archipelago of the Canaries since she gybed at 8:46 GMT.
From a south-east route, Orange II switched to a south-west route, towards the islands. Bruno Peyron will explain us at the time of the radio session, in the beginning of afternoon, his strategic choice to cross the volcanic islands without being slowed down by the higher tops.
Day: 2
Data: 31 32.04' N 12 02.80' W
Speed: 22.2 kts
Cape: 232
Speed on 24h: 20.8 kts
Distance on 24h: 499 mn
Speed since departure: 24.3 kts
Total Distance: 1168 mn
Distances remaining: 23475.40 mn
Variation J.Verne record: 87 mn
Variation absolute record: 497 mn
January 26, 2005
Skandia Under Tow
Almost 24 hours after losing the keel, the Brazilian Patrol boat GUAJARA finally got a tow line across to Skandia at about 1100GMT, after a couple of difficult hours trying to get the tow line across between the two vessels. Skandia is currently making 4 knots to the north towards Rio de Janeiro, just under 50 miles away, with an ETA currently towards midnight GMT.
Although conditions are quite rough with up to 30 knots of wind and rain squalls, for now at least the boat seems sufficiently stable to withstand the rolling in the associated waves.
Considering the circumstances, Nick’s morale remains good as he reflects on the end of his Vendée Globe challenge, but nonetheless the completion of three round the world voyages past the 3 great Capes of Good Hope, Leeuwin and Horn.
Once again, the brutal and unforgiving nature of the Vendée Globe, the only non-stop solo race around planet has been brought home. Only 13 of the 20 entrants in the race are still competing, with the leaders (PRB, BONDUELLE and ECOVER) approximately 1,700 miles from the finish, and 13th placed Karen Leibovici (BENEFIC) still in the Southern Ocean 8,000 miles from the finish line in Les Sables d’Olonne. Skippers and their project teams take on this great race in the full knowledge of the difficulty of finishing, let alone finishing well, and certainly at Offshore Challenges the Vendée Globe 2008 was already on the agenda...
Orange II: Day 3
ZIGZAG TOWARDS THE CANARIES…
On her third day of racing, the Orange II maxi-catamaran is approaching the Canary Islands on a zigzag route with the wind aft and expecting some difficult days ahead. The weather forecasts have changed from what was announced two days ago. The high has split in two and shut off the trade winds forcing the boat towards the African coast. Bruno Peyron must therefore adjust his route in the coming hours to get around the archipelago of the Canaries.
For a while, Bruno Peyron thought about the possibility of turning back. «The window in the weather closed up 12 hours after the start. There were several possibilities, including returning home to set out again 24 or 36 hours later. We only hesitated for a few seconds, because the voyage is long. Last winter, Steve Fossett also lost some time during the first phase of his voyage. With our present lead, there’s nothing really to worry about. Besides, the boat is extremely fast in light and moderate winds. We have covered more than 500 miles in very light winds, so we mustn’t grumble. At the moment, the wind has dropped off quite a lot. We’re on our third gybe and the wind is swinging around from 30 to 40 degrees.»
Which way around the Canaries?
Based on the weather charts yesterday, the boat planned to pass between the coast of Lanzarote and Africa, but that doesn’t look so easy today. The boat has gybed to the west once again, thus shutting off some route options and running the risk of being becalmed on the leeward side of the islands. While getting ready to round the Canaries, the skipper of Orange II is working out the way to the Equator, and does not think that he is within the record for this first leg. Bruno Peyron: «The record for this first leg (Ushant – The Equator) is not going to be smashed because of the zigzags we’re going to have to do in the next few hours. Moreover, the forecasts don’t look good up to the Equator, as the high has wiped out the trade winds. They will be returning in 3 or 4 days, but we’ll be on the other side of Cape Verde by then. If we make the Equator in seven days, or seven and a half, we’re still in with a chance!»
First video broadcast live on Internet and on 3G mobile handsets.
History was made today at Orange race headquarters. For the first time in a sailing event, a video conference link was broadcast live on Internet and on Orange mobile handsets, thanks to mobile broadband technology.
Quotes:
Bruno Peyron : «In 1993, we embarked on a commando style operation with a boat prepared in less than six weeks. In 2002, the boat was prepared over a month and a half. This time, we have 20,000 miles under our belts, and we have complete faith in the boat. I was surprised during the first night to find out that we could push the boat all the way, making 30-35 knots for around twenty hours.»
Weather: «We collect the weather data every six hours with two different versions for 3-4 days ahead, and one forecast for a fortnight ahead. We study that with Roger Nilson, then we try to find the best way through. The high has split in two, and the part that is on our right is forcing us to the east. The competitors in the Vendée Globe have the same weather. Vincent Riou will be going around on the western side. The high moved in front of them and they will be able to sail straight on.»
Weight: «We fought such a battle against weight on board that I feel that we’re not much heavier than we were for the Atlantic record. The result is impressive, as the average speed is very high.»
Iceberg watch: «Yesterday we had our first "iceberg" watch, because of two white containers, which were floating around. We therefore organised a watch, just as if we were watching for a growler. The day we hit a container at 35 knots will certainly make a jolly fine photo to send back!»
Jacques Caraës :
«We’re lucky to be in the big brother to the boats built for The Race. Orange II is more comfortable thanks to its extra height above the waterline. The film equipment has made some progress too. The portable video cameras are lighter. As for the satellite antennae, there has clearly been a lot of progress, which allows us to carry out this broadcast even when the weather is not good. For me, it all started when Grant Dalton asked me to do it, as no one else on Club Med during The Race wanted to. Today I love the idea of being able to share these great experiences.»
Spanish VOR 70 building
"It doesn't get any better than this!" Iker Martínez beamed with optimism while admiring the results of the construction of the Volvo Open 70 Telefónica MoviStar as the hull was released from its mould. "It's a first class effort and an example of fantastic teamwork. There's no doubt BoatSpeed was a great place to carry out the construction".
"We were all thrilled to see the perfection of the hull and the precise finish," declared the 49er Olympic medallist, who arrived last December in Australia and is now working and preparing for the race.
Just 10 months from start of the race in Galicia, the Telefónica MoviStar Team is finalising the construction process of this spectacular boat designed to bring Spain its first victory in the Volvo Ocean Race. Down under, the BoatSpeed craftsmen are working according to schedule, timing to perfection the execution of the construction plan supervised by the Telefónica MoviStar Team. A smooth running schedule is a major advantage for a competition such as this, as rushing delicate construction work adds significant risk to the project. The new Volvo 70, Telefónica MoviStar will, taste the Australian sea in February.
The weight issue
"We have to follow the Volvo rules to build our 70" explains Iker. The hull, deck and some bulkheads have to meet a minimum weight per square metre, and as such we've tried out a series of different materials to make sure they reach, yet not surpass it. More weight means less strength. Ten different measurements of the entire boat are carried out and if you are under the official weight you can not compete. Fortunately, the first samples show that we are keeping up with the requirements, with a very positive tolerance rating. After this first test, we can even say that we have even exceeded designer Farr's expectations".
Everyone at the Telefónica MoviStar team has one clear objective at this stage and that is to build the most competitive and well-balanced boat of the Volvo Ocean Race fleet, the same goal the other participating teams are working hard to reach. This competitive atmosphere means every decision counts in the race to success. "We decided to build a female mould, which gives the lightest possible finish to the hull, saving precious weight" said Pedro Campos, manager of the team and the skipper in the in-shore races.
"The weight we save in the hull can be used in the bulb, which gives us speed. According to our calculations, we estimate that just 25 kilos of overweight would result in a loss of two hours over the entire race, or 15 minutes in each of the eight legs. This may not seem like much but if we look at what happened in the last race, we can see that in many legs the difference between the winner and the second place was less than 10 minutes. In leg 8, five boats came in over a period of 7 minutes" he added.
Fitting the rig
"The mast also has an established minimum weight plus a given centre of gravity," explains Bouwe Bekking. "With these targets we need to be even more precise, perhaps even more so than with the hull, as the weight of the mast is up high, which has a significant effect on the boat's performance. To give you an idea, fellow America's Cup teams consider that a good rig is just as important as the correct hull shape".
Using the designer's years of experience, the Volvo Open 70 is a boat unlike any other created before. The result of a series of comparative studies, tests and modelling, the designers of Telefónica MoviStar tested more than 600 combinations before deciding on the definitive model. Wind and sea conditions were also taken into account in deciding the final design.
"The first thing is to define the shape, which needs to be excellent to achieve minimum wind resistance. Testing under different conditions, including all possible winds we could encounter in this race, we saw defects in design and shape which meant the boat would not perform optimally or have the strength we needed to win. We decided to create our own mock-up where we could install our own mast. As the rig needs to meet certain flexibility standards, the sails designers and the mast engineer worked closely together to define base criteria, which were then used in constructing the mast. From there, we carry out a final check of each of the parts used in the rig" Bekking continued. "The tough work was worth the effort: "The rig is finished and we are very proud of the results."
A visit half-way round the world, even before they start the race
The comprehensive training plan for the Telefónica MoviStar team, is considered perhaps the hardest and most demanding of all the crews. Bekking outlined the plans: "Our idea is to carry out the navigation tests in February, departing for Rio de Janeiro at the beginning of March, including a short 24 hour pit stop in Wellington. This way we can navigate leg 4 of the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-2006, one of the most demanding, as it crosses Cape Horn. From Brazil, we will go on to Annapolis, Maryland, where we will do another pit stop of 48 hours, and then we will cross the Atlantic Ocean on our way to Galicia, where we hope to arrive around mid May to keep training, fit out the boat and make the final crew selection".
With this intense training and competitive calendar in mind, Iker Martínez, sums up: "It's not just a round the world race. When we finish, we'll have travelled round the globe one and a half times!"
Linky Sailing News
News Attrition is cruel. Ed Baird. TNZL reliability
Great Lakes St. Clair drain hole
Vendee Globe Report 26 January
Whilst we go about our daily routines 20 lone sailors are racing around the world without a stop.
Each weekday ATWOS will present a report on the 2004-2005 Vendee Globe race. Who will join Lamazou, Desjoyeaux etc. as winners? Who will be a breakout young star like Ellen Macarthur? Which sailors will participate in dramas such as those of Pete Goss & Yves Parlier?
The report will cover the rhythm of the race, whether it's fast or slow, what's the degree of difficulty, is it iceberg territory?
Each day we'll check the standings to see who the leaders are and who else is on the move.
The fleet roundup will cover news of interest from any and all boats both the success's and the inevitable failures.
From the lone sailors will highlight the most interesting communications from the multi national group of sailors.
Rhythm of the Race "The situation for the leaders is still not exactly straightforward and there is still a lot that can happen..."
Standings 1. PRB 2. Bonduelle 70 miles back
3. Ecover 135 miles back
Fleet Round Up Moloney is done. Keel problems for Conrad, too. Riou looks good
From the Lone Sailors Nick Moloney "“I’m alright, but I’m gutted and completely devastated. Half of me is just shattered and the other half of me is very relieved that we’re still upright, and that this didn’t happen in the south." Mike Golding "It has been tricky with the sailplan but maybe he has had a little better wind or maybe I had the wrong sailplan some of the time. Sadly it could get a lot worse." Bruce Schwab "The morning sked showed that we averaged two knots for the period. Ouch!!"
Keel Problems for Conrad, Too
After 80 days at sea, HELLOMOTO has caught up to lie 176 miles behind Arcelor Dunkerque, & is better positioned to sail faster in the strong south westerly breeze on the favourable (left) side of the low pressure system, whereas Joe Seeten is toughing it out sailing in shifty winds through the middle of it.
• Conrad was thoroughly spooked last night as just hours after hearing about Skandia’s keel failure, his own keel lost all pressure & he discovered that the starboard hydraulic ram, one of two rams which cant the keel, had totally failed.
• Conrad explains that the hydraulic ram system is designed for the second ram to act as a back up if one does fail, and he can get home on one ram, however if the other was to fail it would be a major problem…see Notes on keel at end.
• Fellow competitor Nick Moloney will be touching dry land around midnight after securing a tow from a Brazilian marine patrol ship, and due to Skandia’s misfortune HELLOMOTO will move up one place in the rankings but Conrad is not resting on his laurels after his own keel problem – see UK Breaking news window launched from the homepage
Conrad Humphreys interview from onboard HELLOMOTO this morning courtesy of Geolink/Iridium:
“Just hours after hearing Nick’s news, I lost all pressure in the keel as well. The keel was rocking around so violently that I literally thought it would shake itself out of the boat and said as much to Joff. I even got my grab kit together. After watching it quite closely I discovered it seemed like the starboard ram had let go. The port ram still seemed to be trying to hold the keel but the way the system is designed, the keel ram will work independently and one will work as a back up for the other. A loss of oil pressure in the starboard ram was causing the whole system to loose pressure and hence the keel had free movement to go whichever way it wanted to go. Having found that out, I isolated the starboard ram and that ram is now out of action so I am just running on the port ram. As I said, the system is designed to be able to cope with just one ram which is a feature of these boats. I was pretty surprised to have a total ram failure and I expected to be able to shut it off and at least stabilise the keel in the centre. But the way it’s failed means that I couldn’t do that and I can’t lock and secure the keel. If the other ram suffers the same failure then we would have a major problem.
“During this time I had reduced sail and it was a difficult decision whether to drop the sails but the sea state was nasty and I felt it was a little bit kinder on the boat to keep sailing so I kept the mainsail up but made pretty slow progress for a few hours. My confidence was pretty low anyway after Nick’s news and suffering a keel problem myself. It took me most of the day to get my head together and get focused on the fact that I have one ram and this has to get me home. Gradually as the day went on I became more confident and you don’t want to at the same time miss the opportunities that lie ahead. I am nervous about fully canting the keel and I am trying to keep the load off it. The electronics (motor) that drive the keel ram are designed to be shared between 2 rams and now there is a lot more load on the motor and so realistically I can really only cant the keel half way and then probably manually pump the rest of the keel up which is obviously time consuming and I have to think well in advance of manoeuvres.
“At the moment I am running deep in 25 knots of breeze so half keel is not so much of a problem but when I get in the trade winds particularly in the North Atlantic when I’m on the wind and slamming into waves I am obviously going to be quite nervous – I’m sure I’m going to be nervous – about pushing the boat hard with just the one ram. That was the day really. It ended on a high as the breeze backed round and picked up as expected. I am on the right side of the low pressure system as I’d hoped. Joe Seeten probably toughed it out with the low going over the top of him so I wouldn’t be surprised if at the next position report I have made more miles up on him.
“I have been sailing pretty deep and pretty fast and had a nice night’s sail with the Code 5 headsail up and full main for a bit. Now I have got one reef in and the gennaker and it seems stable. My fear and anxieties have passed for the moment. I guess I don’t like the unknown. When I lost my generator I persevered with the engine and managed to economise. You just have to adjust to the setbacks and get on with it. Tactically we’re well placed, although HELLOMOTO is a bird with a broken wing right now.”
Notes on the keel: the carbon keel on HELLOMOTO is a canting keel, and it is swung from side to side by two hydraulic rams, which Conrad controls with the push of a button. There are two rams positioned on the port and starboard side of the keel and as the keel is canted one ram will extend and the other will contract. They do work together but are independent and so are also a back up for each other. The keel is canted in order to increase righting moment (stability), so as the breeze strengthens, the keel is canted further over.
Moloney's Goal Won't Be Met
As communicated earlier this morning, the Open 60 Skandia, competing in the Vendée Globe solo non-stop around the world race, suffered a major technical failure to it’s keel at approximately 0500gmt today. The keel finally broke away from the yacht just after 0830GMT.
Skandia skipper, Nick Moloney, was able to stabilise the yacht by dropping his sails and filling the boat’s water ballast tanks (approximately 5 tons in total), giving the boat sufficient stability to remain upright even without the keel. The weather conditions are moderate to calm, and Moloney has been able to hold his position at approximately 135 miles south of Rio de Janeiro.
Nick is unharmed, and safe onboard Skandia and dealing with the situation as best he can. “I’m alright, but I’m gutted and completely devastated. Half of me is just shattered and the other half of me is very relieved that we’re still upright, and that this didn’t happen in the south. I’m really really shattered but I am so focused on just trying to fight back you know. And that’s my occupation right at the moment, to try and keep this situation under control. I was saying to Conrad [skipper of Hellomoto, also in the race] when we were in the Indian Ocean that in proportion of our projects we’re 95% of the way there. When you talk about all the work and all the planning and all the dreaming and all the effort that goes in to do this, we’re not 80% through the race, we’re 99.9% of the way to the finish and for me everything was safe and I felt like I was making some reasonable decisions. In the past few days I felt like I was getting closer, I’ve been talking to my family and friends talking about what’s happening afterwards and what we’re going to do and how great it’s going be and my head was going home. And now it’s all over.”
A vessel is due to leave Rio de Janeiro shortly to make its way to Skandia’s latest position and assist with a tow to speed Moloney’s return to a safe port. Conditions onboard remain stable and Moloney is able to make some miles under engine towards Rio when the winds are light. It is hoped that a tow will be in place by sunrise tomorrow.
The keel of Skandia was a conservative, well tried and tested design, an evolution in terms of safety of the same type of keel used in the last Vendée Globe when the boat competed as ‘Kingfisher’ with Ellen MacArthur as skipper. A collision with an unknown object one week ago could have been a contributary factor, but it will be difficult to provide any further explanations before a more complete inspection. The keel was well within its safe mileage, having been replaced for the Route du Rhum race in 2002. Further details below.
Moloney was on day 80 of the Vendée Globe with under 5,000 miles left to go on the solo round the world course. It was his first participation in the race and it dramatically ends his long-held dream to complete 3 big round the world sailing goals - of crewed round the world [1997-98 Whitbread on board Toshiba], fastest non-stop round the world [2002 Jules Verne Trophy on board Orange] and, finally, his ultimate goal of solo, non-stop around the world which has now cruelly come to an end.
Andre Oszmann, Group Marketing Director, Skandia: "We obviously share Nick's immense disappointment at the damage to the boat and the premature termination of his Vendée Globe race. However, Nick's safety and well-being is our primary concern. Skandia is extremely proud to be associated with Nick and his sailing career. His determination, talent and will to succeed are an example to us all. We are sure that he will overcome this disappointment to continue his search for new challenges."
TRANSCRIPT OF PHONE CALL WITH NICK
For full audio : http://www.ocftp2.com/audio/vendee2004/nm250105b_uk_e.mp3
First thing Nick, how are you?
I’m alright, you know, like I’m, I’m gutted, completely devastated, half of me is just shattered and the other half of me is very relieved that we’re still upright, and that this didn’t happen in the south.
Yeah I think that’s the reaction of a lot of stunned people - friends and supporters - this morning. It has been a pretty shocking morning back here and the relief is that you’re ok but Nick if you could just tell us the order of events and how they happened this morning?
Well I’ve been struggling to go round this weather system and as I started to see the end of the tunnel, I made my last tack to clear the coast north of Rio, and I tacked about 3 o’clock in the morning. About an hour later I just finished tidying up and sorting everything out. I sat down at the chart table and I started to get some sleep and I heard a bang, it sounded like plastic breaking and I wasn’t terribly concerned and I started trying to drift off to sleep and the boat just started heeling over more and more and as then the boat speed dropped to 4 knots. I went out on deck and I was saying to myself I think we’re going to tip over. I ran down below because I just thought the keel had released because I’ve had a problem with my keel dump switch and I tried to sort it out yesterday and I thought well maybe I’ve pulled out the wrong wire or something and the keel’s dumped to leeward. I went down there and the keel head was the right way and I was looking and I’m thinking, am I tired? Am I looking at this situation clearly or what? What’s going on? And then I tried to de-power and keep sailing and the boat was on it’s ear, completely on it’s ear. I just ran to the windward rail with a torch and I’m trying to look over the side to see the bulb, there were lots of waves breaking over the boat because there was about 25 knots of wind at this stage and quite big waves. I couldn’t see the keel and then I laid on the deck and hung right over the hull and I could see the bulb on the centreline of the boat and I thought oh this is wrong, because it’s gotta be out to the other side. So I went down below and de-powered a bit more, and went down and rang Mark [Turner, Project Director OC] and said I think I’ve broken the keel and we were sort of both talking about it and we both came to the conclusion that’s it couldn't be possible - and that I must have a big net or something. I couldn’t get the boat speed over 6 knots and the boat was just tipping over, so we got Neil Graham [Technical Director, OC] on the line and Neil said if you are losing your stability there’s a problem with the keel, so get the sails off and just hang out until daylight to have a look. It wasn’t until daylight that I could actually see the fin. I chucked my goggles on and I hung out of the escape hatch in the stern and I looked under the hull and I could see the keel was vertical and swinging, and I obviously knew that wasn’t very good. So I ran back inside and I got the endoscope which is a small 90 degree sight tube and I saw the top, looked like the top foot of the keel was together and then the rest of it was snapped off and hanging down so the top of the fin was 45 degrees which it shouldn’t be with the rams pushing the head over and then the keel’s hanging vertically and swinging. I rang Mark and said the keels broken and it’s gonna come off and I really, really was sure it was gonna come off, so I got the rest of the sails down and filled the ballast tanks to try and stabilise the boat. Then it was just a terrible thing to have to do…to break the seal on the engine and engage the engine and that was it for me – the race was over. Then anyway I couldn’t motor upwind [towards Rio] as the engine kept overheating and we went downwind and we tried dropping the keel on to the centre line, and then soon after it snapped off completely.
Was there a point Nick when you thought that the boat was in a precarious and dangerous position that you might have to get off?
Yeah, I had either an oil platform or a fishing boat quite close to me and I wasn’t terribly worried because I’ve seen a lot of boats in the last few days and even in the last few hours, so I wasn’t terribly concerned and the water is warm enough here that your survival rate is quite high. But I love this boat to death and there’s no way I wanna leave it, leave it out in the middle of the ocean you know? You’ve always got bring them back so, I was pretty focused on the boat staying upright, still am obviously. The situation is still quite dodgy, and I’m just motoring downwind at 4 knots and just trying to keep the boat level, all the weight is obviously on the floor and I’ve got everything that I can down low, and just trying to work it out a bit better. Rob Humphreys design office are on the stability curve of the boat to see what heel angle we’re gonna flip over and the breeze is starting to moderate so things are looking ok for us. It’s a terrible thought to think you might have to leave her. But it’s the second time I’ve felt that in this race and the other time was in the south and I am so so grateful that this situation didn’t unfold in the south.
Nick the situation right now, you can feel the adrenalin in your voice. What is the weather? What is the wave situation like? You’re talking to your shore team, what is being put in place for the next 24 hours? When are you going to get back to safety?
We’re not quite sure yet but the closest coast is Rio but it’s north and it’s about 120 miles away and we’re looking at a few other ports to the west, that are about 160 miles away. And we’re looking at a vessel to come and just stand by with me in case I do go over and potentially a tug to come hook me up and get me in as these [onboard Skandia] engines aren’t really capable of motoring me in.
Nick, obviously mentally you got round Cape Horn you were heading for home with still a reasonably way to go but 80% of the race completed, I guess you’ve got a bit on but mentally how are you coping with it?
I’m not coping with it to be honest. I’m really really shattered but I so focused on just trying to, like I’ve got a race to fight back you know. And that’s my occupation right at the moment, is to try and keep this situation under control but if I think about the race it just breaks me, completely breaks me. I was saying to Conrad when we were in the Indian ocean in proportions of our project we’re 95% of the way there, you know when you talk about all the work and all the planning and all the dreaming and all the effort that goes in to do this. You know we’re not 80% through the race, we’re 99.9% of the way to the finish and for me everything was safe and I felt like I was making some reasonable decisions, and this was it, I was on my last tack, I was really on my last tack to the trade winds really. I felt every day for the last 5 or 7 days, I’ve just felt like I’m getting closer, I’ve been talking to my family and friends talking about what’s happening afterwards and what we’re gonna do and how great it’s gonna be and my head was going home you know? And now it’s just ******.
Well I guess there’s one thing you should know and I hope you do know, there are so many people that are onboard with you on that boat…all over the world, I’m sure it’s not much consolation Nick but please remember how many people are with you right now and trying to get inside your head and concerned about you because the power of that is pretty strong….
Yeah I really do appreciate it too and I just hope that I don’t make any mistakes and we can keep this situation in the controlled state that we have it at the moment for the next 48 hours or whatever it takes for us to get in to port because it would just be my worst nightmare to leave this boat in the middle of the ocean.
We’re not out of the woods yet but I feel like I’ve got this under control at the moment. I’m just really really sorry for not getting it home. I wish I could have done a bit better, I really don’t know what else we could have done.
This ended up being a bit more of an adventure than I thought it was gonna be…!
You’ll just have to do it again!
I’m not gonna think about that for a while!
Ok thanks for all your support guys and I wish the situation could be different. What a day!
PRECISIONS ON SKANDIA'S KEEL
Graphic of Skandia and keel damage : http://www.ocftp2.com/images/8352high_kd.jpg
The keel of Skandia is made from high tensile steel, to a relatively conservative design by Roger Scammel. In design safety terms, the keel was an evolution from the original keel that was fitted to Skandia in her original configuration as Kingfisher, that successfully completed the Vendée Globe in 2000.
The keel was replaced with a new one for the Route du Rhum at the end of 2002. The boat has since raced the Transat Jacques Vabre and The Transat, and in between each race the keel has been carefully and meticulously inspected. The inspection that was completed successfully in March 2004 including taking the shell plates (the outside skin) off and fully checking the internal structure of the keel visually and with dye penetration tests.
The keel was well within the mileage limit of this type of design and construction. The design and construction of the keel was in no way cutting edge in terms of performance, but rather a solid and well-tested solution. This was the choice of the campaign and skipper, even though lighter and higher performance options were available.
Just over a week ago (night of 17th/18th) Nick suffered a collision which almost brought SKANDIA to a standstill. It was a pretty violent shock, but the keel is designed to withstand this kind of impact, in safety terms if not in terms of performance damaging disfiguration. There is no evidence to suggest there is a link, and at this stage it is not possible to make any clear case for why this has happened. Further inspection on arrival in Brazil may possibly shed more light.
Six Hours Ahead
KEY DATA DAY 59 0710 GMT:
Distance ahead: 29 miles
Time ahead: 6 hours [representing 1.19% of time remaining] calculated using the time it took for Joyon to get to the same Distance to Finish as Ellen's current position
OMEGA: Official timekeeper for Ellen MacArthur
Lat/Long: 10 52 S / 029 39 W (112 miles SE Recife / 640 miles S Equator)
Average Boat speed: 14.45 knots (heading N by W)
True Wind speed: 16.6 knots (direction E)
Sea temperature: 27.6 degrees C
Distance sailed so far: 23,043 miles at an average speed of 16.4 knots
(data communicated by Thrane MiniC via BT Business Broadband)
Update based on data recorded 0710 GMT...check http://www.teamellen.com for the latest data updated hourly
IN BRIEF:
* <
* RACE IS ON TO GET ACROSS EQUATOR AND THROUGH THE DOLDRUMS, the sooner MacArthur gets there, the smaller the Doldrums will but they are there and they are menacing. Even if Ellen crosses the Equator ahead of Joyon's time - 36 hours stuck in this weather phenomenom would quickly put <
* <
* ELLEN'S OC SAILING TEAM MATE UPDATE: Nick Moloney is waiting to pick up a tow line from the Brazilian navy who sent a ship to standby Skandia after she lost her keel yesterday, effectively ending Nick's hope of finishing his first Vendée Globe. http://www.nickmoloney.com
IN DETAIL:
After a fast night of sailing in stronger than expected easterly Trade Winds, MacArthur is now six hours ahead this morning, returning from her deficit of 13 hours behind yesterday at midday. And as the winds veer further into the ESE-SE, this will allow <
The sooner MacArthur can cross the Equator and get to the Doldrum area identified by Commanders', the smaller the Doldrums will be - this is the word from Commanders' Weather. After 1800gmt on Friday, the Doldrums area is set to increase and Ellen needs to push on to try and cross the Equator between 28-30 degrees west - eastwards of 27 degrees west and they are too great already. The Doldrums are currently sitting 1-2 degrees north of the Equator and the ENE Trade Winds are unlikely to develop until around 4 degrees north. The Doldrums is effectively where the South East Trade winds and the North East trade winds meet each other, effectively cancelling each other out and as a result the air is moving more vertically than horizontally - vertical air makes for a suction effect resulting in either no wind or often violent rain squalls. How quickly <
<
WEATHER ANALYSIS FROM COMMANDERS' WEATHER 0600 GMT:
Surprisingly strong trade winds during the past 6 hours. Must be a little careful because the wind speeds diminish and the winds back the closer we get to 30W. Regardless, this will be a short term problem as winds will begin to veer again, in all areas, by 1200UTC Wed. During the 2nd half of Wednesday, winds will slowly veer and slowly increase. This will allow Ellen to accelerate again and sail a most favorable northerly heading. Conditions should be quite good for much of Thursday with ESE and SE winds around 20 kts.
Will reach the doldrums on Friday. The sooner we arrive, the smaller the doldrums will be, but they will become quite large by 1800UTC on Friday. The ENE trade winds will develop around 4N.
Wind forecasts
Wind directions are TRUE, wind speed in kts, time is UTC
Wed, Jan 26
09: 050-070/14-18
12: 070-090/14-18
18: 080-100/14-18
Partly cloudy tonight, but fair to partly cloudy daytime Wed thru Thu. Satellite imagery is not real good, but nothing on satellite looks like a heavy squall in your vicinity
Thurs, Jan 27
00: 080-100/16-22
06: 090-110/17-23
12: 100-120/18-24, near 3 45s/30w
18: 110-130/14-18
http://www.teamellen.com
Disabled Sailing in the Spotlight
Disabled sailing got the spotlight on Biscayne Bay today as the two classes chosen for the 2008 Paralympics-the Sonar and the 2.4 Metre-completed a second day of competition at US SAILING's Rolex Miami OCR and as Shake-A-Leg Miami, one of the regatta's hosts, announced the launching of TeamPARADISE. The Rolex Miami OCR, which has returned to Miami for 16 consecutive years, is devoted to preparing disabled and able-bodied sailors for elite-level competition and is the largest Olympic and Paralympic classes regatta in the country. Over 320 sailors, representing 26 countries, are competing through Friday.
Before today's single race in the Sonar class, the British crew that finished sixth at the Paralympics in Athens--John Robertson, Steve Thomas and Hannah Stodel--had to return to the dock for a mast repair. They accomplished it in time to make a delayed start and maintained their fleet lead from yesterday after winning. The American team of David Schroeder, Keith Burhans and Bradley Johnson (Miami, Fla./Rochester, N.Y./ Hollywood, Fla.), currently in second after finishing second to the Brits today, welcomed the chance to sail against their closest competition. "They've worked together five years and are well-oiled," said Burhans. "All of us others are just putting together our teams." Burhans, a Paralympian from 2000 who calls tactics on the boat, explained that he and Schroeder have sailed only two other times together and Johnson, who won a bronze medal for the USA in 2004 as crew in the Sonar, was a new teammate for them both. "All things considered," said Burhans, "we're highly pleased with the level of our sailing."
Disabled sailors are given a classification rating-from 1 to 7, most to least disabled--based on their stability, strength and functionality in the boat. A Sonar team can share no more than 14 points in total.
Disabled sailors everywhere got a boost when Shake-A-Leg Miami (SALM) announced this morning its launching of TeamPARADISE and its plan to utilize the talents of acclaimed Olympic medallists and world champions to create an advanced sailboat-racing program dedicated to elite disabled and blind sailors from around the globe. The program, which will be headquartered from the SALM facility near the US Sailing Center in Coconut Grove, gets its lead energy from local Magnus Liljedahl, who brought home a gold medal for the USA from the 2000 Olympic Star event.
According to Liljedahl: "Some of the really promising disabled sailors don't get the opportunity for input from able-bodied sailors, and their learning curve is flat. World-class sailors such as Freddy Loof (Sweden), Augie Diaz and Kevin Burnham (both Miami) have committed to spending time with the program and acting as ambassadors globally."
In the 2.4 Metre class, Sweden's Stellan Berlin is leading, with Canada's Allan Leibel in second.
Other Action
All but two of the 11 Rolex Miami OCR classes were deprived of at least one of their scheduled races today due to a dying afternoon breeze and the 49er class did not race at all. Across the board, there were no lead changes from yesterday.
USA's 2004 Olympic Silver Medallists John Lovell/Charlie Ogletree (New Orleans, La./Kemah, Texas) posted two first-place finishes today giving them three victories in four races so far. "The wind was shifty and puffy, but we sailed in the ocean instead of in Biscayne Bay, so it was really great-no motor boat traffic and a ground swell instead of flat water." Multiple world champion and 2004 Olympians Roland Gabler with crew Gunnar Strukmann (DEN) are Lovell and Ogletree's closest competition, trailing by six points.
Turning in a 1-4 today were the 2004 ISAF Women's Match Racing World champions Sally Barkow (Nashotah, Wis.), Carrie Howe (Grosse Pointe, Mich.) and Deborah Capozzi (Bayport, N.Y.) in Ynglings. "It's being patient, confident and in the right spot for the setup after the start that is important in this fleet," said Howe.
Other class leaders: Andrew Horton and Brad Nichol (Newport, R.I./Hanover, N.H.) in Stars; Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla.) in Laser Radials; Chris Cook (CAN) in Finn; Morgan Larson/Pete Spaulding (Capitola, Calif./Miami Beach, Fla.) in 49ers; Brad Funk (Belleair Bluffs, Florida) in Lasers; Amanda Clark/Sarah Mergenthaler (Shelter Island, N.Y./Matawan, N.J.) in 470 women's; Sven Coster/Kalle Coster (NED).
Orange II: Day I
Day 1: 646 miles on the first 24 hours
At the time of her first day around the world, Orange II has covered 646 miles.
It is only 60 miles from the absolute record of distance covered in 24 hours! A record held by Bruno Peyron and his crew since the crossing of the Atlantic in 2004 with 706 miles...
This good first day places Orange II in advance of Cheyenne's position, holder of the absolute record around the world (256 miles in advance to the term of her first day). Orange II is also advances over the time of the Jules Verne Trophy as Geronimo was, at the end of her first day at sea, 97 miles behind.
But the race does nothing but start...
Day: 1
Date: 25/01/2005
Hour (GMT): 10h00
Latitude: 39 51.80' N
Longitude: 11 50.48' W
Instantaneous Speed: 33 kts
Instantaneous Cape: 180
Average velocity: 27.1 nds
Speed since departure: 27.0 nds
Total Distance: 646 mn
D istances remaining: 23938.30 mn
Variation J.Verne record: 97 mn
Variation absolute record: 256 mn
January 25, 2005
Records and Risks
Today's column started out to be about around the world record and race attempts, but 1st some breaking news. The Open 60 Skandia suffered race ending keel damage off Brazil. This means Nick Moloney's attempt at a unique around the world sailing goal is finished for now. His Offshore Challenges teammate Ellen Macarthur says "I don't know if he's got ideas to go again in four years time, based on previous conversations, I doubt that."
Of course this is also the 2ndSkandia sponsored boat to suffer keel problems in the last month. The boats involved were different, sailing in different hemispheres, one crewed, one solo. It's coincidence and maybe putting to test the there's no such thing as bad PR mantra.
It's certainly more surprising that Nick Moloney's Skandia suffered damage. For one it already had a Vendee Globe under it's keel as Kingfisher. Second, this boat has an impeccable reliability record. Third it's run by a top notch team.
In fact the failed keel was new as of 2002. All these factors make this a real surprise.
Meanwhile the boat's former skipper Ellen Macarthur is also have a less than ideal South Atlantic experience. Her 5 day lead over Francis Joyon at Cape Horn is now a deficit. Usually making 8.9 knots of boat speed in 8.7 knots of wind is superior. In the world of around the world records it's not enough to just out sail the wind.
As always Ellen Macarthur is working through issues and maintaining perspective, "Take the record away, and it simply becomes a voyage around the world - add the record again, and it becomes a very real and very arduous race...a race against time, my invisible competitor - but above all - a race against my own capabilities and myself..." & "But we have what we have, we cannot alter the weather...The usual -more challenges."
While Macarthur and the Vendee Globe fleet sail north Orange II is sailing down the Atlantic, having covered 646 miles on Day 1. The Bruno Peyron led boat is out to break Cheyenne's outright around the world record from last winter.
In the middle east other maxi multis are gathering for the Oryx Quest around the world race.
There is certainly some debate about why Orange II has not joined in the race format. While some of them are legal or personality based, there are other reasons.
Sailing on a record attempt at a time of choosing puts Orange II into line to hold the absolutist of all records...fastest around the world. No room for ambiguity.
Prior to starting her campaign for records with B&Q Ellen Macarthur said: ""All you can do is sail the boat at its best potential all the time and get the weather as best you can at the beginning. That's all you can do. It's about mental strength and hanging on in there."
Record setting is a binary situation. You either break the record (1) or don't break the record (0). It's also a zero sum situation in which breaking the record for you is a gain for you and failing to do so is a win for the record holder.
In a situation such as the Oryx Quest there are many possibilities, safety in numbers etc. Depending upon circumstances a certain finish might be a moral victory, or to comeback and finish 3rd might be just fine. The potential outcomes aren't as finite and narrow as a record attempt.
For the now I'll show a bias towards the Macarthur's and Peyron's of the sailing world, for risking more in their endeavors...
Calm and Frustration
KEY DATA DAY 58 1210 GMT:
Distance behind: 88 miles
Time ahead: 13 hours [measured as the time it took for the trailing boat to get to the same Distance to Finish as the current position of the leading boat]
OMEGA: Official timekeeper for Ellen MacArthur
Lat/Long: 14 54 S / 028 13 W (600 miles ESE Salvador / 900 miles S Equator)
Average Boat speed: 11.29 knots (heading NNW)
True Wind speed: 11.3 knots (direction NE)
Sea temperature: 29 degrees C
Distance sailed so far: 22,785 miles at an average speed of 16.3 knots
(data communicated by Thrane MiniC via BT Business Broadband)
Update based on data recorded 1210 GMT...check http://www.teamellen.com for the latest data updated hourly
IN BRIEF:
* SLOW NIGHT ON <
* NEXT MAJOR WEATHER HURDLE LIES AHEAD IN THE FORM OF THE DOLDRUMS at the Equator. Weak Trade Winds equals large Doldrums warn Commanders' Weather.
* JOYON STARTS TO SLOW UP AS OF TOMORROW and <
* MACARTHUR'S SAILING TEAMMATE, NICK MOLONEY, FORCED TO ABANDON VENDEE GLOBE after losing his keel of his Open 60 Skandia off the coast of Brazil, south of Rio de Janeiro. Nick was competing in Ellen's old Open 60 Kingfisher, that she sailed into second place in the 2000/2001 Vendée Globe.
To listen to Ellen's audio, courtesy of Geolink/Iridium, click here http://www.ocftp2.com/audio/ellen/em250105a_uk_e.mp3
IN DETAIL:
Another slow night on board <
Although MacArthur is desperately waiting for the south-east Trade Winds to take affect, she is already concerned about the next major weather hurdle that lies ahead, in the form of the Doldrums that can easily stall <
Joyon starts to slow down as of tomorrow, as his daily 24-hour mileage slips to 162 miles tomorrow and 130 miles the day after [these are VMG distances, ie distance sailed towards the finish, not through the water] as he got stuck close to the coast of Brazil. For MacArthur, the light airs may be testing her mental resolve but she continues to find time for recuperation and reflection: "It's actually quite beautiful [out here], and having just a little time to rest, and recover in stable conditions has probably done me the world of good before what I am sure will be a stressful, stromy and tense final two weeks..." See Ellen's latest email in full below, or click here http://www.teamellen.com/ellen.asp?artid=2197
Sadly, Ellen's Offshore Challenges sailing teammate, Nick Moloney, lying in 7th place in the solo, non-stop Vendée Globe race, has been forced to withdraw from the race following major technical failure to the keel, which has led to the keel breaking away from the boat. Nick is safe and the situation is stable as the shore team work to get him and Skandia back to shore. This was Nick's first Vendée Globe and he was competing in Ellen's old Open 60 Kingfisher, that she sailed into second place in the 2000/2001 Vendée Globe. http://www.nickmoloney.com
FROM ELLEN TODAY 25.1.04:
What was your reaction on hearing the news about Nick?
I was absolutely shocked this morning when I heard the news that Nick's keel had come off. I was worried for his safety but it seems the boat is fine and everything seems stable. But to imagine after all that time racing, all that time on your own, then suddenly for that whole dream to be just slaughtered in a few seconds, that's awful to be going through. And not only will he now not be finishing the Vendée, but he's got to come to terms with that, get the boat into port and realise that all those years of work, those dreams, will lead to no Vendée Globe. I don't know if he's got ideas to go again in four years time, based on previous conversations, I doubt that, but it just seems very, very cruel after all he's been through for that to happen.
South Atlantic is certainly proving to be a harsh place for everyone?
It's amazing really, you couldn't wish for a more beautiful place to be sailing in, we've got 8-10 knots of breeze, a boat that is slipping along at 9 knots. We've got a beautiful moon - the most beautiful moon I have ever seen - it's like perfection, but you struggle to appreciate it. You don't get to live moments like this very often but the timing is not ideal and that is what makes it difficult.
What is the most difficult part of the record right now?
It's the pain of not knowing. Right now, we're going slowly, we're not going to go anywhere fast, the forecast is not going to allow us to go anywhere fast and we just don't know what's going to happen. It's this question mark - how fast can we get to the Equator, the faster we get to the Equator, the better the Equator crossing will be. The slower we get there, the worse it's going to be. We could get stuck there for two days, we just don't know. And that could seriously jeapardise the record even more, everything's a question mark. Just trying to look after the boat and sail it as fast as possible is really hard, it's so hard. It's so not over yet, we’ve still got two weeks of sailing. And you worry all the time - will we get stuck in the Doldrums for 36 hours, what does the Northern Hemisphere hold for us... All these questions - so much rattles around in your head 24 hours a day.
Are you concerned about Joyon's progress at this stage?
You know, he didn't actually have a Doldrums - he was already in the north-easterly Trades by the time he got to the Equator. We may cross ahead of him but if we get stuck for 36 hours, we will be way behind.
How are you dealing with it mentally?
I think I am dealing with it okay, trying to be philosophical and having some sleep really does help on that front. But it is just the unkown - I am just so nervous about what's going to break, what's going to go wrong, are we going to get through the Doldrums, what are we going to be dealt in the northern hemisphere, is it going to be an 80 knot storm that Britain has been hit by so many times before, or are we going to run into a high pressure - we just don't know what's going to happen. There are so many unknowns and we are getting closer to the finish - its literally just a case of 14 days and then its all over whether I've broken the record or not. I've just got to do the best I can in that time and I feel pretty nervous about that.
I just want to feel like we're going home and, right now, we're still three days away from the Equator. To take four days longer than Joyon in the South Atlantic is just terrible. I keep telling myself it's not over, we only need to break the record by a second, you know, we've just got to hang in there and do the best we can with the weather we've got. Hopefully, if we don't hit too many hurdles, we're still in with a chance.
Will you have to give more than you have already given to get to the finish?
I've put everything in - my heart, my soul, my flesh, my blood, just everything. I've never pushed this hard, I've never driven myself so hard, I've never got so close to the edge for so long - never, ever. And it's not through choice, its just through pushing so hard and the changeable conditions and the demands of a boat like this. It's been a real rollercoaster - I really had to grunt up, and it's not over yet, we're not there yet. When we get north of the Doldrums, I'll start to feel happier, I think. It will start to get cooler and we should have some relative concentrated north-east Trade Winds, even if they are not that strong, it should be relatively fast sailing and if we can have that and get some miles in to the finish... We've just got to do the best we can.
ELLEN EMAIL FROM LAST NIGHT 24.1.05:
It's flat calm outside as we spend another 24 hour period on this incredibly flat sea... It's a strange sensation to be out here, still with the clock ticking but at the same time feeling utterly helpless and unable to make a difference. Here we have light winds, and that's that... We can sail our optimum upwind - and that's the best we can do for now... It's actually quite beautiful, and having just a little time to rest, and recover in stable conditions has probably done me the world of good before what I am sure will be a stressful, stromy and tense final two weeks.. <
exx
Conrad's Reaction
HELLOMOTO is still thrashing upwind in a transition zone of northerly winds now only 290 miles from Arcelor-Dunkerque and Conrad is well positioned to make the most gains from the low pressure system moving to the south east across the race course ahead
• Conrad was “simply gutted” after hearing the terrible news that Skandia’s keel had broken away from the hull early this morning, and feels for his friend and fellow competitor Nick Moloney with whom he spoke often on the Iridium satellite phone. This incident serves as a chilling reminder to Conrad and all the skippers that the race is not over until they have crossed the finish line.
Conrad Humphreys interview from onboard HELLOMOTO this morning courtesy of Geolink/Iridium:
“Yesterday there was a moment where I had the sun on the stern and the moon on the bow…that was special! We’re out of the 40’s and I’ve peeled off my base layers. Now we’re in a squally transition and I’m going through a cold front with northerly winds dragging warmer weather down here, so it’s very cloudy, we’re thrashing upwind in 25 knots positioning ourselves for the low pressure system. Where Joe Seeten is right now (350 miles NNE of HELLOMOTO) is probably a good place to be in 24hrs time to catch the downwind (left hand) side of the low pressure system forming and moving in a south easterly direction across our path ahead. It will probably generate strong 35 knot winds. Then I’ll quickly gybe over to the west and stay in the stronger favourable SW breeze on the left side of the system for the best part of a day. We’ll continue to make a little bit on Joe over the next day but then he’ll pick up speed. Ocean Planet will be piling on the miles but I’m not too concerned as I think he missed an opportunity a day or two ago by sailing into the centre of this low rather than gybing out west.
A little further ahead the Trade winds re-establish themselves just north of Virbac (around island of Trinidad) and they’ll be pretty strong in the east. I think long term you need to get over a little bit further to the east. So I feel quite well positioned relative to the boats around me to make the best gain – although I’d prefer to be closer to them. I’m still slightly annoyed with myself that, due to lack of weather info as I couldn’t get any weather online, I didn’t come up onto my current course 12 hrs earlier, as I would have broken into the south west air flow 5 to 6 hours earlier, which amounts to another 50 miles or so. It’s been very, very tactical but panning out to be exactly the sort of South Atlantic we wanted to be able to catch up the boats ahead. You keep studying the weather constantly and having to decide where you are going to be in 3 – 5 or even 10 days time, and then you never stop going over your tactical decisions. We have 8 different wind directions within a radius of 200 miles of us!
Conrad then called in on receiving the news about fellow competitor and friend Nick Moloney, whose boat Skandia had suffered major keel failure early this morning: “What can I say at a time like this but that I'm simply gutted for Nick. It took the wind out of me…I just sat motionless at the chart table for a few minutes. Nick is a great bloke and had a terrific fight throughout this race, I really admired the way he came through each time. I was only speaking to him yesterday and he was on good form, looking forward to getting home...in my mind he's a champion.”
Linky Sailing News
Racing Skandia keel failure. OCR day 1. Not fast=frustrated
Great Lakes Land End enters Mac
Vendee Globe Report 25 January
Whilst we go about our daily routines 20 lone sailors are racing around the world without a stop.
Each weekday ATWOS will present a report on the 2004-2005 Vendee Globe race. Who will join Lamazou, Desjoyeaux etc. as winners? Who will be a breakout young star like Ellen Macarthur? Which sailors will participate in dramas such as those of Pete Goss & Yves Parlier?
The report will cover the rhythm of the race, whether it's fast or slow, what's the degree of difficulty, is it iceberg territory?
Each day we'll check the standings to see who the leaders are and who else is on the move.
The fleet roundup will cover news of interest from any and all boats both the success's and the inevitable failures.
From the lone sailors will highlight the most interesting communications from the multi national group of sailors.
Rhythm of the Race "The ETA for the first boat in Les Sables d’Olonne, midway down the Atlantic coast of France, is now forecast for 2 February 2005"
Standings 1. PRB 2. Bonduelle 39 miles back 3. Ecover 92 miles back
Fleet Round Up Skandia keel failure. Keel article. 1st hand account
From the Lone Sailors Nick Moloney: "There was a bang. It wasn’t too loud and so I was not too stressed about it but the boat started heeling right over, very extreme.”
“ I went to windward and hung over the side with a torch and could not see the keel. I was expecting to see the keel still pointing to windward but it was obviously hanging straight down." Mile Golding "“ I have had a good bit of rest, a fairly good night’s sleep and try to get my head down during the heat of the day, trying to get round and do the jobs I need to do but really have no problems on board. There is a week left to do and we are anticipating some quite tough upwind conditions." Vincent Riou: "My ETA for the finish is 2nd February but all that depends on the passage of the anticyclone near the UK for the finish. I’m not resting much and I don’t think there’ll be any opportunity to sleep now. It looks like upwind conditions ahead and it will be tense right up to the finish.”
For now Nick Moloney's goal won't be reached
Credits: JON NASH - SAEM Vendée - DPPI
Clipper Broacaster Appointed
Clipper Ventures plc, the AIM-quoted marine company chaired by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, has appointed TWI, IMG’s television arm and the largest independent producer, packager and distributor of sports programming in the world, as the host broadcaster for its Clipper 05-06 Round the World Yacht Race.
The agreement is the result of a competitive tender process conducted by the event’s commercial partner, Fast Track Sailing.
Sir Robin Knox-Johnston today said, “We are delighted to be working with TWI. With vast experience in the broadcasting of major events, TWI represents the television rights and distributes programming for some of the World’s most prominent sports and cultural organisations.
“The race will be a truly international sporting event, with teams already signed up from Liverpool, Durban, Western Australia, Singapore, Glasgow, and the Channel Island of Jersey - defenders of the race title. TWI’s unparalleled international network, distributing programming to over 200 countries worldwide, makes them a perfect choice as host broadcaster for the event.
“The interest in these rights was unprecedented. We received tenders from several major broadcast organisations and whilst all of the presentations were impressive, TWI exceeded all the others in its commitment to promote and market the Clipper 05-06 Race allowing us to reach new audiences around the globe,” added Sir Robin.
Bill Sinrich, Chief Executive of TWI, said, “We are delighted to have been appointed Host Broadcaster for the Clipper 05-06 Race, one of the world’s most prestigious sailing events. We are confident that we will be able to bring the race to a large new global audience and this appointment also enhances TWI’s existing sailing portfolio.”
The landmark television rights agreement will see TWI maintain a
comprehensive News Service throughout the duration of the Race and to this end, the company will produce regular Video News Releases in advance and around the ten-month race itself. The key objective of this new partnership is to ensure that stations all around the world will promote the Clipper race through news and existing sport programmes.
The Clipper 05-06 Race will also be seen on TWI’s best-known series, Trans World Sport, which is currently viewed in over 260 million households in 131 countries making it the most widely seen, regularly scheduled sports programme in the world.
Importantly, the arrangement also guarantees eleven commercial
half-hour programmes devoted to reflecting the Clipper 05-06 Race, participating boats and stopover cities, and one commercial hour-long programme reflecting the whole race from its start on 18 September 2005, through to the grand home-coming when the fleet returns in the summer of 2006 to Liverpool, European Capital of Culture 2008.
TWI is the world’s largest independent producer and distributor of sports programming, distributing nearly 9,000 hours of live events and original programming each year across 200 countries and covering more than 240 sports. In the last year alone TWI was also appointed Host Broadcaster of the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games and Host Broadcaster of the 15th Asian Games Doha 2006, the world’s largest Outside Broadcast. TWI is also consultant and distributor of the 32nd America’s Cup, and together with IMG, it has also been re-appointed commercial brokers for the next two Rugby World Cups in 2007 and 2011.
New US Sailing Director
US SAILING, national governing body of the sport, announced today that it has named Charles Leighton of Middletown, R.I., as its new Executive Director. Leighton will take the organization’s helm on January 31, 2005.
Leighton comes to US SAILING with extensive experience in sailing and corporate management. Leighton is a life-long sailor, having competed in numerous adult National Championships and the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, as well as the U.S. Junior Triplehanded Championship (Sears Cup). He has been chairman of an America’s Cup syndicate and is a winner of numerous offshore races, including the Marblehead-Halifax race, and currently races his Hinckley 42 Competition, Whitecap.
Leighton has a substantial background in the corporate sector. He was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the CML Group, Inc., a NYSE listed company that specialized in retail and direct marketing. Among many other activities, Leighton is currently a Director of MetLife and a Trustee of the Lahey Clinic (Burlington, Mass.) where he co- chairs their capital campaign. He holds a bachelor’s degree and an honorary law degree from Bowdoin College and an MBA from Harvard Business School where he was a member of the faculty and later president of the alumni council.
“We are thrilled to have Charlie on board. He brings a wealth of new ideas, understands the traditions of the sport and the challenges facing sailing today,” said US SAILING President Janet Baxter. “We have spent the past several years building a solid foundation for growing US SAILING, from finances, to volunteers and a professional management team. For the next phase, we identified a specific profile and skill-set for the Executive Director that would take US SAILING to the next level and expand the support we provide sailors across the country. Charlie fits that profile perfectly. His management experience and sailing background will be extremely valuable as US SAILING works to enhance support for the many facets of sailing, from Olympics and Offshore, to youth and education. He will also have strong insight into how we can continue improving our services to sailing organizations across the country.” Baxter summarized by adding, “Charlie’s love of sailing will help him serve our members at all levels, including new sailors, organizations and elite athletes.”
Sailors from outside the organization also recognize the impact Leighton will have. “Charlie brings a unique set of credentials to US SAILING,” offered Gary Jobson, well-known sailing author and TV commentator. “As a sailor, he has successfully raced his Hinckley 42 over many years. As an administrator, he is a past Commodore of the New York Yacht Club. And as a businessman has owned and operated major companies across the United States. He is a very personable leader who is used to managing big companies and fundraising at a high level. His many years of experience in sailing, business and philanthropy will be a major asset for US SAILING.”
“Sailing has always been my passion,” said Leighton. “I am excited to bring my corporate, sailing, and fundraising expertise to an organization that is the leader in the sport. I am looking forward to working with the volunteers and management team in Portsmouth to enhance the value US SAILING brings to its members. I also see an incredible opportunity to further expand the organization’s fundraising efforts, and establish a solid, long-lasting financial base for the Olympics and many of US SAILING’s grass roots programs.”
Charles Leighton succeeds Nick Craw, who, after more than three years at the helm of US SAILING, is returning to Colorado where he will take over the presidency of the Automobile Competition Committee for the U.S. (ACCUS).
The United States Sailing Association (US SAILING) is the national governing body for sailing and sailboat racing. Headquartered in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, the organization’s mission is to encourage participation and promote excellence in sailing and racing in the U.S. US SAILING offers training and education programs, supports a wide range of sailing organizations and communities, and provides administration and oversight of competitive sailing across the country, including the US Sailing Teams and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Sailing Teams. For more information, please visit www.ussailing.org.
Skandia Keel Failure
The Open 60 Skandia overnight suffered a major technical failure to the keel, which has led to the keel breaking away from the boat, approximately 30cm below the hull. The boat is still upright, with no sails up, and water ballast tanks full to keep the maximum amount of stability possible.
Skandia skipper, Nick Moloney, contacted his shore team at 0500 GMT this morning [25.1.05] to report that he had a problem but it was not until twilight, three hours later, that he was able to fully assess the damage. In the intervening period Moloney stabilised the boat as much as possible by reducing sail and filling the yacht's central water ballast tanks, with a total of over 5 tons of water. At just after 0830 GMT, the keel completely broke away.
Skandia's position is approximately 120 miles south of Rio de Janeiro. The wind is around 22-25 knots from the north with a 1 to 1.5 metre swell. The priority for his shore team is to secure the safety of the skipper and they are working on getting an escort boat to Skandia as soon as possible. Nick is unharmed, is safe on board Skandia and dealing with the situation as best he can. "I can't believe this, I just can't believe it, things were just starting to look better for me and I was really getting locked in to the thought of the finish in Les Sables," said Nick. His race is over but all thoughts of that are secondary to securing his safety and that of the boat.
Moloney was on day 80 of the Vendée Globe with under 5,000 miles left to go on the solo round the world course. It was his first participation in the race and it dramatically ends his long-held dream to complete 3 big round the world sailing goals - of crewed round the world [1997-98 Whitbread on board Toshiba], fastest non-stop round the world [2002 Jules Verne Trophy on board Orange] and, finally, his ultimate goal of solo, non-stop around the world which has now cruelly come to an end.
Andre Oszmann, Group Marketing Director, Skandia: "We obviously share Nick's immense disappointment at the damage to the boat and the premature termination of his Vendee Globe race. However, Nick's safety and well-being is our primary concern. Skandia is extremely proud to be associated with Nick and his sailing career. His determination, talent and will to succeed are an example to us all. We are sure that he will overcome this disappointment to continue his search for new challenges."
Further information will be provided on Nick's website throughout the day and a more comprehensive press communication will be released during the day.
Vodafone sponsors Emirates Team New Zealand
Emirates Team New Zealand and Vodafone New Zealand today announced a new alliance that will see the team’s global telecommunications needs supplied by Vodafone.
“To have Vodafone sign up as our exclusive telecommunications supplier is a great start to the year,” says Emirates Team New Zealand managing director Grant Dalton.
“We see Vodafone as the ideal partner to deliver mobile solutions where ever our people are in the world. The fact that with Vodafone we can be in New Zealand, Spain, Sweden, Italy or virtually anywhere with no communications hassle will help us get on with the job of winning races.
“As a business we have an extremely mobile workforce and Vodafone’s ability to mobilise workforces is a huge drawcard – particularly when you’re working with a team of nearly 100 people who are regularly travelling overseas,” says Dalton.
Secure data transfer will be key for the exchange of highly confidential information. For example, designers in Spain could send detailed information to shore crew in New Zealand using Vodafone services. This will enable real time analysis and feedback of test match racing rather than waiting until the boats are back to base.
Vodafone will also supply mobile services including voice, txt, pxt, video pxt, mobile email via BlackBerry and 3G Mobile Connect Card as well as airtime. The team has already successfully trialled Push to Talk.
“We can already see the competitive and business advantages that new services such as video telephony and streaming, which will be available on Vodafone New Zealand’s new 3G network, will give us in the lead-up to the next America’s Cup,” says Dalton.
Products and services enabled by 3G have already been launched by 14 other Vodafone companies including Spain and Italy. Emirates Team New Zealand will have access to these services throughout Europe as appropriate to the team’s needs.
Vodafone New Zealand managing director Tim Miles says the company is proud to support Emirates Team New Zealand and deliver them the benefits of the Vodafone group of companies, at home and around the world.
“The opportunity for us is to see an innovative New Zealand team supported by the best the mobile world has to offer,” Miles says.
“This is what being part of a global company is about for us – making true mobility real for customers. Emirates Team New Zealand is like any other customer in that Vodafone will do everything it can to make their business hum, on the water and off.”
The alliance is an exclusive supplier arrangement between Emirates Team New Zealand and Vodafone effective from now until 2007.
Technical support will be provided to the team by account managers in both Europe and New Zealand. Vodafone will have hospitality opportunities, in New Zealand and Europe, as part of the alliance.
Quest Boats Arrive
The dockside in Qatar is a hive of activity this morning with the arrival over the weekend of two more of the giant multihulls contesting Oryx Quest 2005.
Tony Bullimore's 102 foot-long catamaran Daedalus was first to arrive, slipping quietly into Doha harbour on Saturday evening. The final 400 mile stage of the trip, with light following winds and flat seas, was calm compared to the 30 knot surfs enjoyed on the way to Gibraltar just before Christmas.
The veteran skipper was in great spirits as he stepped ashore: "We're really pleased to be here. The trip has been fantastic, very valuable experience. We have spent a lot of time putting in and taking out reefs, checking over equipment, organising racing procedures and learning how we can make the boat go that little bit faster, all good stuff for the race. There is no doubt, we are going to be on form, and we will be one of the best organised crews." The crew will spend the coming days removing the multihull's engines as a final weight-saving modification, and completing minor repairs.
The second arrival was French ocean racing legend Olivier de Kersauson aboard Geronimo, at 110 feet the world's largest racing trimaran. Geronimo and her support craft Ocean Alchemist left Brest on December 29th and have completed the 6,200 mile journey in 25 days. The trip has provided the ideal opportunity to test modifications made since the trimaran's Jules Verne Trophy-winning circumnavigation last year, and to finalise crew selection.
The new arrivals join Qatar 2006 (formerly Maiden II), which has recently undergone an extensive refit in Qatar. She was re-launched last week and is now in the final stages of preparation for the race. Part of this process involves the fitting of specialised camera and communications equipment, supplied by the race organisation, to allow high quality audio and video footage to be transmitted during the course of the competition and provide the viewing public with the best possible means of following the action. All competitors will receive this equipment in the next few days.
Steve Fossett's Cheyenne, holder of the outright around-the-world record, is expected to arrive in Dubai today, having travelled from Antwerp as deck cargo. After stepping her mast she will complete the voyage to Qatar under sail.
Joining event partner HSBC in supporting this exciting event is Qatar Marine Sports Federation (QMSF), who last week announced a co-operative agreement with race organisers Quest International Sports Events.
"QMSF has raised the country's profile as a destination for world class sporting events by hosting several of the fastest powerboat events out here," said Quest CEO Tracy Edwards MBE. "We're glad to have them on board the team organising the world's fastest yacht race, as their local knowledge and experience will prove to be invaluable in making this monumental event a success. Their appointment to assist us for Oryx Quest 2005 is indicative of the high regard and confidence that HH the Heir Apparent Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani has in them."
16th OCR Regatta Underway
While Miami residents might have complained about this morning's unusually chilly temperatures, hundreds of sailors at the 16th annual Rolex Miami OCR gratefully accepted the clear skies and moderate breezes that came with them. The conditions made for a near-perfect first day at the Rolex Miami OCR, one of the largest Olympic and Paralympic preparation regattas in the country. The event has returned to Biscayne Bay for a 16th year and is hosting 217 boats representing 26 countries.
New talent seemed to carry the day in several classes, including the Star. Andrew Horton and Brad Nichol (Newport, R.I./Hanover, N.H.) topped the scoreboard with four points, with Mark Mendelblatt and Steve Erickson (St. Petersburg, Fla./Hood River, Ore.) officially in second, but also with four points total. For Horton, a winning member of the 2004 ISAF Match Racing World Championship team, and Nichol, this is only their fourth Star regatta together. "It's awesome to be here with all the old-school greats," said Horton, referring to the class's history of attracting incredible sailors and making them lifelong converts. In fact, the "Star of the Star Class," Mark Reynolds (San Diego, Calif.), a four-time Olympian and three-time Olympic medallist, holds third place with crew Phil Trinter (Port Washington, N.Y.), a Star-class Olympian from 2004. "Horton and Mendelblatt are going to be good," said Reynolds. "I just hope I can beat them a few times." Mendelblatt also represented the U.S. at the 2004 Olympics in the Laser class. He plans to launch an official Olympic campaign with Mark Strube (Palm Beach, Fla.) but when Strube was not available to sail with him for this event, Erickson stepped in. "I decided I needed mentoring," said Mendelblatt, "so who better to ask?" Erickson has sailed Stars for 24 years and is an Olympic Gold Medallist from 1984.
Clearwater, Florida's Paige Railey, a 2003 World Youth Champion, started out strong today, topping the Laser Radial fleet after two races. The 17-year-old has come to get a taste of "Olympic-like" competition and is up against, among others, a real Olympic Silver Medallist (in Europe class), Lenka Smidova of the Czech Republic, who sits in third overall. Smidova gave Railey the nod as one of the competition's top players. "I am not a fan of this class, really," said Smidova, who says she is unfamiliar with the boat while Railey has spent much of her youth sailing it. The Laser Radial is a class newly added to the Olympics for 2008.
Railey's older brother is testing his luck in the Finn class, having switched from sailing a Laser at this event for the previous four years. He currently sits in fourth place out of 26 boats. "I'm really happy with that," said Railey. Canada's Chris Cook holds the lead, while the USA's Finn representative from the 2004 Olympics, Kevin Hall (Bowie, Md.), is close behind in second.
"This is one of the most important Olympic classes events in North America," said Dean Brenner (Wallingford, Conn.), chairman of US SAILING's Olympic Sailing Committee. "I think this is a great start to the quadrennium from the U.S. Olympic perspective, because of the quality of the American sailors competing and the number of new faces we have on the scene."
Other U.S. sailors turning in top performances were Morgan Larson/Pete Spaulding (Capitola, Calif./Miami Beach, Fla.) in 49ers; Brad Funk (Belleair Bluffs, Florida) in Lasers; Amanda Clark/Sarah Mergenthaler (Shelter Island, N.Y./Matawan, N.J.) in 470 women's; USA's 2004 Olympic Silver Medallists John Lovell/Charlie Ogletree (New Orleans, La./Kemah, Texas) in Tornado; and 2004 ISAF Women's Match Racing World champions Sally Barkow (Nashotah, Wis.), Carrie Howe (Grosse Pointe, Mich.) and Deborah Capozzi (Bayport, N.Y.) in Ynglings.
The Netherlands team of Sven Coster/Kalle Coster leads the 470 Men's class, while Stellan Berlin of Sweden leads the 2.4 Metres and the British team of John Robertson/Hannah Stodel/Steve Thomas leads Sonars.
January 24, 2005
Lands End Mac Contest
Do you have what it takes to sail 333-miles from Chicago to the Northern tip of Lake Michigan? The Chicago Yacht Club race from Chicago to Mackinac Island — a.k.a. “the Mac” — is the world’s longest annual freshwater race. Celebrating its nautical heritage, Lands’ End will offer the opportunity to join the race. Anyone with a passion for sailing (experienced or not) can enter the Lands’ End Thrill of the Mac Essay Contest. One lucky winner could win a spot on board the Lands’ End yacht, “Guaranteed. Period.” alongside a savvy crew.
“Lands’ End is a classic American brand with roots in sailing,” says Ed Whitehead, chief marketing officer of Lands’ End. “Skippers have long relied on us for quality merchandise and world-class customer service. The Thrill of the Mac contest is a living, breathing way to cherish our sailing heritage and offer families an exciting opportunity to live out a dream.”
Entrants who submit an essay of up to 500 words describing why they think they are cut out to sail non-stop for approximately 60 hours up Lake Michigan to Mackinac could join the Lands’ End crew on a brand-new, 38-foot C&C 115 sailboat. The boat sets sail on July 16th for the 97th running of the Chicago Yacht Club Race. Prizes include travel and lodging for the winner and three family members at the majestic Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island. No cars, few people, and the Grand Hotel make Mackinac Island a perfect finish line for the Thrill of the Mac contest.
“Sailing on Lake Michigan is not like sailing in a mill pond,” says Randy Adolphs, fitness director at Lands’ End and a veteran sailor who will skipper Lands’ End’s “Guaranteed. Period.” along with a crew of eight to ten sailors including the Thrill of the Mac contest winner. “It’s very comparable to ocean racing, testing the world’s finest yachtsmen. If you have ever dreamed of long distance racing, or passage making, or of simply spending days and nights – sunny or gray, star filled or black as coal, of testing your mettle against the elements, this is the opportunity of a lifetime for you.”
The contest begins February 5, 2005. For a complete set of rules, visit landsend.com/rules. No purchase necessary. All entries must be received by March 31, 2005. Approximately fifty percent of the essay will be judged on the individual’s passion and desire to participate in the sailing race between the Chicago and Mackinac Island; forty percent of the essay will be judged on composition; and the remaining ten percent will be judged on the individual’s previous sailing experience, if any. No previous sailing experience is required. Winners will be selected on or about April 25, 2005, from among all eligible entries. Submit essays to “Thrill of the Mac,” Lands’ End, 2 Lands’ End Lane, Dodgeville, Wisconsin 53595.
Lands’ End is a sponsor of the 2005 Chicago Yacht Club Race. In addition, Lands’ End is title sponsor for the Sailing World Magazine sailing series property, the NOOD Regattas, starting in 2005. The National Offshore One Design Regattas, known as the “NOODs” are the largest and most popular sailboat racing series in North America.
Orange II Underway
Bruno Peyron and his crew aboard Orange II crossed the starting line of the RTW record this Monday January 24 at 11h03’07’’ (10 :03’07’’ GMT). Conditions were good at the start, with 20 knots blowing from the north – north east. Orange II was sailing at 20 knots, under reefed mainsail and staysail. They sent the gennaker up soon afterwards.
• In order to beat the absolute RTW record (set by Steve Fossett on April 5, 2004 – 58d 9hrs 32 mn), Orange II must be back on the line at Ouessant before March 23 at 19:34’52’’ GMT.
• In order to beat the Jules Verne Trophy (set by Olivier de Kersauson on April 29, 2004 – 63d 13hrs 59mn), Orange II must be back on the line at Ouessant before March 29 at 00:01’53’’ GMT.
First audio chat session
Bruno Peyron spoke this afternoon with the shore team, while Orange II was flying along at 30 knots. “The wind kicked in as predicted, it’s blowing at roughly 25 knots. Our speed is better than it was just after the start, we’re still sailing with the reefed main, the staysail and the gennaker, doing about 27 / 28 knots. It’s a bit tough, since the boat is relatively narrow, and the windward hull is quickly airborne, but the seas are beautiful”.
Heading West
“We wanted to gain in the west, since the breeze is blowing from the N/NE, it’s better to be on a starboard tack. We’ll gybe in the coming hours, in order to take advantage of the wind shift. It makes the route a bit longer, but that way we’ll stick to our strategy. It was a magnificent start this morning, with a great atmosphere aboard and a splendid light outside. By leaving today, we knew we’d be perfectly serene and ready. Everything’s fine aboard Orange II, we have just the right canvas up, hence the right speed. The watches system is running smoothly, the prevailing feeling is satisfaction. The long preparation phase is behind us, and its result is right here, on the water. We’re in a fighting spirit, and very concentrated at the same time. We trust the boat and the gear aboard, we accumulated 20 000 miles last year, and that experience will be valuable. We know the maxi-cat’s potential, and her limits: during this RTW journey, we’ll never be sailing at 100%, in order to preserve the boat’s longevity”.
First target, the equator
“Crossing the equator is the first benchmark of this circumnavigation. According to the simulations we carried out yesterday, 80% of the predicted routes gave us a Ouessant – equator passage below the current record (6 days and 11 hours). Today, it’s not so sure anymore, but we’ll keep our sights set on that goal. Conditions are similar for the hours to come, and we’ll gybe in 2 or 3 hours. We have 25 knots of wind, it’s nice weather and we should go fast, yet it’ll probably weaken at the end of the night. Things might get more complex approaching Portugal”.
The crew is in the right pace
Yves Le Blévec: “Everything’s fine, the boat’s fast – 25 to 30 knots – and we’re installed in our watch system. Phlippe Péché is up on deck with Nico (Nicolas de Castro), JB (Jean-Baptiste Epron) and Seb (Sébastien Audigane). Yann (Elies), Ludo (Aglaor), Florent (Chastel) and myself are on stand-by. Since we didn’t get much sleep last night, we’re resting now. The third watch team, composed of Lionel (Lemonchois), Bernard (Stamm), Jacques (Caraes) and Ronan (Legoff) is completely off! It’s a major change for all of us, but we’ve all been preparing for that. Last night, we spent a few hours in front of the Brest bay entrance before going to the starting line ».
The records Orange II has to beat
- The Jules Verne Trophy has been held by Olivier de Kersauson and the crew of the trimaran Geronimo, in 63 days, 13h 59mins, since the 29th April 2004.
- The absolute round the world record has been held by the American Steve Fossett, in 58 days, 09h, 32mins, since the 5th April 2004.
The most recent records set by Orange II
– The 24 hour world record (706.2 miles covered at an average speed of 29.42 knots),
– The Mediterranean Record (17h 56mn and 13s, at an average of 25.53 knots).
About Orange ...
Orange, a subsidiary of France Télécom, is one of the world's leading mobile phone operators. Orange France is the leading player in wireless telecommunications in France with a market share above 48.1% and on 30th September 2004 had more than 20.6 million clients..
Role of the Boat Captain
All is well on board Virbac-Paprec, currently off the coast of Brazil. Jean-Pierre Dick has managed to sort out the problems which were giving him grief. Music to the ears of boat captain Luc Bartissol. Lucky, as his friends call him, is full of common sense and savoir-faire, devoted to the boat and her skipper. He always has something up his sleeve and is highly reactive. Lucky and JP work well together to keep on top of this Vendée Globe and to avoid ending up in a situation where the adventure has to come to an end. Interview.
Where do you fit in technically speaking ?
Luc Bartissol : « I have to be contactable at all times, right round the clock. It doesn’t sound like much, but it is sometimes very restrictive. Trips to the cinema can be ruled out ! My mobile is left switched on all the time. Even when I go to sleep. It’s always Jean-Pierre who calls. For several days, everything stays nice and calm, and then things heat up a bit. My shortest night was during the repairs to the rudder. I had JP on the line several times. In the beginning we communicated by e-mail, but since he has had problems with energy sources, we use the phone instead. Merely switching on the computer eats into his energy supplies ! When he has no major worry, I draw up an inventory and ask JP for information to keep track on what is working properly or what risks wearing out. When he calls, I sometimes have a little bit of time to gather information. For the boom, I asked him to send me a photo of the broken part. I ran through a simulation of the repair in my garage with carbon tubes and a small wooden stick. Funny really ! Then it was my turn to send photos back to JP so that he could see what I was getting at. That was how I handled what has been the most complicated repair to date… »
You get along really well with JP… Where do you draw the line, do you ever talk about the weather for example?
L.B : « No, never. I’m not a router and assistance on that score is prohibited under the rules anyway. It’s a taboo subject for me. I’m highly principled and stick to the rules right the way down the line. Of course JP does talk about how he is analysing the situation. He’s 100% into his race. But, for all that he might talk about his analysis, ashore we keep our opinions to ourselves. He’s got one or two things wrong here and there, but all in all he’s sailed a good course. The fact that he has had to keep a careful watch on his energy consumption and to ration his weather information has not penalised him that much. He has had to fall back on his skill and instinct rather a plethora of weather files. Nowadays there is a tendency to stick to highly-defined models rather than using one’s flair. Too much information is not necessarily a good thing »
What do you think of the way JP has sailed his Vendée Globe ?
L.B. : « Like many others, I observe and admire the tenacity and pugnacity he has demonstrated. He’s great to work with. He simply never gives up. At the start, he made no secret of the fact that he is not the world’s greatest handyman. But we have learnt – as he has too, no doubt – that where there is a will there’s a way. He has always found a way to keep racing. He sails in a similar way to Ellen MacArthur. They both have the same approach to problems at sea ! JP uses his head a lot. He is constantly thinking about the way he is racing. I reckon that he has sailed an excellent Vendée Globe. His current position (6th) is well-deserved, particularly in view of his lack of ocean-racing experience and all the gear problems he has had. An fine adventure indeed which we are all part of … »
Reasons to be Cheerful
Elapsed Time: 78 days, 02 hours, 30 mins
Vendée Globe Fleet Leader: PRB (V. Riou FRA)
HELLOMOTO: 9th out of 14, same latitude as Mar del Plata, Argentina
• HELLOMOTO has had a rock’n’roll weekend clocking the highest speeds in the fleet sailing in strong downwind breeze at the weekend to make up 175 miles on Arcelor Dunkerque and 202 on Skandia
• With tricky weather ahead as a low pressure system forms off Rio, the competition is just as high mid-fleet as it is with the leaders, and Conrad hopes to make more miles on these next 2 boats to come within ‘striking distance’ of them in the next 24 hours..
• Far from being the most depressing day according to the pundits, Conrad has had several reasons to be cheerful: he’s got his wind gear working, changed his clothes, shaved his beard off and had his first wash since New Zealand!
• Conrad’s Cape Horn Diary now online – read the reflections on his rounding of the ‘rock’.
Conrad Humphreys interview from onboard HELLOMOTO this morning courtesy of Geolink/Iridium:
“The weekend has been really good. Yesterday was a really good day. I managed to climb the rig and repair the staysail block, which had just reached the end of its life span, I got the aft wind gear working, the beard went, I changed clothes and had my first wash since New Zealand! I had some respite from the uncomfortable upwind sailing with 24hrs of downwind breeze, and HELLOMOTO was flying along at 18 knots boat speed. It was a huge relief to get the wind gear partially working again as it meant that the boat can now trim itself again and I can get some more rest and spend more time doing my navigation and looking more closely at the weather. So I’m full of beans again!
“I’m now bashing upwind again in a north west air stream which is going to build slightly today and is looking quite tricky ahead. There is a low pressure system forming over Rio, in fact right over Nick Moloney’s head, this evening and that is going to move south east across our path. I need to somehow get a little bit further to the west to get round the favourable wind side of it, which is not easy with a NW wind as I am making a course between 030 and 050 degrees (NE). This makes it fairly tricky, but I think I’ve potentially got another 24 hours where I can make up some more miles on both Skandia and Arcelor Dunkerque. It would be better if the wind was a bit freer, but I am unfortunately back down to my 10 knots upwind, however, this is possibly a bit more speed than they are doing. Bruce Schwab is going to get some freer, more favourable winds later this evening and he should make some fast progress up the coast although the wind angle may not be great so he may get pinned in on the coast again or he may choose to gybe offshore. Tactically it’s going to be a very interesting period over the next 3-7 days. Joe could overtake Nick and we could get quite close together I hope. Nick got really stuck with a high pressure to his East he had nowhere to go and has had to work his way back out, the wind will fill in for him and for Joe Seeten soon. I’m not expecting to catch these guys but I think I could perhaps close within 300 miles which is obviously within striking distance.
“There are mini-races all through the fleet and although the media will be focused on the leaders, it’s just as competitive back here! I’m prioritising any repair which has to do with boat speed. The rig climb yesterday was a bit hairy as the boat was going along at 18 knots so instead of replacing the wind instruments at the top I just climbed part way to repair the staysail block and didn’t climb to the top to replace the wind gear. That’s not as essential, as repairing the block meant I could hoist the racing staysail again and get up to speed, and I didn’t want to put myself or the boat in danger going to the top of the mast at that speed. For my 10th climb during the race I can shin up the mast like a ferret up a drainpipe now, I have honed my technique by now, but each time it’s still a nerve-wracking experience and just as dangerous as before. As for my legs, well, I can still see them!”
Chance is WX Dependant
KEY DATA DAY 57 1510 GMT:
Distance behind: -29 miles
Time ahead: 0 hour [representing 0% of time remaining] measured as the time it took for the trailing boat to get to the same Distance to Finish as the current position of the leading boat
OMEGA: Official timekeeper for Ellen MacArthur
Lat/Long: 17 28 S / 028 00 W (650 miles SE Salvador / 1100 miles S Equator)
Average Boat speed: 9.07 knots (heading N by E)
True Wind speed: 9.1 knots (direction NW)
Sea temperature: 28 degrees C
Distance sailed so far: 22,615 miles at an average speed of 16.4 knots
(data communicated by Thrane MiniC via BT Business Broadband)
Update based on data recorded 1510 GMT...check http://www.teamellen.com for the latest data updated hourly
IN BRIEF:
* MACARTHUR TRYING TO STAY POSITIVE IN DIFFICULT CONDITIONS using the time to tackle the jobs list, check the boat over, up the mast again to check the rig, anything and everything to ensure that when <
* NO CHANGE ON WEATHER FRONT, LIGHT AIRS AND MORE LIGHT AIRS. Little wind this side of the Equator and a period of lighter winds north of the Equator, will make the next few days painfully slow.
* NECK AND NECK WITH JOYON, HOW WAS HE DOING AT THIS TIME? Here are his 24 hour runs, starting with today's, these are VMG distances, ie distance sailed towards the finish, not through the water - 399 miles today, then 247, 162, 130, 232, 257 on passing the Equator on the equivalent of the 29th, 300, 299, 278, 221, 212, 162, 284, 383, and two big days to finish with 400, 439 and 345 in to the line on the 9th [dates normalised to Ellen's]. MacArthur's record hangs in the balance but if the weather gods are kind north of the Equator, things could swing back in her favour. But, for now, it is a battle of mental endurance.
* LATEST EQUATOR ETA FRIDAY 28TH JANUARY. To get back ahead of Joyon she must cross the Equator by 0835 GMT on Saturday, 29th January.
FROM ELLEN:
How are you holding up?
I'm hanging in there, bearing in mind we'll be back in two weeks and if we're not back in two weeks, it doesn't matter anyway. So I've got to hang in there for two more weeks, that's the way I'm thinking and I'm trying to look after myself the best I can. I am exceptionally tired, I'm pretty exhausted and I'm fairly bruised. I've been up the mast again [to do a rig check], just this morning, so I'm feeling pretty battered again. But just bearing in mind that in two weeks time it will be all over - with or without a record.
Do you think the record is still possible?
The record is defnitely within our sights - I'm not going to let go of that until the last second-hand ticks over, that's for sure. We've been working on this project for two years, I've now been at sea for over 50 days and now is not the time that I am going to throw my hands up in the air and give up, no way. We're level with Francis - we're not three days or five days behind him and we still have a chance. But we only have a chance if the weather is kind to us - the next three days are going to be terrible, we won't cross the Equator until the 28th and until then we are going to be in pretty light conditions. Once we cross the Equator, we have to see if we get stuck in the Doldrums or not, and that's another question mark. We could get stuck there for 24 hours and, if that's the case, obviously we're in even more trouble. A lot of things can come into play and we've still got a very, very long way to sail - it would be wrong to say the record is definitely going to happen because there is no way that is the reality right now.
Does the public support help you?
It's been amazing to see the amount of support from people - people writing into the website saying they have been praying for good winds, wishing the breeze will come back - it's been absolutely incredible. And if ever there was a reason not to give up, it is the fact that so many people are behind us. I don't feel like I am alone out here, there are a lot of people wishing this boat along and, obviously, I am one of them but there are a lot of others out there.
What is the longer term forecast like?
It's going to be even lighter tonight and for the next five days. We're not going to cross the Equator until the 28th and that's not even passed the Doldrums, and once we pass the Doldrums, the Northern Hemisphere Trade Winds are very light. So we've got light winds for at least the next week.
How are you staying optimistic?
I am trying to be positive - you know it's been exceptionally difficult, it feels like everything has been against us in the Southern Hemisphere and we've not only lost out on Francis but lost four days in a period where we should have gained theoretically because he was very slow in this area. So things have been terrible, quite frankly, and trying to come to terms with that and come to terms with the fact that the weather for the next week is pretty bad as well, then that is pretty hard to deal with. But what can we do? We can only do our best and we can't do any more than that. So I've tried to occupy myself by fixing everything, getting everything back on track and try and stay positive feelings from that. Like climbing the mast this morning just to make sure everything is okay - it seems fine - and all those things to try and get us in the best possible position to do the best we can once we get across the Equator and into some stronger winds in the Northern Hemisphere.
Thrill of the Mac
Lands' End is conducting a "Thrill of the Mac" essay contest. Lands'End invites customers to participate in this contest by submitting an essay in less than 500 words to express their desire and passion to be in the Mackinac Island sailing race.
The prize is a spot on board Lands' End new, 38-foot C&C 115 for the Chicago Mackinac Race on July 16.
The essays are to be 500 words describing why the writer feel he or she is cut out to sail non-stop for approximately 60 hours up Lake Michigan to Mackinac. . Prizes include travel and lodging for the winner and three family members at the majestic Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island.
The contest is open from 2/4/05 until 3/31/05. The winner will be selected on 4/25/05.
Rio
RACE POSITIONS 0930 GMT: SKANDIA holding 7th place but slipped back to 538 miles from VIRBAC. ARCELOR now just 236 behind SKANDIA.
EXCERPTS OF AUDIO CONFERENCE courtesy of Geolink/Iridium
Held live with Andre Oszmann and the Skandia team in Geelong, Australia for Skandia Geelong Week
http://www.geelongweek.com.au/
Conditions are warm onboard, but I’ve lost the wind, just 7 knots right now, so progress is painfully slow. We haven’t really moved far for 4 hours, very frustrating. Trying to get to the north east
Power problem seems manageable right now, the warmer temperatures have increased the efficiency of the batteries, and we are ok on fuel I think.
Have not seen any ships or fishing boats since yesterday afternoon, thought I could get some good rest but now breeze has died I am not really able to. Just got one boat about 5 miles away.
RACE UPDATE GOING IN TO 79th DAY
SKANDIA HEADING NORTH TOWARDS RIO DE JANEIRO: But with no plans to stop of course! Nick had to bite the bullet yesterday afternoon and accept a tack to the east to get clear of the coast, before retacking to the north again last night – Rio de Janeiro on the bows some 350 miles away. This northerly tack should take in fact quite close to Rio possibly tomorrow, before he has to beat out to the north east and tackle a new transition zone of lighter winds. This is the same challenge that VIRBAC is about to tackle.
SPRUCED UP: Life onboard has certainly taken a turn since 2 weeks ago. Yesterday Nick managed a full wash, shave and clean-up, a rare luxury for a Vendee Globe sailor. Check out the X-rated photos on the website! Also check out the new video sent back by Nick yesterday.
TEMENOS 5TH BOAT IN TO THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE: Dom Wavre heading north yesterday to become the 5th boat in to the northern latitudes. Both he and Seb Josse (VMI) are moving very slowly across the Doldrums area just north of the Equator. Further to their north the leading trio all head west of north, going to the west of the high pressure ahead of them after the direct route home was blocked off yesterday by the movement of this weather system. 2200 miles to go for leader PRB, still be chased hard by BONDUELLE (at 89 miles) and ECOVER (at 124 miles) - Golding suffered his 3rd main halyard break yesterday, but remains in contention.
Delivery Boredom
It’s all been happening on Hugo Boss this weekend, lots of action and emotion as we hit day 16 off the trip and start to lose our sanity!
The highlight of the last few days was crossing the equator and doldrums, some of which you heard about last week, namely being David's kangaroo court and Neptune's punishment. The doldrums, infamous for their variable conditions and lack of wind turned out to be very sedate. We had one cloud that shed a few drops and a lack of breeze for about 10 hours, a real contrast to the 45 knot squalls I had on the race south! A nice contrast!! The other major event of last week was Ross's birthday, his 26th!! Birthdays on deliveries are always difficult occasions and this was no different. Used to birthdays ashore with lots of friends, booze and more booze, as most of us are! Ross was greeted by 20 knot headwinds, a freeze dried birthday meal and was reduced to sitting in the conservatory (outside cuddy) while being dripped on by the leaky trim hatch. Nice, what a way to spend it! Alas, his wish of 25 knot following winds, big waves and surfs to over 20 knots were not granted and he feels a little cheated by Neptune. That brought back the original suspicion that perhaps Mr Blobby had not crossed the equator in 1929 on such and such a Clipper ship but had fouled Neptune and we were now paying the penalty. Can anyone verify Simon's crossing? Ross did however receive some presents - his favourite pressie was the beautiful glittery tiara, which he wore all day! You can see a flattering picture of this on the website today!
Ross's other coveted present was a rubber replica of his greatest fear, a scorpion! The scorpion has been named Boris and has been the instigator of many a conversation onboard as Ross started an intellectual game called 'where's Boris'! As you can imagine the game has few rules and involves hiding Boris somewhere in the cockpit for the other watch to find him. He is yet to be found hence no pictures. I am sure we will still be looking at the end of this delivery and will probably not find him until the refit!!
The wind has now increased and should move from the NNE to the East, which will propel us northwards at a more exciting rate. The temperature has fallen and although we are still wearing shorts and T-shirts, it will not be long until the trousers and oilskins get unpacked again. The route to get home is still a little unclear with the routing software giving us an ETA of between the 2nd and 4th February. We pray for gale force following winds so we can enjoy the North Atlantic and fear the icy easterly gale that will almost certainly happen, especially if Mr B did cheat Neptune! It looks like it will be tougher for the leaders of the Vendée and with a bit of luck Mike Golding on Ecover will have another shot at victory.
Thank you for all the replies to our questions relating to the flying squid, apparently these squidgy characters can jet propel themselves along at over 40mph!!! Can you believe that!! I can just about face being smacked in the chops by a flying fish, but a jet propelled squid doing 40mph in the face, no thanks. Fortunately we seem to be too far north for the rubber gate crashers but are still blessed by stinky flying fish who invade the boat every night in their droves. We must get 40 or 50 hits a night! Thankfully we are going upwind and with the angle of heel, once they have hit the coach roof or side deck they manage to wriggle themselves back to their homes. Those who don't are subjected to Mr B's strange ceremony of lining them up on the deck each morning in different formations and taking photographs of them. They come in all sizes; he is particularly proud his photo of a monster one, nearly a foot long!! Makes you want to go on deck with protective clothing I can tell you!! Thankfully Mr B commits them back to the sea after he is satisfied that he has suitably recorded their visit.
As often happens on boats, Simon's nickname (Mr Blobby) has well and truly stuck, so much so that when he telephoned home the other day his 6 year old daughter, Millie answered the phone with 'Hi Mr Blobby'. Mission accomplished! He has further vindicated his nickname by his ever expanding ankles, which have caused him some discomfort as he has been unable to get his boots on. Dr Ross was called in and identified the reason for this blobbiness as simply old age. Mr B has vehemently denied this diagnosis putting the blame firmly on the heat of the tropics. We will see, but I rather suspect we will be fresh out of anti-inflammatories by the time we get home!!
A few of you have expressed an interest in who was the driver of our rather large wipe-out on day 2, one of you was impressed that I did not name and shame him! I am not the sort of unscrupulous individual to keep such vital titbits from our avid readers and can give you a mind teasing clue as to who it is. His name begins with Mr, and ends with Blobby!! Answers on a postcard please.....
Some of you may feel that our friendly Michael taking of a certain individual onboard is being taken a little far, but I must remind you that we are all adults aboard the good ship Hugo Boss, but to appease those of you that feel that we are being a little unkind, you will find a second picture for the day on the website, which proves we really love Mr Blobby!!
Vendee Globe Report 24 January
Whilst we go about our daily routines 20 lone sailors are racing around the world without a stop.
Each weekday ATWOS will present a report on the 2004-2005 Vendee Globe race. Who will join Lamazou, Desjoyeaux etc. as winners? Who will be a breakout young star like Ellen Macarthur? Which sailors will participate in dramas such as those of Pete Goss & Yves Parlier?
The report will cover the rhythm of the race, whether it's fast or slow, what's the degree of difficulty, is it iceberg territory?
Each day we'll check the standings to see who the leaders are and who else is on the move.
The fleet roundup will cover news of interest from any and all boats both the success's and the inevitable failures.
From the lone sailors will highlight the most interesting communications from the multi national group of sailors.
Rhythm of the Race "The leaders of the Vendée Globe are currently in an active cold front."
Standings 1. PRB 2. Bonduelle 89 miles back 3. Ecover 124 miles back
Fleet Round Up Retirees. Halyard hell. Curent State
From the Lone Sailors Mike Golding "There was this quite odd situation of me being suspended on one dead end and having to cut two others off this one pin with a Stanley blade. When you cut Vectran [the ultra-low stretch fibre the halyard is made from] it all splays out like candy floss and you can’t really see what you are doing. So that was quite exciting but I had built in some backup. I was just risking a short fall, but it was still pretty scary." Vincent Riou "I’m the first to draw near to the high-pressure area, so it’s only logical that Bonduelle and Ecover are grabbing back some miles from me. That is likely to continue for another 24 hours." Benoit Parnaudeau "These conditions have created very unpleasant seas off the Falklands. I´ve never seen such green seas, hidden in the main by big clumps of seaweed. We´re going to get away from the area pretty speedily, North bound, sun bound."
Linky Sailing News
Racing Key West Wrap. B&Q Trails. Orange II starts. DN Worlds. Top 3 within 120
News Star Worlds. Rainbow Invite. Sherry wins
Great Lakes Icebreaking. Barge blowup
Olympic Classes Regatta
A blizzard has hit South Florida, but snow is not its yield. A storm of sailors—over 330 of them on more than 210 sailboats—has converged on Coconut Grove in Miami for the largest Olympic and Paralympic preparation regatta in the country: the Rolex Miami OCR. This is the regatta’s 16th year on Biscayne Bay, and its importance is evidenced by 23 countries represented on the entry roster, which also reads like a Who’s Who in the world of top-level sailing.
Headliners for the Rolex Miami OCR include Miami’s own 2004 Olympian from the 49er class Pete Spaulding. He has teamed up with a new skipper, Morgan Larson (Capitola, Calif.), after winning this regatta last year with his Olympic skipper Tim Wadlow. One of the regatta’s youngest competitors might prove as one to watch in this class as well. Sam Kahn (Aptos, Calif.) is only 15 years old and rocked the sailing world in 2003 when he won the Melges World Championship at age 14.
A pioneer of 470 women’s sailing, Allison Jolly (St. Petersburg, Fla.), has returned to test the waters with 2004 Olympian Isabelle Kinsolving (New York, N.Y.). Jolly was the first-ever Gold Medallist in the Olympic 470 women’s class in 1988. “I didn’t have a crew and Isabelle didn’t have a skipper, so we got together—we’ll see what happens,” said Jolly. In the men’s 470 class, Mike Anderson-Mitterling (San Diego, Calif.) will defend his title with new crew David Hughes (San Diego). The Netherlands’ ’04 Olympians in this class, brothers Sven & Kalle Coster, also have registered.
In the Finns, Kevin Hall (Bowie, Md), the USA’s 2004 Olympian in the Finn class, will battle his nemesis and fellow Maryland sailor Geoff Ewenson (Annapolis), who finished second to Hall in the U.S. Olympic Trials last year. A newcomer Zach Railey (Clearwater, FL) has switched from Laser to Finn to try his young 20-year-old hand against the more seasoned sailors. It’s his fourth year competing at the Rolex Miami OCR and his first-ever Finn regatta. “There are not as many boats in the Finn class, but the sailors are good,” said Railey. “I’ll learn who’s who and what the competition is like.”
Railey’s younger sister, Paige (Clearwater), is already a star in her Laser Radial fleet, at age 17. She is the 2003 Youth World Champion and the 2004 U.S. Junior Women’s Singlehanded Champion. “It’s my first Olympic classes regatta,” said Railey, who is thrilled that the Laser Radial has become the newest class at the 2008 Olympics. “It’s just so exciting to be here and sail against people like Anna Tunnicliffe and Lenka Smidova.” Tunnicliffe (Norfolk, Va.) is the 2004 Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association National champion while Smidova (Prague, CZE) is her country’s Europe Olympic Silver Medallist from the 2004 Games and won this regatta in the Europe class both in 2003 and 2004.
The Tornado fleet will have the honor of testing mettle against USA’s 2004 Olympic Silver Medallists John Lovell (New Orleans, La.) and Charlie Ogletree (Kemah, Texas), while the Yngling fleet will find its match in the young but longtime team of Sally Barkow (Nashotah, Wis.), Carrie Howe (Grosse Pointe, Mich.) and Deborah Capozzi (Bayport, N.Y.). The trio won the 2004 ISAF Women’s Match Racing World Championship and the 2003 Rolex International Women’s Keelboat Championship.
JJ Isler (La Jolla, Calif.) and Pease Glaser (Long Beach, Calf.), the USA’s 2000 Olympic Silver Medallists in the 470 women’s class have teamed up in the Yngling class with a third crewmember Laura Schmidt (Chicago, Ill). Isler also is a 1992 Bronze Medallist and four-time Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year ('00, '97, '91, '86). “We’re just checking it out,” said Glaser, when asked it this might foreshadow another Olympic effort for the team. “We just bought a used boat and we love coming here.”
Paralympic sailing is represented with the two classes that have been selected for the 2008 Paralympics: 2.4 Metre and Sonar. Roger Cleworth (Lithia, Fla.), who sailed in the 2004 Paralympics as a Sonar crew, has switched to the 2.4 Metre. The British Sonar team from Athens, lead by John Robertson, also will compete.
The Rolex Miami OCR is an International Sailing Federation (ISAF) Grade 1 event, a designation that indicates its importance in world rankings. It also is a qualifying event for the members of the 2005 US Sailing Team and US Disabled Sailing Team.
In addition to Rolex, sponsors for the Rolex Miami OCR are Nautica, Team McLube and Zodiac. Regatta Headquarters for the 2005 Rolex Miami OCR are at the US Sailing Center, with classes hosted by the US Sailing Center; Coral Reef, Key Biscayne and Miami Yacht Clubs; the Coconut Grove Sailing Club; and Shake-A-Leg-Miami.
Orange II Starts
Orange II officially began an attempt on the 1003 GMT Monday. She must complete the round the world course by 23 March to break Cheyenne's current outright around the world record.
Bruno Peyron and his crew aboard the maxi-catamaran Orange II are on their way. They crossed the starting line of the RTW record this Monday January 24 at 11h03’07’’ (10 :03’07’’ GMT). Conditions were good at the start, with 20 knots blowing from the north – north east. Orange II was sailing at 20 knots, under reefed mainsail and staysail. In order to beat the absolute RTW record (set by Steve Fossett on April 5, 2004 – 58d 9hrs 32 mn), Orange II must be back on the line at Ouessant before March 23 at 19:34’52’’ GMT. In order to beat the Jules Verne Trophy (set by Olivier de Kersauson on April 29, 2004 – 63d 13hrs 59mn), Orange II must be back on the line at Ouessant before March 29 at 00:01’53’’ GMT.
Bruno Peyron’s first comments: « We crossed the line in the North of Ouessant, in order to send some canvas up. The 14 men were up on deck to manoeuvre but also not to miss anything of the start of this great story. We decided to anticipate a bit on our departure, according to what we hope to find in the South Atlantic. There are some disturbed passages which should allow us to handle the St Helena high, even if that means losing some 12 hours in the North Atlantic ». Along with his weather team, Bruno Peyron traced an estimated route for the 5 to 10 days to come, to evaluate where the maxi-cat should be positioned in more than a week. But for the time being, it’s all hands on deck, and the next major strategic challenge will be the eastern ridge of the St Helena high. “Last night, the three watches have taken turns. But for the start, it’s better to have everyone up on deck – 14 men to carry out the sail changes, that’s not too much! We’re all very happy, and the weather is magnificent ».
The crew of Orange II
The 14 men taking part in this new attempt at the Round the World sailing record (Jules Verne Trophy 2005), on board Orange II are : Bruno Peyron (Skipper), Roger Nilson (navigator, doctor), Lionel Lemonchois (watch leader - helmsman), Philippe Péché (watch leader - helmsman), Yann Elies (watch leader - helmsman), Ronan Le Goff (Bowman, in charge of rigging), Sébastien Audigane (helmsman, in charge of safety), Jacques Caraes (adjustor, in charge of filming), Florent Chastel (bowman, in charge of running rigging), Yves Le Blévec (adjuster, in charge of the general organisation), Jean-Baptiste Epron (adjuster, in charge of supplies and logistics), Nicolas de Castro (Bowman, in charge of composites), Ludovic Aglaor (helmsman) and Bernard Stamm (helmsman, in charge of mechanics).
Bruno Peyron
Pioneer of ocean multihull racing since the early 80’s, Bruno Peyron has taken part in almost all of the major sailing events, both single-handed events and with a crew. He has 37 Atlantic crossings under his belt, 12 of which were single-handed. Twice record holder of the single-handed crossing (1987 & 1992). Twice record holder of the Pacific crossing with a crew (1997 & 1998), one major victory sums up his racing career: he was in 1993, the first sailor to go around the world in less than 80 days, thus winning the first Jules Verne Trophy. He created The Race, which began at the end of 2000, then repeated his exploit around the world in 2002, becoming the holder of the Jules Verne Trophy for a second time.
Bruno Peyron is today the record holder of the greatest number of miles covered in a maxi-catamaran (295,000 miles). He has beaten the 24 hour record on four occasions (1982 / 1995 / 2000/ 2004). He is the only skipper to have covered more than 700 miles in 24 h, and since last summer, has been the holder of the Mediterranean crossing record.
The records Orange II has to beat
- The Jules Verne Trophy has been held by Olivier de Kersauson and the crew of the trimaran Geronimo, in 63 days, 13h 59mins, since the 29th April 2004.
- The absolute round the world record has been held by the American Steve Fossett, in 58 days, 09h, 32mins, since the 5th April 2004.
The most recent records set by Orange II
– The 24 hour world record (706.2 miles covered at an average speed of 29.42 knots),
– The Mediterranean Record (17h 56mn and 13s, at an average of 25.53 knots).
Key West Wrap
As dockside victory celebrations go, most were muted after Key West 2005, presented by Nautica, Friday as winners and losers alike hoisted their 295 boats out of the water and hustled home to 14 countries and 36 states.
Hasso Plattner was met at the dock by his wife and yellow Lab, Claude, and quietly toasted his 61st birthday, which happened to coincide with his first place in the marquee Farr 40 class.
"This is my first win in a big [Farr 40] regatta," he said after defeating world champion Jim Richardson's Barking Mad from Newport, R.I., by three points.
Plattner, the software CEO from Kiel, Germany, and tactician Russell Coutts also were congratulated by Richardson and his tactician, Terry Hutchinson.
Meanwhile, a couple of gangways away, there was a more spirited celebration among Deneen Demourkas' victorious Mumm 30 crew highlighted by champagne showers and crew dunkings. Even the skipper went swimming.
The event's talent included 18 Olympic medalists representing 28 medals, including Kevin Burnham of Miami Beach, who won gold with Paul Foerster on a 470 dinghy at Athens last summer. This time, on a larger boat, Burnham won again as part of the crew for helmsman Bill Hardesty on Pegasus Racing's Melges 24, entered by another software giant, Philippe Kahn of Santa Cruz, Calif., developer of the cell phone camera.
That team won the last race and three of nine and received the Key West 2005 Boat of the Week Trophy for winning the most competitive class. Pegasus swapped the lead daily with Maspero Giovanni's Joe Fly. The Italians were over early Friday and finished 20th, slipping to fourth in the standings behind Australia's James Spithill, the Lunna Rossa America's Cup helmsman, and Neil Sullivan's M-Fatic from Annapolis.
Two other boats won high-profile classes in style by winning their last races: Chris Busch's 1D35, Wild Thing from San Diego, and Demourkas' Groovederci from Santa Barbara, Calif.
The International Team Competition for the Nautica Trophy matched a designated eight pair of Farr 40s and Melges 24s. The dogfight ended with four teams separated by two points, led by the USA East team composed of Barking Mad and Neil Sullivan's M-Fatic from Annapolis, driven by Olympic silver medalist Morgan Reeser. They edged Europe A (Mean Machine and Team SBAB) by one point, followed by Europe B (Atalanti and Joe Fly) and Italy (Mascalzone Latino and Blu Moon).
Kahn, from Santa Cruz, Calif. and Hawaii, drove his Farr 40 but prefers the Melges. "That's my new team," he said. "I have mixed feelings because Bill [Hardesty] was filling in for me [as helmsman]. Obviously, he did a good job."
Other crew members were Sweden's Freddy Loof, an Olympic medalist; Mark Ivey of Newport Beach, Calif., a four-time collegiate all-American, and Midge Tandy of Pensacola, Fla.
Morning Glory won three of nine races and was fourth in the final. Plattner gave his tactician, Russell Coutts, ample credit.
"The difference with Russell is that he doesn't put me in tough situations," Plattner said. "He stays calm in a critical situation. That helps me as a driver and also the crew not to get nervous and excited."
Coutts said it wasn't easy. "It was tough [tactically] because three boats were in the game, so we had to play the fleet."
Morning Glory had a strong start but went to the right side of the course when the wind was favorable on the left. The wind was 8-10 knots from the west and northwest Friday, relatively steady compared to Thursday's fading zephyrs but considerably lighter than the first three days of the week-long regatta.
"We were not winning this regatta until the last 300 meters when we passed three boats [to finish fourth]," Coutts said. "We got a couple of little shifts and puffs and that was it."
Barking Mad won the last race, followed by Atalanti, a two-time Key West winner for Greece's George Andreadis, who was sixth overall.
Morning Glory won three of the nine races. Dutch rival Peter de Ridder, the defending Key West champion sailing Mean Machine, was third one point behind Barking Mad. Most of the 18 competitors were pointing toward their world championship at Sydney in March.
While Busch and Hardesty and their crews were busy packing their boats, Demourkas' husband John, who sailed their Farr 40 to a commendable eight place, greeted her with a spray of champagne as she slid into the slip. She won four of the class's eight races, including the last one in a runaway, and it was special.
Although second in the 2002 Farr 40 Worlds and a contender in most Mumm 30 events, she said, "We hadn't won a race since our first Farr 40 regatta in Long Beach [Calif.] in 2002. I spent the whole race thinking about all the things that could go wrong, because they usually have."
For Busch, it had been a longer time between wins as a helmsman. Although he and his wife Kara sailed on the boat when it won at Key West in 2002, he was then a sailmaker by trade and thus ineligible to drive as an industry professional.
"Except for Transpac in 2003 [when Wild Thing won its class], the last time I drove was in an Etchells regatta in 1994," Busch said. "It was nice driving our own boat to a win. I progressively got better during the week."
Wild Thing won three of the last four races to beat Stig Osterberg's Midsummer from Port Townsend, Wash. by three points.
"We were happy that the breeze was up today," Busch said. "We made a big gain on the first run and really cranked the boat hard to stay ahead."
Burnham, 48, who hadn't sailed on a Melges 24 in several years, said, "I just loved it. To have a team like Philippe put together is so rewarding. This is a campaign to win the Melges 24 Worlds at Miami in December."
But as they crossed the finish line, Burnham did not do a back flip out of the boat like the one he did at Athens that was shown around the world.
Hardesty said, "My team gave me all the confidence in the world coming into today. They just said, 'Do your thing and get off the starting line in good shape and we'll do the rest.' We went out with the attitude of winning the race. We knew that the only way to guarantee we would come out on top. Regardless of all the credentials aboard the boat, no one had an ego."
Andrzrej Rojek of Brooklyn, N.Y., sailing Better Than, won the Swan 45 class on a tiebreaker with Craig Speck's VIM, Newport, R.I. Next year the Swans will return to Key West in force for their Gold Cup world championship with an international fleet of about 20 boats.
Tom Hill's R/P 75, Titan 12, the biggest boat in the regatta, came on in lighter winds the last three days to correct out on its PHRF-1 opposition in five of six races but couldn't overtake Makoto Uematsu's Transpac 52, Esmeralda. The Japanese entry, driven by Tom Lihan with Ken Read as tactician, enjoyed a four-point margin by winning the other four races.
The Farr 40s also awarded their new class Corinthian prize to Tom Neill's Nitemare, Chicago, one of three boats eligible for sailing with no more than two professionals instead of three and only three new sails on board. Nitemare placed 16th in the fleet of 18.
Hard Work the Key
The crew of Memo Memulini threw themselves into celebrations as they finished the final race of the Circuito Atlantico Sur Rolex Cup in Punta del Este today. Skipper of the Grand Soleil 42R, Ricardo Fabini, commented: "We did an excellent race today. In fact we celebrated when we crossed the line because we felt we couldn't have sailed any better. We didn't know at that stage whether we had won or not, but we were just happy with our performance."
As it turned out, Memo Memulini won not just her division, IMS 500, but the combined IMS division too. Asked what was the secret to their success, Fabini said: "There is no secret, just hard work. All the crew worked very hard, and very well together. We did a lot of racing in Europe last year. We sailed at the Rolex IMS World Championships in Capri, and at the King's Cup in Spain, so the crew are well trained." The crew has a good record in this regatta, having won it in 2003 with the previous Memo Memulini, an IMX-40.
The biggest of the 69-boat fleet, the brand new Frers 60-footer Fortuna III, did not fare so well under handicap but had the honour of setting a new course record in the long distance race from Buenos Aires to Punta del Este earlier in the week. For skipper Cesar Recalde it was achievement enough to have competed in the regatta. "We have been working hard to get ready for this race. The biggest challenge was just to be ready for the start." Fortuna III is the latest in a line of boats built for the Argentinean Navy. Funded by sponsorship from a number of different commercial backers, it is the first fully carbon racing yacht to have been constructed in Argentina. The beginning of this regatta was a nervous moment for the crew, as they set off out of Buenos Aires into a stormy forecast. "It was the first time the boat had gone to sea, so we didn't know what to expect," said Recalde. "But the boat dealt with the shallow waters in River Plate very well." As it turned out, the stormy forecast never materialised. For Fortuna III it was a light-wind 180 miles from the Argentine capital to the Uruguayan port. "The trouble for us was we were always in the lead, but we only ever had 10 to 12 knots of wind, whereas the boats behind us were always in 18 to 20 knots of downwind breeze. There was nothing we could do about it, we just had to laugh." Still, to break the course record in a time of 18 hours and 59 minutes was an excellent performance for a brand new boat.
Among the crew was Carlos Espinola, a relative newcomer to the rigours of offshore racing but well known as Argentina's most successful Olympic athlete, with two silver medals from windsurfing and a bronze from catamaran racing in Athens last summer. Recalde was full of praise for Espinola. "He can anticipate gusts in the wind like no one I've seen. He was very enthusiastic and energetic in everything he did. If he wanted to go professional in the offshore world, he would succeed. He has great potential."
Espinola said he had certainly developed a taste for offshore sailing, and is considering competing in the Buenos Aires to Rio race in a few weeks. "I enjoyed the long distance race to Punta del Este. It was good weather, the boat was great, and it was nice to sail with my friends. I hope to be back with Fortuna III."
Normally it takes a new boat to succeed at the top level of yacht racing, but the crew of the 20-year-old Yunque defied that theory to win the IMS ORC division. Tactician Enrique Rodriguez said the predominantly light winds did them a favour. "The races were in light wind and we could sail fast in those conditions. We were third in our class and fourth in the general classification on the long race, but we made up the difference in the local races. We have raced many times from Buenos Aires to Punta del Este, so we have some knowledge about the waters here. The most important factor was not boatspeed but good strategy. Because the wind was light, it was very important to be in the right place at the right time."
Other winners included Patagonia 3 skippered by Norberto Alvarez, who won the 670 division, and Nuria skippered by Sergio Schujman, who won PHRF. The Circuito Atlantico Sur Rolex Cup offers a testing variety of both offshore and inshore handicap racing. The regatta began with the 180-mile offshore race from Olivos / Buenos Aires to Punta del Este; this was followed in Punta del Este by two days of inshore windward/leeward racing, a day race around Isla Gorriti, and the Circuito la Barra on the final day.
B&Q Now Trails
KEY DATA DAY 57 0710 GMT:
Distance behind: -8 miles
Time ahead: 0 hour [representing 0% of time remaining] measured as the time it took for the trailing boat to get to the same Distance to Finish as the current position of the leading boat
OMEGA: Official timekeeper for Ellen MacArthur
Lat/Long: 21 08 S / 029 53 W (650 miles SE Salvador / 1100 miles S Equator)
Average Boat speed: 10.31 knots (heading NE)
True Wind speed: 10.1 knots (direction NNW)
Sea temperature: 28 degrees C
Distance sailed so far: 22,555 miles at an average speed of 16.5 knots
(data communicated by Thrane MiniC via BT Business Broadband)
Update based on data recorded 0710 GMT...check http://www.teamellen.com for the latest data updated hourly
IN BRIEF:
* <
* MACARTHUR HAD MAINTAINED A LEAD OVER FRANCIS JOYON'S RECORD since day 7 of her attempt, now under 16 days remain for MacArthur to try and break the 72 day, 22 hour and 54 minute solo, non-stop round the world record.
* <
IN DETAIL:
<
<
MacArthur faces the reality as the battle for the record changes pace: "Things could be a lot, lot worse," said MacArthur. "If someone had told me I was going to be 4 days ahead at Cape Horn, I would have thought they were mad. But that time buffer has proven very useful in dealing with the complicated weather of the South Atlantic - if we had not had that advantage, things would be a lot worse now." Yesterday Ellen sent back an email from onboard <
WEATHER ANALYSIS FROM COMMANDERS' WEATHER 0600 GMT:
Cold front is stalling just S and SW of Ellen tonight. This is unusually far north for South Atlantic cold fronts this time of year. High pressure provides the pressure gradient for Trade Winds. The cold front has weakened and pushed the South Atlantic high far to the SE. The lack of high pressure is producing abnormally light Trade Winds for Ellen today and Tuesday.
Trade Winds may strengthen the 2nd half of this week, which will allow Ellen to increase her speed northward, but until then the Trade Winds will be mainly N and NE at a few kts only.
Wind forecasts
Wind directions are TRUE, wind speed in kts, time is UTC
Mon, Jan 24
09: 320-350/ 6-10
12: 330-360/ 6-9, near 17 40s/28 30w -
18: 340-010/ 4-7 - back on starboard when winds are consistently right of 360
Fair to partly cloudy into Fri.
Tue, Jan 25- want to be as far east as possible at 15s
00: 020-050/ 6-10
06: 030-050/ 7-11
12: 030-040/ 8-12, near 14 45s/28w
18: 020-050/ 8-12
http://www.commandersweather.com
January 23, 2005
Fishing Trip
RACE POSITIONS 0930 GMT: SKANDIA holding 7th place despite the threat of calms allowing ARCELOR to catch. VIRBAC now also once again held up in light winds, as was ARCELOR overnight. All three boats have significant windless barrier ahead of them before they can attack the Saint Helena high, and ultimately make it in to the trade winds to take them to the Equator. PRB holds a 134 mile lead over BONDUELLE and 174 over ECOVER as they beat northwards. VMI should lead TEMENOS across the Equator in the next few hours.
EXCERPTS OF AUDIO CONFERENCE courtesy of Geolink/Iridium
Held live with Grant Wharrington and the Skandia team in Geelong Australia for Skandia Geelong Week
http://www.geelongweek.com.au/
Actually I’ve got a reasonable amount of wind up to 20 knots, but it has been quite light, and this afternoon its going to go light again. Virbac is a fair way east and is making good northerly ground and getting away from me. Biggest worry is ARCELOR coming up behind me. The water temperature is about 20, pretty warm, although its overcast with quite a few rain squall clouds. Been missing the warmth, a month in the south in the cold and no sunshine means I’m really devouring the warmth right now.
CALL ENDS WITH 3000 PEOPLE on the lawn of the Royal Geelong Yacht Club cheering Nick on!
To listen to the full audio : http://www.ocftp2.com/audio/vendee2004/nm230105a_uk_e.mp3
RACE UPDATE GOING IN TO 78th DAY
NICK ON A FISHING TRIP OFF COAST OF BRAZIL: A mixed 24 hours for Nick, who finds himself this morning with a variable 20 knot wind from the north west allowing him to make better easting on port tack to get away from the continental shelf and the fleets of fishing boats around him! Although they pose a potential danger for SKANDIA, Nick has enjoyed the company of these small local fishing boats that have often come over to him and said hi! Conditions onboard are tropical warm, always good for the moral of the Australian skipper who can still remember clearly the freezing cold of the Southern Ocean weeks. The wind is expected to turn through the day in to the east – this will first of all force Nick on to a bad heading, and then eventually allow him to make a direct route again up towards the east of Rio de Janeiro (some 400 miles to his north-east at present) on the opposite tack.
NOT PLAIN SAILING FOR NICK’S CLOSEST COMPETITORS: Last night VIRBAC was going strong, but by this morning he was virtually becalmed. ARCELOR was becalmed during the night but was going again. Its a real stop-start game as these three boats battle their way north, over a number of weather hurdles that block them from the Trade Winds leading to the Equator. Meanwhile just approaching the Equator this morning is Nick’s mate and fellow Jules Verne crewman Sebastian Josse (VMI), who will be the 4th boat in to the Northern Hemisphere just ahead of Swiss sailor Dom Wavre (TEMENOS) today.
NOT MUCH ACTION AT THE FRONT: A gain here, a loss here, things are pretty stable at the head of the fleet as PRB maintains a good lead over BONDUELLE and ECOVER. The only chance the chasers have is if the weather throws in some kind of curved ball...right now its not obvious that that will happen. Could it be a second consecutive victory for the Vendee sponsor PRB?
Orange II Casts Off
Things started to move a little faster last night, following the latest meeting between Bruno Peyron and his weather team. The skipper of Orange II announced that the giant Orange II and her 14 man crew will cast off from Lorient today (Sunday 23rd January) at 3 p.m. GMT. Just after the final press briefing, which will take place at 2.30. The boat will head for the starting line of the Jules Verne Trophy off Ushant, which they plan to cross sometime on Monday.
The window in the weather that they have been studying for more than a week looks good, and Bruno Peyron does not want to miss this occasion. That is why he has decided to get to the starting area as soon as possible. On Sunday afternoon, Orange II will set sail for Ushant. Bruno Peyron : «We want to be ready to cross the starting line at the right time. We don’t know exactly when that will be, but I want us all to be ready in race mode, so we can set out when the window is at its best.»
The final press briefing with the crew, today at 2.30 GMT (3.30 local time) in Lorient.
While the whole crew will be present helping out with the final preparations at 1 p.m. GMT, the press briefing will take place at 2.30 precisely with the presence of Bruno Peyron and the crew of Orange II. This briefing will be organised at the boat’s technical base (Défi Français base) in Lorient, half an hour before they cast off for the Jules Verne.
The crew of Orange II
The 14 men taking part in this new attempt at the Round the World sailing record (Jules Verne Trophy 2005), on board Orange II are : Bruno Peyron (Skipper), Roger Nilson (navigator, doctor), Lionel Lemonchois (watch leader - helmsman), Philippe Péché (watch leader - helmsman), Yann Elies (watch leader - helmsman), Ronan Le Goff (Bowman, in charge of rigging), Sébastien Audigane (helmsman, in charge of safety), Jacques Caraes (adjustor, in charge of filming), Florent Chastel (bowman, in charge of running rigging), Yves Le Blévec (adjuster, in charge of the general organisation), Jean-Baptiste Epron (adjuster, in charge of supplies and logistics), Nicolas de Castro (Bowman, in charge of composites), Ludovic Aglaor (helmsman) and Bernard Stamm (helmsman, in charge of mechanics).
Bruno Peyron
Pioneer of ocean multihull racing since the early 80’s, Bruno Peyron has taken part in almost all of the major sailing events, both single-handed events and with a crew. He has 37 Atlantic crossings under his belt, 12 of which were single-handed. Twice record holder of the single-handed crossing (1987 & 1992). Twice record holder of the Pacific crossing with a crew (1997 & 1998), one major victory sums up his racing career: he was in 1993, the first sailor to go around the world in less than 80 days, thus winning the first Jules Verne Trophy. He created The Race, which began at the end of 2000, then repeated his exploit around the world in 2002, becoming the holder of the Jules Verne Trophy for a second time.
Bruno Peyron is today the record holder of the greatest number of miles covered in a maxi-catamaran (295,000 miles). He has beaten the 24 hour record on four occasions (1982 / 1995 / 2000/ 2004). He is the only skipper to have covered more than 700 miles in 24 h, and since last summer, has been the holder of the Mediterranean crossing record.
The records Orange II has to beat
- The Jules Verne Trophy has been held by Olivier de Kersauson and the crew of the trimaran Geronimo, in 63 days, 13h 59mins, since the 29th April 2004.
- The absolute round the world record has been held by the American Steve Fossett, in 58 days, 09h, 32mins, since the 5th April 2004.
The most recent records set by Orange II
– The 24 hour world record (706.2 miles covered at an average speed of 29.42 knots),
– The Mediterranean Record (17h 56mn and 13s, at an average of 25.53 knots).
Almost a Defecit
KEY DATA DAY 56 0710 GMT:
Distance ahead: 232 miles
Time ahead: 13 hours [representing 3.19% of time remaining] calculated using the time it took for Joyon to get to the same Distance to Finish as Ellen's current position
OMEGA: Official timekeeper for Ellen MacArthur
Lat/Long: 21 08 S / 029 53 W (730 miles ENE Rio de Janeiro / 1270 miles S Equator)
Average Boat speed: 4.95 knots (heading NE)
True Wind speed: 5.4 knots (direction NNW)
Sea temperature: 27 degrees C
Distance sailed so far: 22,363 miles at an average speed of 16.7 knots
(data communicated by Thrane MiniC via BT Business Broadband)
Update based on data recorded 0710 GMT...check http://www.teamellen.com for the latest data updated hourly
IN BRIEF:
* LEAD CUT TO JUST 13 HOURS THIS MORNING as the light airs continue to dominate B&Q's progress northwards in the South Atlantic.
* EXPECT TO SEE LEAD TURN INTO DEFICIT later today or tomorrow. Vitually no wind for next two days - a desperate and painful forecast after so many miles of blood, sweat and tears and there is nothing MacArthur can do.
* ELLEN GETS PHILOSOPHICAL TO DEAL HER CURRENT PREDICAMENT: "We need to remember that we're here...we could be in worse shape and we're here." See Ellen's latest email in full below
IN DETAIL:
B&Q's boat speeds since midnight have not exceeded 5 knots and the light airs are set to continue for another 48 hours or more, as MacArthur's lead is cut to just 13 hours at 0710gmt. Today, Commanders' expect Ellen to see little breeze much over 6 knots, close to the weak ridge of high pressure that is unfortunately drifting slowly northwards at the same rate as Ellen - its like walking backwards up the escaltor. There is a chance that as this ridge dissipates, wind pressure may increase to 10 knots by Monday night and into Tuesday. It is important for Ellen to try and get as much easting as possible to have a better wind angle and faster speeds by the time she reaches the Trade Winds in the middle of next week. Currently 730 miles east of Rio de Janeiro on the Brazilian coast, there is another 600-700 miles to go until Ellen may start to feel the first effects of the Trade Winds and a total of 1270 miles to go sail before crossing the Equator and the hope of more stable, faster conditions of the North Atlantic.
Without doubt, MacArthur's lead is expected to turn into a deficit later today or tomorrow. MacArthur has held an advantage of the solo record time of Francis Joyon since day 7 of her attempt on 1.12.04 - during the first week of her attempt she took the lead on day 4, lost it on day 6, then reclaimed an advantage on the seventh day which she has not relinquished since. As the lead disappears, the bad news is that Joyon has an amazing run in this next 24 hours, a Southern Ocean style 425 mile day, followed by a 399 mile day tomorrow. The only good news is that he does actually slow down on Wednesday (162 miles) and Thursday (130nm). Ellen's 232 mile lead at 0710 today is sadly going to turn to in to a significant deficit before the end of tomorrow. As Ellen said yesterday: "If we cross the Equator ahead of Francis, it will be a miracle."
MacArthur tries to rationalise her latest predicament as best she can: "We need to remember that we're here...we could be in worse shape and we're here." See Ellen's latest email in full below as she comes to terms with the situation. Now is the time for Ellen to physically recuperate properly from the rigours of the last 2 weeks. It is an opportunity that she must exploit to get herself physically back on track and use the downtime to check over B&Q for any signs of fatigue, so that when the wind comes back Ellen will be ready to put the pedal to the metal for home.
ELLEN EMAIL 23.1.05
Sometimes you feel the need to write, but are not sure why... Now is one of those moments. The sun set a few hours ago over the most unbelievable flat sea...it seems stange not to feel B&Q be tossed around by the waves, and her every move dictated by the waves around her. Now we are surrounded by a lightly textured, slightly undulating carpet, which stretches farther than the eye can see by thousands of miles. I seem to have found some kind of inner peace tonight, and though today has been a very hot and little restful day I feel surprisingly good. The weather could not be worse for the record, as I sit here we're sailing at 4 knots. But we have what we have, we cannot alter the weather. It's true that the south atlantic for us has been absolutely terrible. We could not have had much more changeable or worse conditions - but we need to remember that we're here. We could be in worse shape and we're here. It's better to forget the 4 day lead we had at the horn and think about each day as it comes. Do the best we can - then the rest will happen on it's own. We have pushed hard, and given our maximum, and will continue to do so - time will bring the outcome...not tears, frustration nor stress. Easy to say, but tonight I feel in control - that's a better feeling than the past few weeks. I think mentally it always helps me to get on with jobs onboard, and today I tinkered away in the scorching heat, as it was too hot to sleep anyway. I rewired both ends of the earth protector for the active echo, checked the steering bearings, replaced some protection on the mast, removed the damaged netting protection from the port side, checked all the seals on the float hatches, and fixed the fixings in position, epoxied [glued] the bulleye back on the deck for the Solent, and also bonded the deck that had been torn up as it went flying. Checked the diesel levels - all OK, you know - the usual Sunday 'maintenance!'. All in all a good day's tinkering. Anyway, the wind is literally all over the place and I'm horrified to see it's doing it's best to plague me with the stress of which sail. A light and variable wind which is 90 degrees from where it should be coming from. The usual - more challenges
signing off from a humid cabin..
exx
WEATHER ANALYSIS FROM COMMANDERS' WEATHER 0600 GMT:
From: Commanders' Weather Corp 0600UTC Sunday, January 23, 2005
Very slow times for Ellen next few days. Winds continue extremely light for Ellen today (3-6 kts) with direction variable near the ill defined and weak ridge of high pressure. The hope is that gradually in the next 12-24 hours that the breeze fills in a little as the ridge dissipates in favor of a somewhat higher pressure further east. Hopefully, we can get the breeze up to 5-8 kts by Monday and toward 10 kts Monday night and Tuesday.
The direction, which will still be very shifty at times early Sunday, may try to settle in from a northerly direction later Sunday and Sunday night. This northerly breeze will continue Monday but again under 10 kts.
Ellen will do her best trying to get north today likely passing west of Trindade Sunday night. Then she will likely get some easting in with the north wind Sunday night and Monday to set up for a better wind angle and faster boat speeds as she finally enters the trade winds midweek.
Strategy:
1) Use what wind there is to get north as best you can passing west of Trindade.
2) May have to throw in a brief tack to starboard if winds clock to N and you can not clear it
3) Once you clear it continue on port and get some easting in Sunday night and Monday.
4) Some time 18 utc Mon-00 utc Tue when winds go right of 360 go onto starboard but continue to limit westing.
5) Want you to cross 15s as far east of 30 as possible.
Wind forecasts
Wind directions are TRUE, wind speed in kts, time is UTC
Sun, Jan 23
09: 330-350/ 3-6
12: 350-360/ 3-6, near 21s/29 50w
18: 330-350/ 3-6 - breeze backs a bit
Fair to partly cloudy
Mon, Jan 24
00: 340-360/ 3-6 - breeze more left if further S -more right if further north
06: 330-350/ 5-9- breeze more left to the S and W, more right to the N and E
12: 340-360/ 4-8, near 18 30s/28 20w - wind more right to the N and E, more left to the S and W
18: 350-010/ 4-8 -back on starboard heading NNW when winds go past 360
Fair to partly cloudy
http://www.commandersweather.com
January 22, 2005
Lead Destroying WX
KEY DATA DAY 55 1510 GMT:
Distance ahead: 449 miles
Time ahead: 1 day 2 hours [representing 6.13% of time remaining] calculated using the time it took for Joyon to get to the same Distance to Finish as Ellen's current position
OMEGA: Official timekeeper for Ellen MacArthur
Lat/Long: 22 07 S / 030 14 W (700 miles ENE Rio de Janeiro / 1530 miles S Equator)
Average Boat speed: 7.30 knots (heading NE)
True Wind speed: 8.3 knots (direction N)
Sea temperature: 27.6 degrees C
Distance sailed so far: 22,290 miles at an average speed of 16.8 knots
(data communicated by Thrane MiniC via BT Business Broadband)
Update based on data recorded 1510 GMT...check http://www.teamellen.com for the latest data updated hourly
IN BRIEF:
* LIGHT UPWIND CONDITIONS IN THE SOUTH ATLANTIC JUST GET WORSE as latest forecast predicts MacArthur will not be able to get across ridge of high pressure to the stronger E-SE breeze the other side.
* MACARTHUR'S ADVANTAGE COULD EASILY TURN TO A DEFICIT within the next 36 hours. It has only taken 33 hours since 0700gmt yesterday to lose 19 hours of her advantage over the solo record time of Francis Joyon.
* BODY ACHING, STIFF AND SORE after injuries sustained during the mast climbs of Thursday. At least these light conditions allow MacArthur time to physically recuperate.
To listen to Ellen's audio, courtesy of Geolink/Iridium, click here http://www.ocftp2.com/audio/ellen/em220105a_uk_e.mp3
IN DETAIL:
The South Atlantic continues to mete out its injustice on B&Q skipper, Ellen MacArthur, putting her solo round the world record attempt in serious jeopardy. Ten days since rounding Cape Horn, she has seen her near 5-day lead slashed to just 1 day and 2 hours this afternoon. The situation and the forecast for the next few days is so dire that MacArthur expects to lose her lead entirely: "It's been a terrible South Atlantic for us, absolutely terrible, worse then I have every experienced before from a difficulty, struggling and unpredictability point of view - it has just been terrible. We thought Francis had a pretty bad run up the Atlantic, as he did, but nothing as bad as us. We were four days ahead of him at Cape Horn and if we cross the Equator ahead of him, it will be a miracle. It just sums it up for me that the South Atlantic has just been absolutely horrendous." MacArthur needs to cross the Equator, a week today, by 0835 GMT on 29th January, if she is to stay ahead.
B&Q is struggling to maintain speeds over 7-8 knots in the light airs of a high pressure that has expanded over her from the east in the last 24 hours as tries to get northwards off the coast of Brazil. Still with over 1300 miles to the Equator, MacArthur was hanging on to the hope that once she got to the other side of the high pressure ridge, there would be stronger and more stable E-SE winds to help her reach the more established Trade Winds south of the Equator. The latest forecast from Commanders' Weather has just trashed that small iota of hope: "We probably will never really get through the ridge axis as it is forecast to lift northward slowly with us so will never get to the E-SE breeze northeast of the axis now..." MacArthur will have to face more light upwind conditions through into the middle of next and all she can do now is play the shifts to stay in the strongest sector of the northerly airflow without getting pushed to the west closer to the Brazilian coast.
The only upside to the slow, upwind conditions is the time for MacArthur's body to recover from the injuries sustained climbing the 30m mast twice on Thursday: "Right now, I feel achy, very, very tired...a bit relieved that we've got some light winds just for a while to have a stable boat so I can recover a little bit." In these conditions, B&Q will be sailing with full main and genoa that the 75-foot multihull can carry up to the 15 knot mark - this, at least, means MacArthur is not having to make demanding sail changes. Although sleeping is not proving to be easiest commodity in the intense heat off the coast of Brazil: "Last night I spent at least two hours up on deck because there were ships going passed and I didn't want to go to sleep with the ships around, so it didn't really help from a sleep perspective. It's not too bad, it's been better than it has been and I did get some kip last night and I managed to get some jobs ticked off this morning."
MacArthur will not give up the fight but it is turning into a fight of epic proportions as she heads north towards home - over 4,500+ miles away.
January 21, 2005
Pain Go Away
KEY DATA DAY 54 1610 GMT:
Distance ahead: 608 miles
Time ahead: 1 day 15 hours [representing 8.72% of time remaining] calculated using the time it took for Joyon to get to Ellen's current position
OMEGA: Official timekeeper for Ellen MacArthur
Lat/Long: 24 29 S / 033 11 W (840 miles E Santos, Brazil / 1470 miles S Equator)
Average Boat speed: 10.73 knots (heading NE)
True Wind speed: 20.1 knots (direction N by W)
Sea temperature: 26.2 degrees C
Distance sailed so far: 22,060 miles at an average speed of 16.9 knots
(data communicated by Thrane MiniC via BT Business Broadband)
Update based on data recorded 1610 GMT...check http://www.teamellen.com for the latest data updated hourly
PLEASE FIND BELOW TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO CALL WITH ELLEN MACARTHUR TODAY speaking about the mast climbs of yesterday to repair the mast track and the impact this and the weather is, and will have, on her advantage as she sails into light winds this weekend.
To listen to Ellen's audio, courtesy of Geolink/Iridium, click here http://www.ocftp2.com/audio/ellen/em210105a_uk_e.mp3
How are you feeling after the rigours of the mast climb?
Right now, I feel like I've been beaten up actually, I'm sitting here aching all over. I've got massive bruises on my left leg from where it was jammed between the sail and the mast. I'm pretty happy to have managed to repair the mast track and to be able to carry on with the record without too much set back. Yesterday was a terrible day and, to be quite honest, the two weeks before that were pretty tough as well. It's just been one, one big mission and I will be certainly pleased to get across the Equator and let's just hope that the North Atlantic has got a little bit better news then the South Atlantic has for us.
Recovering from the injuries will take time?
I just want the pain to go away, I'm just so buggered. Everything hurts so much - if I move it hurts, if I move my legs, my arms, anything. Every muscle in my body feels like it's been torn - it's horrible. I'm glad I went up again yesterday - if I had had to go up again today, I wouldn't have done it, I couldn't have done it. It was the right thing to just go up yesterday evening and just get it over and done with whilst I was 'adrenalised', as it were.
Lighter winds are forecast, how much impact will that have on your lead?
We're going to lose out, without a doubt, in the next 24 hours, in fact the next 36 hours. We're beating upwind which is the slowest point of sail, it's not ideal, no one wants to do this, its not fast. But, unfortunately, it's all we are left with. We're now going to sail into a high pressure ridge, very slow, very painful, very hot and very frustrating. Only when we come out of the otherside of that ridge will we get into the Trade Winds and once we're into the Trade Winds, in theory, we should have the most stable winds that we've had in about 16 days.
Do you think that you can still actually set this record?
If I didn't think I still had a chance, I would go to Brazil right now! No, of course, we've got a chance, there is still a chance until the second-hand ticks down and there is no time left. We're going to be in pretty bad shape at the Equator because we have to go through tomorrow with very little wind, but at the end of the day, we're sure we still have a chance. It's getting harder and harder rather than easier and easier at the moment.
Do you think you will have any more problem with the damaged track?
The mast track is now satisfactory, the car can now go up and down. It's not 100% there is a risk that when I have the 2nd reef in, like I have now. But I'll just have to learn to live with it - there is not a lot I can do about it. We've just got to hang in there and do our best and hope that is doesn't give again.
Describe the mast climbs?
I climbed the mast twice yesterday, first time to the 2nd reef, second time to the 1st reef which is about 2m up so not far from the top, so it was a long way up. The sea conditions aren't nice, it's not flat water at all, we've got 20 knots of breeze and all movement at the top of the mast is magnified hugely. So, I found myself just being hurled against the mast again and again and trying to protect myself from the mast - from hitting my head or my elbow, or my legs on the rig, you can't stop it happening. It's impossible because you're up 30 metres in the air - it was not much fun at all! But the job's done now and now at least I feel relieved to be in a position where we're still going.
The conditions are still not that easy today?
The hardest thing is the wind, it's so variable. Going from averaging 20 knots, then it averages 22 knots, and then blows as far as 26 knots, it's really unstable and it is making it really hard to select which sail to use. It's pretty full on and it's hard to sleep with the sun shining into the cuddy and I know that tomorrow is going to be **** fight and we're going to lose the breeze tonight and have no wind tomorrow. There is going to be a high-pressure ridge again, it's going to be Code 0 and it's going to be upwind - an absolute nightmare.
Key West Race Week Winners
After 9 races in a variety of conditions here are the 2005 Key West Race Week class winners.
Swan 45: Better Than
Farr 40: Morning Glory
1D 35: Wild Thing
Mumm 30: Groovederci
PHRF I Esmeralda
PHRF II Pretty Woman
PHRF III Star
PHRF IV Pamlico
J120 Avra
J109 Rush
Corsair 28R Condor
Melges 24 Pegasus 575
J105 Masuqerade
J80 C'est Nasty
PHRF 5 Remedy
PHRF 6 Usual Suspect
C&C 99 Trumpeter
J29 Hustler
PHRF 7 Amethyst
T10 Liquor Box
PHRF 8 Island Flyer
Catamaran Christended
Smashing a bottle of bubbly across a freshly painted bow, actor/activist Ted Danson today (10 a.m. Jan. 14, 2005) christened Oceana's new ship, Ranger, and launched the international marine conservation group's first transoceanic expedition aboard one of the biggest catamarans in the world.
"Ranger will be Oceana's eyes and ears in the oceans, enhancing the work of our eight land-based offices with a distinctive in-the-water presence," said Danson, a member of Oceana's Board of Directors. "It will enable us to record visually the wonders of the deep as well as the horrors of what is happening to our oceans and the marine life they sustain. If we can make all this come alive in people's living rooms, we may get them to join our worldwide campaign to save the oceans."
After its official launch, Oceana's Ranger will depart Los Angeles on an 11,000-nautical-mile, 5-month voyage to document marine wildlife and habitat and the threats posed to them by pollution and destructive industrial fishing practices. The catamaran and its crew will travel to some of the most beautiful and threatened ocean hotspots in Central America, the Caribbean, Africa and Europe, expecting to arrive in the Mediterranean in June.
Speaking at the public event in Marina Del Rey, Danson thanked fellow Oceana board member Stephen McAllister, who purchased the vessel, refurbished it and gave it to Oceana for the expedition.
"In its previous life, Ranger's mission was to bring health care to the people of Micronesia; as Oceana's ship, its mission is to bring health to the animals and ecosystems of our threatened oceans," McAllister said.
McAllister was referring to The Ranger's origins, as a custom-built hospital ship for Seventh-Day Adventist missions in Micronesia.
Water Level Update
Below you'll find water level info that pertains to Lakes Michigan and Huron.
Reference Point- Measurements in Inches
Difference from Chart Datum +2
Difference from last month 0
Difference from last year +9
Difference from long term average for January -10
Difference from Record High -44
Difference from Record Low +19
Forecast for 21 February 2005 0
Give me the southern ocean anyday!
HELLOMOTO is heading eastwards bashing into 25 knot headwinds north of the Falklands but in boat – and body – breaking seas. After nearly 20,000 miles now is the time when the boats suffer the most stress and the skippers get the least rest.
• Conrad spends his day on deck checking for wear & tear, and sailing the boat himself because he has no wind instruments. He’s unable even to sit at the nav station to type an email, life is so uncomfortable.
• Being alone on board doesn’t stop Conrad from motivating his staff – this time it’s the rigging!
• Enter the HELLOMOTO sweepstake to put in your predictions for Conrad’s race finish time to the nearest second by emailing your guess to: info@o6t.com - Entries in by 7th February – there is a prize for the person closest to the actual time!
Conrad Humphreys interview from onboard HELLOMOTO this morning courtesy of Geolink/Iridium:
“The sea state is awful although the wind is 25 knots from the north. The boat’s taking an awful kicking at the moment, you don’t know whether to steer high or low, slow down or speed up. There are no backs on these waves, so HELLOMOTO is leaping off waves, slamming and crashing and it’s pretty impossible to do anything. I tried to type some emails to send back but gave up it’s just too hard to sit at the nav station. I’m trying to sleep on the ironing board but I need some grab handles on the edges so I can hold on. The banging and crashing on these sorts of boats there’s nothing worse as they’re not designed for these conditions. The stresses on the boat downwind at high speed are relatively low but going up wind at 10 knots boat speed over waves with no backs to them it’s real boat breaking conditions – and body breaking too. You only have to put a foot wrong and you can twist an ankle or worse, put your back out so you have to be very careful. I think this must have been one reason Moitessier didn’t race this part to get to the finish as maybe he couldn’t stand going upwind! Give me the southern ocean anyday!
“I got some good miles in overnight and am making progress north. You also have to get east in the long term on the race track and so I’m using the opportunity now in the northerly winds to do this now. Ahead of Virbac and Skandia is a tricky high pressure system which may slow them up, and Skandia is well inshore. If the forecast shifts to the SW or west then it’s hard to get east. Back here one advantage is that I can see how things are playing out ahead and there are always opportunities to take advantage of.
“My day today consists of mopping up a small diesel leak every hour, and as we are on Port tack the dagger board is leaking too. I’m checking all the rigging, you need to keep on top of the wear and tear, and being on deck gives you a heads up as you can see everything. It’s too easy to get complacent and climb into your sleeping bag in conditions like these, and ordinarily you would sleep more as the boat would sail itself, but I’m doing furious amounts of sailing as I have no wind instruments so I have to stay on deck trimming. The boat is in good shape, though, I always set myself the goal not just to finish but to bring the boat home in top condition. HELLOMOTO is a good companion. I did laugh reading about how Le Cam had a management meeting with his headsails, it was priceless! I think I’m like that and do keep talking to parts of the rigging as if to motivate them to keep going until the end!”
Issues at Sea
RACE POSITIONS 0930 GMT: SKANDIA 7th, top VMG in the fleet, now just 247 miles behind VIRBAC, and in fact on almost the same latitude, as Nick approaches the same area of light winds. ARCELOR still fast to the south east of Nick, 363 miles behind. PRB speeding north in 1st place, whilst Le Cam’s BONDUELLE now only 43 miles ahead of ECOVER – Le Cam was in a more easterly position and was caught in the grips of the Doldrums.
EXCERPTS OF AUDIO CONFERENCE courtesy of Geolink/Iridium
Interview with Richard Simmonds, APP Broadcast:
Its a lot warmer now, been a real treat. Progress is going to stop dramatically today.
Tough month in the south, no doubt about that. Been a long time to get over it. I didn’t particularly enjoy the south, its a difficult place to sail on your own. With a full crew you are able to push the boat in the surfs, but I couldn’t do it on my own. No big long surfs, none of the joyous sailing that you look forward to in the Southern Ocean.
I have been quite quick over the last day or so, but its a bit of an illusion, there has been in a lot of wind, but unstable wind, and I should have been faster but its hard to push boat when wind goes from 18 to 47 knots, as its very hard to decide which sails to have up. Made good progress to the north, but now the door is closing. Really not sure how to get through, been wracking my brains over it.
Virbac is a long way east from me, and he is going to see some good better winds there. I just cannot pick the boat up and put it a 1000 miles east, if I could I would.
My girlfriend says I’ll be there [finish] Valentines Day, but I’m not even sure what day that is! My only gauge really is that when we get near to Salvador de Bahia in Brazil, that will then be the Defi Atlantique course [solo qualifier back to La Rochelle, France, that was the qualifier for the Vendee Globe race] that I did in December 2003, and that took me 18 days.
RACE UPDATE GOING IN TO 76th DAY
TOUGH TACTICAL CHOICES: Nick has been sailing fast for the past few days up the left hand side of the course, very much dictated by the position of the low pressure system to his south (and their associated south westerly winds on the back side). He has been making great progress north, but effectively being pushed to the left hand side of the course, closer and closer to the Uruguayian coast. At some point he has to get east as well, and the big question he has been wracking his brains over is when – take a tough gybe at 90 degrees to the route to get east now, or try it later once in to the lighter winds that might be from a better direction to get east. Either way there is a huge barrier of light winds to cross, and VIRBAC, whilst now only 247 miles ahead, and in fact on exactly the same latitude, has been fighting to clear this area for the past few days – hence the compression in positions. With ARCELOR coming up fast still to Nick’s east as well, only time will tell whether Nick’s choice to take the gain now and the pain later, is a good one or not.
AUTOPILOT PROBLEMS: Without a great deal of warning, the autopilot let go yesterday, but Nick managed to recover the boat without any major problems. B&G’s great 24/7 support line (thanks David) swung in to action again, and a faulty ram was suspected – not surprising after nearly 20,000 miles on it. The pilots get a real hammering in this kind of relentless racing around the planet.
NOT A PLEASANT STORY, DON’T READ IF YOU ARE EATING! Not a nice story...but one that brought some laughter in a call between Nick and the Offshore Challenges office yesterday. Nick has all his waste stored from 2 and a half months at sea in the back compartment. This compartment is accessible via a hatch on the aft deck. In the strong upwind conditions a couple of days ago some water forced its way in there to mix itself with the waste...creating a disgusting brown swill. Nick decided to get to grips with it and bail it out yesterday afternoon, before it caused any damage to the autopilot electronics that are in that section of the boat. Having filled a bucket full of the brown/black water, he stood up with the bucket above him to pour it over the side of the boat, the boat lurched, the bucket slipped from his hands...and it went all over him, head to toe....’I think I even got some in my mouth, so a bit worried about that! Drank one of my last remaining cans of coke to wash it away I hope!!’
Vendee Globe Report 21 January
Whilst we go about our daily routines 20 lone sailors are racing around the world without a stop.
Each weekday ATWOS will present a report on the 2004-2005 Vendee Globe race. Who will join Lamazou, Desjoyeaux etc. as winners? Who will be a breakout young star like Ellen Macarthur? Which sailors will participate in dramas such as those of Pete Goss & Yves Parlier?
The report will cover the rhythm of the race, whether it's fast or slow, what's the degree of difficulty, is it iceberg territory?
Each day we'll check the standings to see who the leaders are and who else is on the move.
The fleet roundup will cover news of interest from any and all boats both the success's and the inevitable failures.
From the lone sailors will highlight the most interesting communications from the multi national group of sailors.
Rhythm of the Race "At the head of the Vendée Globe fleet, Vincent Riou continues to power his way up the North Atlantic, extending his lead by a few more miles at every ranking."
Standings 1. PRB 2. Bonduelle 183 miles back 3. Ecover 216 miles back
Fleet Round Up Metronome Sailing. Canadian at Cape Horn. Retirees
From the Lone Sailors Mike Golding "“I’ll have to see what I can do with this situation. It’s quite tough for Jean and I at the moment. The wind is continually changing. I’ve set a lot of alarms. Alarms for the wind speed and direction, the boat speed, the course, and a timer alarm in case I don’t wake up!" Nick Moloney "My girlfriend says I’ll be there [finish] Valentines Day, but I’m not even sure what day that is!"
Linky Sailing News
Racing Day 4 Division I Division II. Division III. Division IV. Lead under 2 days. Metronome sailing. Des Moines Project
News Orange code. Ragtime is a her. Irish Admirals Cup
Great Lakes Dam jam
Team Philips Installation
The National Maritime Museum Cornwall is gearing up for the opening of its brand new Team Philips exhibition. With less than one week remaining before the launch, Museum staff are working hard to put the final touches to the fascinating display which opens on Saturday 29 January.
Several of the boats from the 2004 Will to Win exhibition have been carefully removed from the Flotilla gallery and transported back to the Museum’s boat store in Ponsharden making make way for the centrepiece of the new exhibition, a 40ft section of the original 120ft hull salvaged off Iceland. Carrying thousands of names of the individual sponsors who supported the project, it creates the heart and soul of the exhibition.
The massive section of the Team Philips hull was manoeuvred into the Museum by crane today and took several hours to position correctly. Boat Collections Manager, Andy Wyke, says: “Moving a 40ft piece of such a special boat through the narrow and windy streets of Falmouth and into the Museum was always going to be a very delicate operation. Our nerves were shot to pieces by the end of the journey but all the stress has definitely been worth it and it looks magnificent in its new setting.”
The rest of the exhibition is gradually being assembled and will be accompanied by rarely seen footage and images, survival suits, the world’s most expensive sailing shoes and select Team Philips memorabilia, some of which has never been seen before. This year long new exhibition has been a culmination of months of research and planning and will run throughout the whole of 2005.
KWRW Day 4
Some of the smartest sailors in the world sailing some of the most high-tech machines found themselves at the mercy of fickle winds Thursday that bedeviled most of them on the next-to-last day of Key West 2005, presented by Nautica.
The breeze, following blasts to 25 knots that overpowered some competitors early in the week, was a satisfying 14 knots for the 10 o'clock starts up and down the four courses along the south side of the island. But then it steadily dissolved into the day's second race until all the cool and calculating world-class minds were at their wits' ends.
Chris Busch, a former Key West winner sailing his 1D35, Wild Thing, from San Diego, said, "It was frustrating for everybody. It's tough mentally when you have to keep trying to figure it out all the time. We're not used to that stuff at Key West."
That said, Busch followed a fourth place in the first race with a win in the second to lead by two points with the ninth and final race scheduled Friday. His team's performance earned them Industry Partners Boat of the Day honors for the 295-boat fleet.
Busch felt blessed. "The top four finished within 30 seconds," he said. "The only difference was that we got a little puff at the end. We would have been happy with fourth."
Miami's Kevin Burnham, who with Texas' Paul Foerster won America's only Olympic sailing gold medal last summer, is sailing on Pegasus Racing's contending Melges 24, which went from a first to a 24th on the day. "It was worse than Athens," Burnham said. "There was a huge right shift on the last [upwind leg]. We were caught on the wrong side of that."
But his boat is only one point behind Maspero Giovanni's frontrunning Joe Fly, of Canottieri Lecco, Italy.
A new threat is Australia's James Spithill, sailing with double Olympic medalists Jonathan and Charlie McKee of Seattle. Spithill and the McKee brothers are members of Italy's Luna Rossa America's Cup team. They suddenly became contenders Thursday when they not only notched fifth- and seventh-place finishes but, after seven races, were allowed to discard their worst score: 59 points for starting over the line in the first race Monday.
The crew also includes 10-year-old Mac Agnese of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., a member of the U.S. Optimist Dinghy Association Development Team. His 60 pounds hardly count against the class weight limit.
Spithill said, "We've sailed pretty well since we've been under the gun with our discard used up. We've just had to keep out of trouble. Nothing like doing it the hard way."
Deneen Demourkas of Santa Barbara, sailing her Mumm 30, Groovederci, extended her lead in the Mumm 30s, despite an 11th-place finish that broke her string of all firsts and seconds. But she said with exhaustion, "Lord, it was frustrating. Somehow we managed to gain points."
Germany's Hasso Plattner, steeled for a final Farr 40 dogfight Friday after a third and first Thursday, said, "Why we won over Mean Machine and Barking Mad, I don't know. In [only] 3½ knots of wind, with shifts and puffs, it was luck."
Plattner, with Russell Coutts at his side, leads Holland's Peter de Ridder on Mean Machine by one point; current world champion Jim Richardson's Barking Mad of Newport, R.I., is another five points back.
And if that's what the leaders say, how do to the others feel?
Well, Richard Bergmann of San Diego, two-time defending champion in the J/105 class, is out of the chase this time but said, "It's a beautiful day, good competition and the California boats are going good. It's still the best regatta."
Another Californian, Thomas Coates of San Francisco, has clinched the J/105 victory after winning his third of eight races. Winners in seven other of the 21 classes also are determined.
Joe Fly, with Gabrio Zandona at the tiller, would probably be the happiest boat here even if it weren't leading. The Italians, guided by American tactician Morgan Larson of Santa Cruz, Calif., have smiled their way through the week, even after their two worst races Thursday---join the club---with a 21st and eighth. They held onto their slim lead by tossing the 21.
The Pegasus team is composed of Burnham, fellow Olympic medalist Freddy Loof of Sweden, helmsman Bill Hardesty of San Diego, four-time collegiate all-American Mark Ivey of Newport Beach, Calif. and one female member, Midge Tandy of Florida.
Spithill's team shares fourth place with Neil Sullivan's M-Fatic from Annapolis, driven by yet another Olympic medalist, Morgan Reeser. After a fourth and third, Reeser said, "We wanted a light and squirrelly day to make something happen."
The lesson there is to be careful what you wish for. The forecast for Friday indicates more of the same.
Barking Mad and M-Fatic form the USA East team that has taken a tight grip on the International Team Competition with a 12-point lead over Italy's entry of Franco Rossini's Melges 24, Blu Moon, and Vincenzo Onorato's Farr 40, Mascalzone Latino.
Lead Under Two Days
KEY DATA DAY 54 0710 GMT:
Distance ahead: 669 miles
Time ahead: 1 day 20 hours [representing 9.65% of time remaining] calculated using the time it took for Joyon to get to the same Distance to Finish as Ellen's current position
OMEGA: Official timekeeper for Ellen MacArthur
Lat/Long: 25 33 S / 032 32 W (770 miles ESE Santos, Brazil / 1540 miles S of the Equator)
Average Boat speed: 12 knots (heading NW)
True Wind speed: 23.5 knots (direction N)
Sea temperature: 25 degrees C
Distance sailed so far: 21,959 miles at an average speed of 17.0 knots
(data communicated by Thrane MiniC via BT Business Broadband)
Update based on data recorded 0710 GMT...check http://www.teamellen.com for the latest data updated hourly
IN BRIEF:
* TIRED, BRUISED AND BATTERED AFTER 2 MAST CLIMBS yesterday to repair the mainsail mast track damaged by the headboard car ripping out of the track: "I feel like I've been beaten up this morning... Stiff as hell, and moving round with the speed and elegance of an arthritic robot!" It will take Ellen a long time to recover from the physical exertions of climbing the 30 metre mast. She was running on pure adrenalin and the relief of getting back down combined with the fact that the damage to the track had not proved terminal was plain to hear: "I've done it. I've finished the repair. All finished. The damage at the 1st reef was not so bad, not like the 2nd reef. It was just burred. I've drunk four litres of sports drink straight down - I cut my thumb while I was up there which made me laugh, as I thought to myself when I saw it bleeding, doc's advice would be to keep it elevated. At 25 metres up, I can't do better than that! I can't believe what I've been through in past two weeks, I'm buggered." Climbing the mast was a serious and dangerous undertaking for MacArthur who inevitably got thrown and bashed around during the climb: "It was all I could do to hold on, it was brutal, really hard..." Ellen undertook the first mast climb at 1600gmt yesterday to the second and lower reef point 69ft [21.05m] up the mast and discovered quite significant damage to the mainsail mast track. The mainsail is attached to the mast via a series of 'cars' that slide up and down a metal track fixed to the backside of the mast. The final car at the top of the mainsail is known as the headboard car, this is the one that takes the most load. She managed to tidy up the damage, filing down the jagged edges so the mainsail cars could pass smoothly without catching. Ellen could have replaced a section of the track if necessary but it would have been a mammoth job on her own, up the mast on a moving and lurching boat. She was unable to make the ascent to the first reef point without the mainsail in place, so made the decision to descend, hoist the mainsail back up to just under the first reef point, and then went for the second climb 82ft [25.05m] up the mast at 1900gmt. During the climbs she had sailed <
* LEAD DROPS TO LESS THAN 2 DAYS to 1 day and 20 hours at 0710gmt this morning after the trials and tribulations of unfavourable weather systems since rounding Cape Horn and not surprisingly having to sail away from the direct course for two hours yesterday. In terms of distance, <
* <
Ellen During Mast Climb
Credit Ellen MacArthur/Offshore Challenges
WEATHER ANALYSIS FROM COMMANDERS' WEATHER 0600 GMT:
Will have light air to deal with from Fri night thru Sunday. Currently, N flow continues and will tend to edge more left towards 12utc Friday. This will mean a likely tack sometime around 12utc Friday, or when the wind becomes more NNW (around 345-350 true). Wind speeds 20-25 kts thru 12utc and still 18-20 kts around 18utc Friday. Wind will start to diminish, more significantly between 18utc Friday and 00utc Sat.
A significant drop in the breeze is expected around and after 00utc Sat. We will have weakening high pressure well off to the SE and a front to the SW. With a flat pressure pattern, wind speeds will become quite light. Ridge of high pressure will be close by later Fri night and Saturday and this will mean very little wind around. May have to tack a few times to avoid getting too far east and into the weak high, and at the same time avoiding getting too far west and getting pushed too close to the Brazilian coast. Our goal then will be try and punch N as much as we can Sat and Sunday to pass the ridge and get into a more ENE and E breeze. This will be tough and slow as ridge tends to expand later Sat and Sat night. Right now, thinking is we shoot to do this between 32-33w around and after 18utc Sat. Will be a couple frustrating days coming up, but pattern does look more optimistic starting next week.
Strategy:
1) In general want to limit westing so we can cross the Equator as far east
as possible.
2) Likely another tack between 12-15utc Fri
3) We have you heading slowly north between 32-33w after 00 utc Sun trying
to punch thru the ridge.
4) Further east ok but not sure winds will allow it but we will see when
the time comes.
Wind forecasts
Wind directions are TRUE, wind speed in kts, time is UTC
Fri, Jan 21
09: 350-010/21-26- winds lighter to the E-stronger to the W and S
12: 345-360/20-25, near 25s/33 45w - will tack to port around this time or when wind is consistently 350 true or left of that
18: 345-360/17-22 - wind coming down - lighter wind to the N and E
Partly cloudy. Seas 7-12
Sat, Jan 22 - winds get lighter as ridge builds to NW
00: 350-010/14-10 - tack to starboard around this time
06: 360-020/ 7-11 - wind lighter to the E
12: 350-020/ 7-11, near 21 20s/33 10w - probably tack again
18: 350-360/ 5-9 - wind more right if further N, more left to the S
Fair to partly cloudy. May have a combination NW and NE sea, 6-8 ft
http://www.commandersweather.com
Kendall Appointed
New Zealand board-sailing legend, Barbara Kendall has been appointed to the Athletes Commission of the International Olympic Committee. The announcement comes following the resignation of Australian swimmer Susie ONeil from the 19 member Commission.
Kendall has been the athletes representative on the Yachting New Zealand High Performance Committee. Peter Lester of Yachting New Zealand thinks the appointment is exciting for New Zealand.
It's fantastic for the country and for the sport of sailing in New Zealand. It is thoroughly deserved by Kendall with her exceptional Olympic medal-winning history,says Lester. It recognises Barbaras achievements as an athlete. It also gives New Zealand a voice and a representative within the small and exclusive 19 member Commission.
Olympic Gold Medal winner in Barcelona in 1992, Kendall has participated in four Olympic Games including the Athens Games last year. She won silver in Atlanta in 1996 and a bronze medal in Sydney 2000.
The Rules of the Athletesâ Commission required the replacement for ONeil to be an athlete from the Oceania region. Kendall was appointed as she was the athlete from Oceania who received the second highest number of votes in the election in which the resigning member was elected, outside the other standing members.
Created in 1981, the Athletes Commission is the link between active athletes and the International Olympic Committee. The 19 person group is made up of active and retired athletes who meet regularly with the IOC Executive Board, to which it issues recommendations. The Commission forms working groups to work in liaison with the Organising Committees for the Olympic Games to ensure that the athletes needs are met.
Kendall will take an active part in the Athletes Commission meeting in June this year in Lausanne. Her candidature for membership to the IOC will be forwarded to the Nominations Commission for consideration in advance of the IOC Session in Singapore in July 2005.
January 20, 2005
1st Mast Climb Produces Partial Fix
KEY DATA DAY 53 1710 GMT:
Distance ahead: 751 miles
Time ahead: 2 days 6 hours [representing 11.49% of time remaining] calculated using the time it took for Joyon to get to the same Distance to Finish as Ellen's current position
OMEGA: Official timekeeper for Ellen MacArthur
Lat/Long: 26 48 S / 032 54 W (950 miles ENE Porto Alegre, Brazil)
Average Boat speed: 10.83 knots (heading NE)
True Wind speed: 18.1 knots (direction N)
Sea temperature: 25 degrees C
Distance sailed so far: 21,816 miles at an average speed of 17.0 knots
(data communicated by Thrane MiniC via BT Business Broadband)
Update based on data recorded 1710 GMT...check http://www.teamellen.com for the latest data updated hourly
To listen to the audio of Mark Turner, Project Director, explaining the situation, click here http://www.ocftp2.com/audio/ellen/mt200105a_uk_e.mp3
B&Q trimaran annotation of possible damaged areas
IN BRIEF:
* FIRST CLIMB PARTIALLY SUCCESSFUL - 2nd reef point repaired.
* SECOND CLIMB REQUIRED ONCE SAIL IS RE-HOISTED TO 1ST REEF LEVEL to check that reef point and the one at the masthead. She might do this before sunset tonight.
* SAILING IN TO EVER LIGHTER WINDS, WITH DESPERATELY CALM WEATHER FORECAST FOR WEEKEND
IN DETAIL:
B&Q skipper, Ellen MacArthur, has returned from her first climb to assess the damage to the mainsail track caused by the headboard car ripping off of the track at the second reef point: "It was really hard, all I could do was to hang on. The good news is, we shouldn't have to replace the track, thank god." The climb took around one hour with B&Q sailing in a 6m swell at around 12 knots of boat speed downwind ie depressingly sailing 180 degrees the wrong way, but providing more stable conditions than bouncing upwind.
She has B&Q back on course now heading ENE in a 16-18 knot breeze and can now rehoist the mainsail up to just below the first reef point further up the mast - approximately 2m below the masthead. Climbing the mast is made easier if the mainsail is hoisted as she can use the holding loops attached to the part of the sail closest to the mast to help pull herself up and also stop her from swinging away from the mast (and back in to it with a thud).
MacArthur will then make the decision whether to climb the mast again this evening to check the mainsail track at the first reef point before darkness tonight (approx 2100gmt) or defer this until tomorrow. She climbs the mast by pulling herself up a 'man' halyard that runs outside the mast using a pair of climbing jumars [http://mccammon.ucsd.edu/~adcock/climbing_equipment.html#Ascenders] that clamp on to the rope, to haul herself up the 30 metre high mast.
Commanders' Weather have advised MacArthur to stay on the same port tack for another six hours to give her time to make the climb if she wants, but she will have to tack on to starboard around midnight to get back into stronger breeze as the high pressure system in the north east expands over the top of her, bringing frustratingly light winds for the weekend. This next hurdle is unavoidable and promises a tense weekend for MacArthur as her lead could all but disappear by Monday.
MacArthur's advantage over Joyon's record time has been slipping over the past two days as B&Q has struggled with a succession of unfavourable weather systems, today's technical failure has impacted on her lead even further and now stands at 2 days and 6 hours.
For latest news this evening, please go to http://www.teamellen.com
Orange Code for Orange II
Bruno Peyron estimates that Orange II could leave for a RTW record attempt at the end of the week or early next week, if the weather conditions observed this morning prove stable.
"We're observing the evolution of the weather pattern, and there seems to be a possible window, opening this sunday and remaining satisfactory until the 27th ! We're switching to the 'Orange Code', since we have roughly 4 to 5 days of visibility. We've been looking at at high pressure cell, moving towards the north, so if the departure is on Sunday, it's the eastern ridge of this system that will concern us. We could leave with north-westerlies or northerly winds. They're not that strong, but the different weather files vary on that parameter, and the breeze can stabilise further in the south. If we had left two days ago, we'd have sarted off quickly, but would have been slowed down later on. Anyway, it's still a bit early to predict wind strength and direction quickly, but would have been slowed down later on. Anyway, it's still a bit early to predict wind strength and direction ".
Around the Orange II maxi-catamaran, moored at its Lorient base, the pressure is building up. The whole crew is on location, finalising the last supplies details.
Orange Code: This means the 5 day forecast shows favorable winds at the start area in 3 days.
The 14 men on Orange II
The fourteen men on Orange II for the Jules Verne Trophy 2005 are : Bruno Peyron (Skipper), Roger Nilson (navigator, medical officer), Lionel Lemonchois (watch leader-helmsman), Philippe Péché (watch leader-helmsman), Yann Elies (watch leader-helmsman), Ronan Le Goff (second, in charge of rigging and manoeuvres), Sébastien Audigane (helmsman, in charge of safety), Jacques Caraes (adjuster, in charge of video filming), Florent Chastel (second, in charge of running rigging), Yves Le Blévec (adjuster, in charge of overall organisation), Jean-Baptiste Epron (adjuster, in charge of supplies and logistics), Nicolas de Castro (second, in charge of composites), Ludovic Aglaor (helmsman) and Bernard Stamm (helmsman, in charge of mechanics).
The crew of Orange II
Shore Team
The shore team is made up of Halvard Mabire (technical director), Gilles Chiorri (safety), Gilles Campan (shore manager), Alain Colléchia (Mechanics), Eduardo Valderas (weather unit), Marc Engelbert, Clément Surtel, Yann Le Govic, Benoît Hantzperg and Elise Bakhoum.
Records
- The Jules Verne Trophy has been held by Olivier de Kersauson and the crew of the trimaran Geronimo, in 63 days, 13h 59mins, since the 29th April 2004.
- The absolute round the world record has been held by the American Steve Fossett, in 58 days, 09h, 32mins, since the 5th April 2004.
1st Time Upwind
HELLOMOTO is passing to the north west of the Falkland Islands in 25 knots of north westerly wind so it’s the first time Conrad has been sailing upwind since the start of the race and the different motion takes some getting used to!
• HELLOMOTO has had to be put in reverse a few times to shake off think ‘islands’ of kelp which wrap around the keel and rudders, slowing the boat by as much as 3 or 4 knots.
• Conrad is adjusting to Atlantic mode as he changes his sails, socks and sleeping pattern but has half a mind to keep his southern ocean beard which has now grown too long to shave off. Cast your vote if you think he should keep it or cut it by emailing info@o6t.com and we’ll let Conrad know what public opinion wants him to do!
Conrad Humphreys interview from onboard HELLOMOTO this morning courtesy of Geolink/Iridium:
“On the wind instrument side, I can’t believe we still can’t find a solution there, I’ve replaced everything and it’s all new so I reckon it must be something so simple causing it and I’m determined to find a solution, it’s crazy! Yesterday I spent all day adjusting to Atlantic mode. After having longer southern ocean sleeps, I need to get used to cat napping in shorter periods so I can tackle all these jobs and sleep in between. It was a long day yesterday, a 16 hour day or something, I changed the staysail for the race staysail which has battens in it and is a much better performance sail. Then you go through the night and with no wind gear and the conditions are shifty and squally, it’s difficult to relax and so I’m quite tired this morning. Conditions aren’t too bad though, I’m upwind now, I imagine it’s blowing around 25 knots, I’ve got 2 reefs in the mainsail and the staysail up.
“I had a fight with weed yesterday too, it’s like there are little miniature kelp islands, some of them are so thick they have wildlife nesting on top of them! The boat runs into one of these patches and literally loses 3 knots of boat speed and the keel and rudders are just vibrating. So I had to do some reversing to get rid of the weed, but as soon as you get it off you sail into another patch. I’m passing north of the Falklands so I hope I’ve got past those bird’s nests floating around, it’s been 12 hours since I saw any…
“This Northerly wind is quite chilly, which is surprising but it’s blowing straight off the Andes. I did afford myself the luxury of wearing just a pair of shoes to dry my feet off and give my socks a breather! I have got my boots back on but it was really nice to wear deck shoes for a day! The plan was to have a bit of a clean up and sort out my general admin yesterday but because the nature of the day it never happened so the rest of me is still a stinking mess! I think I’ve let my beard grow too long and don’t have anything on board to tackle it – I might have to get the sail repair scissors out and see what I can do. Funny as having spent 30 days driving me absolutely nuts it’s now got beyond that stage where it’s not bugging me. Maybe it will stay on until the finish, what do you think..?
“You know I said I wanted it to be downwind to the Horn from the start, and apart from actually that very light patch when I was doing circles round Cape Horn I think I have been downwind all the way since the start. I can’t remember when I last sailed upwind except going round those buoys at the start. It’s amazing, but actually a nice change to go upwind, the great thing is that I can sleep better on the Ironing board…”
Vendee Globe Report 20 January
Whilst we go about our daily routines 20 lone sailors are racing around the world without a stop.
Each weekday ATWOS will present a report on the 2004-2005 Vendee Globe race. Who will join Lamazou, Desjoyeaux etc. as winners? Who will be a breakout young star like Ellen Macarthur? Which sailors will participate in dramas such as those of Pete Goss & Yves Parlier?
The report will cover the rhythm of the race, whether it's fast or slow, what's the degree of difficulty, is it iceberg territory?
Each day we'll check the standings to see who the leaders are and who else is on the move.
The fleet roundup will cover news of interest from any and all boats both the success's and the inevitable failures.
From the lone sailors will highlight the most interesting communications from the multi national group of sailors.
Rhythm of the Race "The top trio in this Vendée Globe started to be snatched up by the Doldrums last night."
Standings 1. PRB 2. Bonduelle 127 miles back 3. Ecover 180 miles back
Fleet Round Up 295 for Best Western . An America at Cape Horn. White with one.
From the Lone Sailors Mike Golding "“It’s very important, I enjoy tea, although I enjoy all my hot drinks. A nice cup of tea in the morning is just perfect, and this morning you’ve caught me before that, so I’m not on best form...."I was quite humbled looking through some of those emails yesterday. It makes you realise that you’ve got to grit your teeth and get on with it." Jean Le Cam "The Doldrums are one of the most difficult phenomena to deal with. You can really get stuck inside. In the past the galleons spent weeks trapped inside. I have no choice other than to watch Mike sailing on port further into the West. I’ve currently got 6 knots of wind, which may be linked to the fact that I didn’t open my bottle of red wine when I passed the equator and gave Neptune a few drops of coke instead. I don’t think he likes coke." Vincent Riou "I free my mind from thinking about the others and I don’t think much about the finish. I can’t get a time frame on it and I can’t see a clear solution ahead. Routing virtually sends you to America and then back to Europe so maybe I’ll have to go through the whole of the high. Meantime the stresses on the machine are always on your mind...anything could still happen."
Linky Sailing News
Racing KWRW Day 3. Division I Division II. Division III. Division IV. Damge to B&Q. Golding moving up. Crisis point
News Dog Rescue
Great Lakes Rochester Ferry Co. Lighthouse transfer snag
Team Philips Exhibit
The ‘Team Philips – Dare to Dream’ exhibition will tell the story of the revolutionary catamaran that inspired millions.
Team Philips was the dream of one man, Pete Goss, who inspired millions. Pete and his team developed the revolutionary catamaran that was Team Philips. A 120ft long, 70ft wide (larger than the centre court at Wimbledon) and 135ft high (taller than ten Double Decker buses) catamaran that owed more to aerospace than boat building. The team, the boat and their combined spirit, entered the hearts, minds and emotions of hundreds of thousands of people all over the world.
Forming the centrepiece of the exhibition is 40ft of the original 120ft hull salvaged off Iceland. Carrying thousands of names of the individual sponsors who supported the project, it creates the heart and soul of the exhibition and is accompanied by rarely seen footage and images, survival suits, the world’s most expensive sailing shoes and many other ‘firsts’ never seen before.
Pete comments: “I wanted to preserve the 'spirit' of Team Philips and the Maritime Museum is the perfect setting. Some might say the project was a failure, so why celebrate it? But, you can't measure success just by winning, it can be measured in so many ways and I know Team Philips inspired others to go the extra distance, to overcome their fears and to tackle their challenges. We dared to dream and we are proud of what we achieved and this 'must-see' exhibition captures every essence of our adventure."
If you would like to attend the party and interview Pete Goss or any other members of his team (see list attached) please drop me an email. An interview schedule will be established and we’ll try to allocate a slot that suits you best.
Interviews are also available with Jonathan Clarke, the artist behind our new special exhibition – Sea Legs
50 Knots OTS
RACE POSITIONS 0930 GMT: SKANDIA 7th, top VMG in the fleet, now under 400 miles from VIRBAC who is stalled by high pressure to the north. ARCELOR now being held, but made gains yesterday to be now be at just 333 miles behind SKANDIA. PRB holding 122 mile lead over BONDUELLE, and 180 on ECOVER as all three boats slow up in the Doldrums.
EXCERPTS from call with Nick last night after the wind abated and shifted to the south west
I was just setting up to tack, when a huge wave swept across the boat and knocked it sideways...cockpit full of water, and the boat knocked 100 degrees off track. I’m absolutely drenched...
Its been a pretty amazing day, been saying to myself this is mad! But I knew it wasn’t going to get life threatening. Here in the South Atlantic you know you are going to get these shitfights, but then they go away. In the south [Southern Ocean] you know there is another one behind. Here you have a shitfight, then a ridge of high pressure, then the trades, it changes, whereas in the south you have a month worrying about depressions, one after the other.
So its a completely different feeling, and I’m definitely enjoying it a lot more.
Just need to keep getting some good breaks, and try and capitalise when they happen. Its been hard though. It seems like every time I power up, something slows me down, the squalls, the seastate or some damage.
RACE UPDATE GOING IN TO 75th DAY
BALL OF LOW PRESSURE BOWLS OVER SKANDIA: Without a great deal of warning, and certainly in a more violent fashion than the weather files suggested, SKANDIA was last evening fighting against 40 to 50 knot headwinds. The winds, spinning off the north eastern tip of the low pressure system travelling east across Nick’s track, held above 40 knots for over 4 hours, with gusts above 50. Nick dropped the headsail and sailed with a 3 reefed mainsail...’the boat was comfortable, but it was incredible to see so much wind. The air is not as dense as in the Southern Ocean, as I couldn’t have imagined keeping any sail up in that kind of wind down there. I’m heading west on starboard tack, hoping to see the wind shift in to the west and then south west as the low tracks to my east.’ Sure enough, but quicker than he expected, the wind flicked very suddenly to the south west and dropped from 50 to 20 knots - ‘it was like someone flicked a switch! I tacked immediately, and then find myself with not enough sail up, heading north again, but with the waves still coming at me from the north and the wind behind me...it was bizarre, the tops of the waves coming towards me were being blown off by the wind from behind!’ By the 0400 position report, the seastate appeared to have settled, and Nick was recording the second highest VMG in the fleet, and had reeled Jean-Pierre Dick (VIRBAC) in to under 400 miles – Dick trying to cross the area of light wind that will confront Nick soon enough as well...
NORTH OF 40 DEGREE SOUTH: A big mental landmark, Nick has officially left the Roaring Forties, passing to the north of the 40 Degree South line overnight. He has Uruguay several hundred miles to his north, and the east coast of Brazil further uptrack. The next real landmark is to get to the Trade Winds, some 2000 miles away still, with a number of difficult hurdles in between – more of these little depressions, a big windless area or two, and the St.Helena high to negotiate.
TENTH BOAT AROUND THE HORN: Often in contact with Nick, American Bruce Schwab became the 10th skipper to round Cape Horn and enter the Atlantic Ocean. Meanwhile at the front the effects of the ITCZ (the Doldrums) are being felt, albeit in a moderate way, with BONDUELLE furthest east feeling most pain (6 knots of boat speed at 0400). Leading trio all in northern hemisphere and fighting their way through the unstable winds.
Delivery Crew Over Equator
Finally our glorious sleigh ride has come to an end. The last 12 days have provided amazing sailing, a dream ride in the trades up from Cape Town. Having crossed the Equator yesterday, the breeze has slowly died and become very variable. The slower boat speed caused an increase in fishing for the afternoon with three lines off the back of the boat. The earlier failed attempts with not one fish landed were blamed not on technique but our high boat speed. There was much discussion and debate as to what lure to use and line length, hence the three lines. Sadly to no avail, maybe tomorrow! We are now trailing CDs as a lure, apparently it is a sure thing! Boredom is setting in or maybe insanity.
Reaching the Equator was the end of our first leg, so to speak. We are now heading towards Bermuda on leg 2 which is approx 3000 nm away. Once we have crossed the Doldrums we should be on for some more fast sailing. The wind is meant to be forward of the beam, so plenty of wet close reaching. Alex tells us the boat revels in these conditions, and after our second night when we were reaching with 1 reef in the main and the solent in 30kts of wind I can certainly believe him. Very fast, but very wet. I hope the autopilot will allow us to not get to wet (no chance, Simon ! Ed.). We have all run out of clean clothes except for our warm kit for the final leg home. Everybody’s shorts and t-shirts are so salt encrusted that they are never dry, and if we weren't wearing them they would probably walk off.
This trip has been a real insight to the world of single handed sailing for me. Although these boats are set up for this kind of sailing, the effort involved in getting spinnakers up and down on ones own is something else. When it’s windy everything relies on practice and technique, one small mistake and it becomes a real mission, even with four of us we have found this out, luckily with no dire results. Alex was on watch on his own the other night and gave us all a demonstration of his skill by gybing the boat solo. This involves setting the pilot to steer a deeper angle, easing the spinnaker sheet, going on to the foredeck pulling the snuffer (sock) down on the kite (with maybe a trip back to the cockpit to ease more sheet as the snuffer comes down), swinging the now snuffed kite around the forestay (plenty of grunt needed here), re-leading the sheet down the new side. Then back to the cockpit, release the mast rotate, centre main, take up on new runner, hit autopilot to gybe, ease old runner and main (trying not to break any battens), wind up new runner, rotate rig, then back to the foredeck to pull the snuffer up, more trips to the cockpit needed here to take up on the sheet, then reset pilot, fine trim sails, tidy up miles of rope, and finally collapse in a very hot heap. As you can see not for the faint hearted, and even with four of us it still takes some time.
The big event today was the visit of Neptune to the boat to sacrifice Dave, as he was our virgin crosser of this geographical mark. As is the tradition, Neptune arrived with an evil smelling bucket of left overs and the nautical equivalent of road kill, flying fish, and another of the flying squids; specially prepared by Alex and Ross. In the ensuing kangeroo court, Dave was found guilty on all charges and had the bucket of death poured over him. It truly smelt and looked terrible and had us all retching. Poor Dave accepted his baptism, although looked very white afterwards and is now off his food, complaining that it all reminds him of the buckets content. As I write this I don’t think I want any breakfast either. The sun is coming up and the temperature is going up with it, the heat is relentless at this latitude and sleep is impossible during the day when not sailing the boat we all hide in what shade there is under the main. The black Boss logos on the deck are to be avoided at all times as they are hot enough to cook on, a bit like walking on hot coals. So having made it back into the northern hemisphere our thoughts are turning to home and we are all looking forward to seeing family and friends. I am especially looking to seeing my daughter who always asks how many dolphins we have seen when I speak to her. We were passed by a pod yesterday feeding but unusually they didn’t come and play in our bow wave, so sadly no photos yet. Hope everyone’s week is going well, more from us on Friday.
How Costly Will Damge Be?
KEY DATA DAY 53 0710 GMT:
Distance ahead: 837 miles
Time ahead: 2 days 14 hours [representing 12.92% of time remaining] calculated using the time it took for Joyon to get to the same Distance to Finish as Ellen's current position
OMEGA: Official timekeeper for Ellen MacArthur
Lat/Long: 27 14 S / 034 38 W (890 miles ENE Porto Alegre, Brazil / 1635 mile S Equator)
Average Boat speed: 11.02 knots (heading ENE)
True Wind speed: 28.08 knots (direction N)
Sea temperature: 25 degrees C
Distance sailed so far: 21,719 miles at an average speed of 17.1 knots
(data communicated by Thrane MiniC via BT Business Broadband)
Update based on data recorded 0710 GMT...check home page: http://www.teamellen.com for the latest data updated hourly
IN BRIEF:
* <
* MACARTHUR'S ADVANTAGE NOW SERIOUSLY UNDER THREAT as the slow speeds over the last two days slice in to <
* ELLEN EXHAUSTED ALREADY AND NOW A MAJOR TECHNICAL PROBLEM to try and sort out. Last night the exhaustion and frustration reached a peak that was quite frightening to listen to. However, the latest bio-monitor data shows that she finally had some rest overnight. The bio-monitor that Ellen wears permanently strapped to her upper arm can record when she is inactive ie laying down flat, and latest data shows that she accumulated a period of up to 7 hours rest, although not necessarily sleep, in the last 24 hours. A mast climb and the mental stress of this latest techincal challenge is not what she needed this morning. As Ellen commented a few moments ago, "my body is aching all over, my arms, legs, head, everything, even before I do this climb".
* ELLEN'S OC SAILING TEAM MATE UPDATE: Nick Moloney on Skandia, 7th place in the Vendee Globe, 50 knot winds overnight, now moderating to 20-35 knots, less than 400 miles astern of Virbac. http://www.nickmoloney.com
WEATHER ANALYSIS FROM COMMANDERS' WEATHER 0600 GMT:
Summary:
1) Still in some clouds with heavier clouds now to the SW
a) should see some breaks in the clouds by 10utc but still some patches of clouds ahead which may kick off a shower thru 12utc
2) N flow of 20-25 kts will tend to edge very slowly down over the next 12
hours
a) wind speeds mainly 18-24 kts around 12utc and then 15-20 kts around 21utc and to around 15 kts at 00utc Friday
b) the flow should be mainly N, but will start to edge right some after 18utc Thursday
3) Same plan, with a NE to ENE course, trying to stay with as much N as you
can
a) sea-state may improve a little during Thursday
4) Sometime Thurs night, the wind will come down to around 11-15 kts and we will likely tack back to the NW
a) most likely between 00utc-06utc Friday - around the time when the breeze drops to 12 kts and/or breeze comes around to 020 true or more
5) There will be a cold front at 12utc Fri from 30s/36w to 25s/43w which will be heading ENE
6) This front will be near 30s/30w to 25s/37w to 21s/41w
7) At the same time, high pressure well off to the SE will be weakening and edging more ESE
a) this will lead to a rather flat pressure pattern and weakening wind, resulting in light trades
b) trades will be between north of 18-19s/
8) Wind speeds likely under 10 kts and maybe 5-10 kts between 18-21s/30-36w
a) an area of even lighter air with a weak high likely between 19-22s/25-30w on Sat
9) Cold front will edge a little further N around 00utc Sun with light air
spreading N with it
a) expect the front to stall around 24s/30w -20/37w-19s/40w at 12utc Sunday
10) Weak thermal trough/low pressure will develop just inland over Brazil,
north of 20S later Sun/Mon
b) weak trade winds will then redevelop from the NE
11) Pattern remains light thru Tues with mainly ENE flow
Strategy:
1) Course NE to ENE, favoring as much N as you can
2) Port tack to starboard, when wind speeds are 12 kts and wind directions are 020 true or more
3) This probably between 00-06utc Fri
4) If we can't get near or N of 20n by 1200utc Sat, then we may need to be E and set up further E, maybe closer to 31-32W
5) Until we are certain the door to the NE trade winds are closed, then we must continue to sail for the 12 kts of NE winds close to 24-25s/30w and then tack towards 20s/34w
a) we should know more before tacking Thurs night
Wind forecasts
Wind directions are TRUE, wind speed in kts, time is UTC
Thu, Jan 20
09: 350-015/19-24 - stronger wind to the W
12: 355-015/18-24, nr 26 45s/33 15w
18: 360-020/16-22 - lighter wind to the E and NE, stronger to the W
Clouds diminishing overnight then partly cloudy to fair during Thurs.
Seas diminish to 7-10 ft - seas coming from the N and some from the W
Fri, Jan 21
00: 010-030/14-19
may tack sometime between 00-06utc, but if we can't reach trade winds of 12+ kts near 20S, then we will continue further E
06: 015-035/11-15
12: 360-020/11-16, near 24s/31 50w -wind lighter to the E, stronger W- winds more right E, more left W
18: 350-010/10-14
Long day at KWRW
Nobody complained about a lack of competition Wednesday at Key West 2005, presented by Nautica. An ambitious race committee gave competitors all the racing they wanted, running three races for all but the smallest boats and shaking out some contenders to the top.
"We had 17 legs of racing today," said Andrzej Rojek of Brooklyn, N.Y., who sailed his Swan 45, Better Than, to two firsts and a second. "I think Duval Street is going to be suspiciously quiet tonight."
Sailors too tired to party? With a five-point lead and three races remaining Thursday and Friday, Rojek's crew had the most to celebrate at the Swan fleet's party Wednesday night.
The small boats on the Division 4 course sailed the usual two races, but for the first time since the Melges 24 Worlds were incorporated in 2002 the event ordered three go-rounds for everybody else. After Monday's high winds that allowed only one race, that got almost everyone back on schedule for the full nine.
Division 1---Swans 454s, Farr 40s, 1D35s and Mumm 30s---will have no throwouts, but everyone else can discard one after seven races.
The Farr 40s evolved into a four-boat battle with six points separating, from the top, Peter De Ridder's Mean Machine from Holland, Hasso Plattner's Morning Glory, Germany; world champion Jim Richardson's Barking Mad, Newport, R.I., and John Coumantaros' Bambakou, Newport, R.I.
Plattner's boat was 1-10-2 on the day, but a double-circle penalty turn after hitting a mark cost him at least five spots. "It could have been our best day," he said, "or it could have been our worst day."
Richardson (3-1-7) said, "The boats are so close that even in the race we won we led at the first four marks, Mean Machine caught us but we were able to get a starboard tack advantage and win by half a boat length."
Mean Machine, the defending champion and Boat of the Week, was a steady 5-2-6, the latter its worst finish so far.
Deneen Demourkas of Santa Barbara, Calif., with New Zealand's Hamish Pepper as tactician, made a strong move on the Mumm 30s with two wins and a second, following a pair of deuces Tuesday, for a four-point lead over Bodo von Der Wense's turbo duck (lower case is correct) out of Annapolis. The race committee had the M/30s sit out Monday because of the severe sea state on the Division 1 course.
Demourkas didn't mind having that day off. She injured her left arm while practicing in Sunday's heavy winds when the boat swerved out of control.
"I was just as happy not to race," she said. "My [left] arm was still sore. When we jibed we did a 'death roll' and I was washed back by a big wave. I was completely underwater holding onto the tiller and wrapped around a stanchion."
Tuesday and Wednesday were better, although blowing a spinnaker may have cost them a win over turbo duck. "
Husband John Demourkas is driving their other Groovederci, a Farr 40, with Olympic silver medalist Ross Macdonald of Vancouver, Canada as tactician. John Demourkas is less experienced. In the past he has been a member of his wife's crew and, like other competitors, was concerned about the conditions early in the week.
But he said, "The anxiety of leaving the dock was a lot worse than getting out there and doing it."
Tom Hill's Reichel/Pugh 75, Titan 12, the largest boat among the 295 competing, stretched out in the lighter winds, not only finishing first as usual but stretching out enough to correct out over the top three Transpac 52s for first place in all three PHRF-1 races Wednesday.
Tactician Ben Mitchell said, "The 52s just light it up when it's windy, but with 17 knots or under we're close to saving our time on them."
However, with three seconds following three firsts earlier, Makoto Uematsu's TP52, Esmeralda, has a seven-point lead on Titan 12 for the PHRF-1 title.
Uematsu said, "To tell you the truth, we can't touch the Titan, but we managed to stay close three times the hard way. It's very good competition in very good conditions."
Uematsu is trying to win his fourth champio0nswhip in five years at Key West, the first in a TP52.
This is Rojek's ninth year at Key West. Ryan Malloy is the helmsman, Chris Zaleski the tactician.
"If not for the experience we've had here over the years we wouldn't be where we are," Rojek said.
Maspero Giovanni's Melges 24, Joe Fly, from Canottieri Lecco, Italy, rode a 6-2-2 surge into first place by eight points over Pegasus Racing's entry, but there could still be some serious shuffling in that 58-boat fleet in the last three races.
Helmsman Gabrio Zandona summed up the day: "Good wind, good sun, good team. We had very good starts all three times and always raced in the middle [of the course] in a conservative way and had enough speed to beat the rest of the fleet."
The tactician is Morgan Larson, the current world 505 champion from Santa Cruz, Calif. "Thanks to him we were going the right way," Zandona said.
Larson demurred, "They just brought me here to pick out the pubs."
Key West 2005 sponsors are Nautica, Mount Gay Rum, B&G, Lewmar, Samson Rope Technologies, and the Florida Keys and Key West Tourist Development Council. The Historic Seaport is the Official Site.
Support also comes from a record number of 29 Industry Partners.
Premiere Racing is also managing the new Acura Miami Race Week 2005 ("the SORC renaissance"). Race dates are March 10-13, 2005, with ocean and Biscayne Bay racing. Many Key West entrants are planning to store boats in Miami and Ft. Lauderdale and return for more South Florida racing.
German AC Tv Rights
The 32nd America’s Cup will be seen live on German television stations ARD and ZDF in 2007. A landmark television rights agreement has been reached that will see programming from each of the opening Louis Vuitton Acts in 2005, 2006 and 2007 broadcast on ARD and ZDF, in addition to the live coverage of the Louis Vuitton Cup and the 32nd America’s Cup Match itself in 2007. This marks the first time the America’s Cup will be broadcast on national public terrestrial television in Germany.
“This is a tremendous opportunity for the America’s Cup,” said Michel Bonnefous, CEO of the America’s Cup organisers. “This agreement is important for the event and for the teams as it shows a very big commitment on the part of ARD and ZDF. The three-year commitment along with the live coverage in 2007 is an element of which we are particularly proud as it reaffirms the perception that the America’s Cup is a premier event in world sport.”
The contr act between the America’s Cup and ARD / ZDF ensures that the stations will promote the America’s Cup through news and existing sport programmes, in addition to carrying 26-minute, daily highlight programmes from each of the 10 remaining Louis Vuitton Acts leading up to 2007. Importantly, the arrangement also guarantees at least 60 hours of live programming during the Louis Vuitton Cup challenger series and the 32nd America’s Cup Match in 2007.
“What is most important for us is the number of people we can reach through this collaboration,” said Daniel Herrera, the communications director for the America’s Cup. “The German television market is one of the most important in the world, and the biggest in Europe, so we are very happy to bring the America’s Cup to ARD and ZDF and with them, to broadcast live coverage of the America’s Cup Match to Germany.”
The Louis Vuitton Acts 4 and 5 in Valencia in June will mark the first broadcasts on ARD and ZDF, featuring at leas t 8 challengers, along with the Defender of the America’s Cup, the Swiss Team Alinghi in competition off the Spanish Mediterranean coast. Full programming details will be released closer to the broadcast date.
January 19, 2005
Nursing towards the Equator
KEY DATA DAY 52 1510 GMT:
Distance ahead: 864 miles
Time ahead: 2 days 23 hours [representing 14.11% of time remaining] calculated using the time it took for Joyon to get to the same Distance to Finish as Ellen's current position
OMEGA: Official timekeeper for Ellen MacArthur
Lat/Long: 29 02 S / 037 17 W (720 miles E Port Alegre, Brazil)
Average Boat speed: 10.35 knots (heading NE by N)
True Wind speed: 26.3 knots (direction N by W)
Sea temperature: 23.4 degrees C
Distance sailed so far: 21,537 miles at an average speed of 17.2 knots
(data communicated by Thrane MiniC via BT Business Broadband)
Update based on data recorded 1510 GMT...check http://www.teamellen.com for the latest data updated hourly
IN BRIEF:
* MACARTHUR FINALLY CROSSES THE FRONT SHE HAS BEEN CHASING for over 24 hours, going from light SW winds into strong NNW upwind conditions, currently on port gybe heading north of north-east under staysail and two reefs.
* <
* MACARTHUR'S ADVANTAGE CONTINUES TO BE ERODED falling under 3 days, her lowest since the 5th January when she had built her lead up to 2 days and 21 hours on day 39 of the record attempt.
* VMG REQUIRED TO COVER THE REMAINING DISTANCE is back up to 10.2 knots - she will sail a greater distance to keep in favourable conditions therefore actual boat speeds will need to be around 2.5 knots faster.
IN DETAIL:
<
Just as MacArthur thought she might have some time to recuperate, another blow was swiftly delivered. At around 1330gmt today, <
MacArthur's advantage is being eroded and has reached its lowest point since her rounding of Cape Horn, now standing at 2 days and 22 hours at 1520gmt this afternoon and, in terms of distance, only 864 miles ahead of current solo round the world record holder, Francis Joyon. The VMG [velocity made good to the finish] required of <
The wind is expected to clock further right and decrease later, requiring the use the Solent headsail again, and putting <
Bye Bye to the South
Conrad & HELLOMOTO passed Cape Horn just a few miles off at 0100GMT on 19th January in 9th place after 72 days alone at sea! After rounding the Horn twice before, it was on this, his first solo RTW race that he actually saw the legendary ‘rock’ close up.
With the biggest milestone of them all now behind him, Conrad is in the final third of the race with a 540 mile gap from 8th place Arcelor Dunkerque to work on, and ahead lies another month of tactical racing to the finish line in France 7,000 miles away. It’s still a long way to go!
Conrad Humphreys interview from onboard HELLOMOTO this morning courtesy of Geolink/Iridium:
“Last night was pretty special. I felt like a small boy in a toy shop, I was so excited! I managed to get a full visual of Cape Horn probably at about 8 or 9 o’clock local time. The sun was just going down and the sky was quite stormy looking. I got quite close into the rock which was fantastic. I am really pleased and pleased for the whole Motorola Ocean Racing team, everyone has all worked so hard for this. It has been a tough race and I knew it would be for many different reasons. To get to this turning point and start heading north is such a massive milestone and bigger than all the other milestones. It’s nice to see it first hand and share the experience which is quite a memorable one I can tell you. The chance to get in quite close is a first. I have been twice around this rock, once in each direction, I have never seen it first hand so I wanted to have a good look and do the normal pose for a few photographs. I had a little bottle of champagne after my dinner and thanked the albatrosses for looking out for me through the Pacific and toasted a few other people as well. I sat and chilled out as the boat skimmed along just in front of the rocks and just enjoyed the moment. It was nice not to have to bash my way around the rock. I think I paid my dues in the storm a few days beforehand. It was a pretty special moment.
“I’m currently sailing through the Straits de la Maire. It’s going to get a little light and shifty and then we have not been blessed particularly as there will be lots of northerly wind for the next 4-5 days, which is going to see us on the wind. Skandia and Arcelor Dunkerque have got away on the South Westerlies and they have built up a nice deficit and it’s initially going to be hard to break that down. I think I’m going to be beating initially in light winds and then in up to 30 knots. It probably means that I will initially head quite high and maybe pass to the west of the Falklands to give me a slightly better angle when the breeze increases and then head out more into the open ocean. Which often means when you are inside the Falklands on this part of the course is can be very squally and you often get these williwaws that come down off the Andes mountain range, they can blow very violently up to storm force in a matter of seconds. You have to have your wits about you in this part of the world!”
Vendee Globe Report 19 January
Whilst we go about our daily routines 20 lone sailors are racing around the world without a stop.
Each weekday ATWOS will present a report on the 2004-2005 Vendee Globe race. Who will join Lamazou, Desjoyeaux etc. as winners? Who will be a breakout young star like Ellen Macarthur? Which sailors will participate in dramas such as those of Pete Goss & Yves Parlier?
The report will cover the rhythm of the race, whether it's fast or slow, what's the degree of difficulty, is it iceberg territory?
Each day we'll check the standings to see who the leaders are and who else is on the move.
The fleet roundup will cover news of interest from any and all boats both the success's and the inevitable failures.
From the lone sailors will highlight the most interesting communications from the multi national group of sailors.
Rhythm of the Race " Vincent Riou (PRB) passed the equator at 0200 GMT and will be less than 3000 miles from the finish during the day."
Standings 1. PRB 2. Bonduelle 116 miles back 3. Ecover 234 miles back
Fleet Round Up Hasta South. All Anglos in Atlantic. Rig damage.
From the Lone SailorsBruce Schwab "Today we rounded Cape Horn. This is my second time here, the first was during the 02/03 Around Alone race. That time I had to stop in the Falkland Islands to repair my broken boom. Hopefully this time I will just wave to our friends there as we sail past in a few days!" Benoît Parnaudeau " Eight albatross have turned around the boat this afternoon" Mike Golding "It’s looking a bit more settled and a bit more steady. It doesn’t look like there is a mass of opportunities. There may not be any more gains for me until quite late, which is unfortunate for me, but hopefully things will change again on the next model. Right now, though, it looks like a one-tack delivery. Not ideal."
Conrad @ Cape Horn
Heading North
RACE POSITIONS 0400 GMT: SKANDIA 7th, heading north and catching VIRBAC who is in very light airs, putting distance on ARCELOR behind who is also suffering from lighter conditions. PRB holding 132 mile lead over BONDUELLE, having crossed the Equator in the early hours of this morning, 62 days after his passage south. ECOVER slipped slightly back to 245 from the leader.
EXCERPTS FROM AUDIO CONFERENCE courtesy of Geolink/Iridium
‘I’m sailing in some rain squalls right now. I’m looking forward to crossing the 40 degree south line, and feeling like I’m properly out of the ‘south’, in to the 30s. That is a big mental waypoint for me. I know its not all plain sailing home, and expecting thunderstorms and unstable conditions up the South American coast. Am pretty happy to have made some miles on Virbac and Arcelor, but its only really due to the different wind conditions we are experiencing. I’m sailing ok I think, sails are in good shape, and I’m wondering if Joe (Arcelor) has his Solent or not’ [he previously reported it destroyed]
RACE UPDATE GOING IN TO 74th DAY
DAMAGE REPORT ON SKANDIA: After yesterday’s high speed collision, as far as Nick can tell, no major damage has been sustained to either the rudders or the keel – much to his relief. For much of yesterday wildly fluctuating winds, between 18 and 40 knots, and rough seas, meant a full inspection was difficult.
TRICKY WEATHER DECISIONS AHEAD: With a low pressure system forming to his north west off the Uruguay coast, which will then move east potentially right over the top of him, the decisions are becoming harder for Nick as he peers in to his Sony screen and the computer data that his Maxsea routing software [see Jargon Buster] is pumping out. It could mean frustrating calms, or it could mean a great ride north on the winds on the favourable winds on the north west side of the system, only time, and Nick’s decisions, will tell!
OCEANS APART: Almost at the same time in the early hours of this morning, PRB passed the Equator, the first boat to enter the North Atlantic, just as Conrad Humphreys (HELLOMOTO) passed Cape Horn almost 4,000 miles behind, in light winds to enter the South Atlantic. Conrad had a particularly tough approach to the famous rock, his relief at leaving the Southern Ocean will match Nick’s – the two spoke briefly together yesterday. http://www.o6t.com
NICK’s OC SAILING TEAM MATE ELLEN blocked by slow moving front, 24+ hours of frustration with lead evaporating http://www.teamellen.com
JARGON BUSTER: What is Maxsea routing? Like all the skippers, Nick uses routing software as an aid to tactical decision making. Maxsea combines digital ‘GRIB’ files of current and future weather data (wind strength and direction, every few hours for several days ahead), with the ‘polars’ of the boat (the theoretical best speeds for each level of wind strength and direction), to produce a theoretical ‘optimum’ route to get to the next waypoint on the course. It is only an aid, and has many variables – not least of which the accuracy of the weather information, but also how close to 100% can Nick sail the boat, the effects of the sea state on boat speed, and other local weather variations not contained in the global weather files. The ‘GRIB’ data comes from one of two or three different computer models, so all the skippers have very similar data going in to their software.
SKANDIA DATA LOG 1000 GMT: data brought to you by BT Business Broadband, transmitted via Thrane&Thrane
LAT/LONG: 41 59 N / 52 39 W
WIND: 10 to 30 knots, SSW
Linky Sailing News
Racing KWRW Day 2. Division I Division II. Division III. Division IV. Melges 24 report Lead under 1K. Back into the North
News SA AC Sponsor
Great Lakes Plans for CG Day
Race Viewer Software
OC Technology, part of the Offshore Challenges Group, are pleased to announce today the launch of the Voyager 2020 Race Viewer, a ground-breaking 3d animation software allowing PC users on broadband to follow offshore sailing events in a new, exciting and highly-interactive way.
3d animation software launched for following offshore yacht racing
Uniquely provides 3 solutions in one for TV graphics, Web maps, and end-user PC application software Key contracts already in place with Vendée Globe and Ellen MacArthur’s B&Q solo records campaign
Part of Offshore Challenges Group ongoing investment in media communication tools to bring sailing to a wider audience
IN DETAIL
First tested at the end of The Transat, OC Events solo transatlantic race held last June, Voyager 2020 software is being now being used in both of the current round the world events - the Vendée Globe race, and Ellen MacArthur’s attempt on the solo round the world record. Voyager 2020 is unique in that it creates 3 outputs for race managers, all from the same core code – ANIMATOR creates 3d graphics for Television, TRACKER provides 2d maps for websites, and VIEWER launched today offer the full 3d animation package for the end-user on his PC.
Voyager 2020 Animator software was provided to the Vendée Globe TV production team in Paris, allowing them to create their own daily 3d graphical animations to show the progression of the 20 strong fleet, as they set off from Les Sables d’Olonne. These animations are created especially for TV stations, and greatly assist explaining the tactics and stories unfolding in the race to a wide mainstream audience.
With the launch of the RACE VIEWER PC application software today, Ellen MacArthur’s B&Q/Castorama record attempt is using all three versions (TV, web, pc application) to allow millions of people to follow her nail-biting attempt to break the solo round the world record. Currently on day 52, with just 21 days left to break the record, Voyager 2020 Race Viewer allows the audience to play back the whole attempt so far, zoom in to within metres of the boat, and back out to a planet view, and switch on weather features such as pressure and wind.
The ability to provide all 3 outputs from a single programme is a key development on from competitor products such as Virtual Spectator which have been so successful in the past such as in the America’s Cup 2000.
But that is not all. OC Technology is confident that this product could be easily put to good use in other sports, expedition and other land sports record attempts.
Offshore Challenges Group have invested in Voyager 2020 to help advance the communication of relatively complicated sports like sailing, comments CEO Mark Turner - ‘Applications like this 3d animation tool are critical for many sports, in particular ocean racing, to bring better understanding for the mainstream public, yet at the same time allow the core supporters to get even further under the skin of the event. Our commitment to this is in line with our other investments in website functionality through our OC Vision team, broadband TV, and onboard media communication systems provided by OC Technology to various other projects beyond Ellen MacArthur, such as the Oryx Cup.’ Whilst Offshore Challenges Group maintains its own athlete and event programmes, through OC Vision and OC Technology it will continue to supply other teams and events in the sport of sailing with the latest tools for media and communication, assisted by the continual development of ideas and products driven by the needs of its own Sailing Team and Event properties.
References:
Tough Cape Horn
We know that he is obstinate, but he's turning out to be exceedingly tough ! Jean-Pierre Dick, who without question deserves the label of "Mr DIY" on this Vendée Globe 2004, has worked wonders again. Yesterday evening, he was able to sail under mainsail, after finishing repairs to his boom, which broke on 7th January during a violent gybe. This happened in an instant, since a passing low dealt him violent winds blowing at 55 knots. However, there is strong proof now that the new spar that the Virbac-Paprec skipper repaired, stands up to strong gales. This bodes well for the 5,700 remaining miles before reaching Les Sables d’Olonne in “race mode”!
“I have good news and not so good news", Jean-Pierre announced, all go this morning, to his crew. “The bad news is that I had to lower the mainsail that I had just hoisted yesterday evening, during the night. It was a great moment of pleasure to feel all Virbac-Paprec's potential again and to see its sails extended. I was able to finish the half bottle of champagne I started after rounding Cape Horn. There were no bubbles left, but it was an occasion that counted after 73 days at sea! And then, that night, everything started going wrong and I had to lower the sail in a hurry. That was a close one! However, here's the good news. The repairs seem to be holding! I'll touch carbon… let's hope it stays that way! In any case, it has been tested in real life in really difficult conditions. The wind speed rose suddenly, and I wasn't being proud. I didn't want to make a 3rd reef, to avoid pulling on the repairs, so I thought it better to lower it. Anyway, thanks Luc (Bartissol, JP's technical doctor , ndlr) for all the advice. This first night's sailing under mainsail is a conclusive test, even if I'll have to be doubly vigilant and anticipate each manoeuvre even more so.… “.
Tactics in the Atlantic
The latest news from Jean-Pierre is heartening. JPs unfailing enthusiasm is once again rebounding on the immense swell of the high seasand gives a flavour of adventure to this year's race, in keeping with this event, which makes great sailors. Now that the mainsail is in place and the sun is shining on the Farr plan and recharging its batteries, things are looking up. Jean-Pierre is delighted at last to be able to bury his thoughts in the weather, now that he has finished with "fastidious and meticulous" repairs to his boom. “There are going to be shots to play and no doubt a few occasions to gain on those in front. Up till now, I have had to be content with spending minimum time at the chart table, but now, I definitely intend to spend more time there and I hope to catch up on a little lost time. It is true that since the Horn, everything is going much better…“.
ATR Delivery Crew Report
Hi, someone else's turn to write the log today. I'm Ross Daniel and I joined the AT Racing crew in South Africa, in preparation for this journey home.
I hope that you all had a good weekend, our weekend was pretty quiet with no major dramas. Since our last report the wind has been averaging 20 knots (force 5) but this is normal when sailing in the tropical trade winds. There are always a few bad boy squalls lurking around the corner waiting to pounce and we have had our fair share of them, the first one since our last report came through early on Saturday morning. This kind of attack of early morning squalls has become a bit of a trend for the last five days, usually half an hour before sun rise. David and myself were on watch on Saturday morning, we had the joy of doing the three till six watch, and we could see the squall on the horizon and knew that it was going to bring an increase in wind. As it came closer the wind started to build to the high twenties (force 7) … Time to turn the auto-pilot off and start to drive because with the sail configuration that we had up, it would of made it hard work for the pilot plus when the wind is in the high twenties that is when steering on this machine starts to become really fun. At this moment we had our A3 spinnaker up, which is our biggest kite we have onboard and full main. We held on to it for as long as we could, enjoying the ride with the boat hammering along at 20 plus knots on big long surfs. The wind got up to the low 30's and looked like it was going to stay for a while so at that point it was time to wake up the other boys and change the spinnaker to the A4 (a fifty square meter small spinnaker). Even with a smaller spinnaker up, the boat speed doesnt seem to drop on this boat - it just makes things a little bit easier to manage. The way that we have been working Hugo Boss for manoeuvres is that David and my self work the bow and Alex and Simon work the cockpit. The manoeuvres are starting to get better and a little bit quicker but even with four people manoeuvres are quiet hard work with lots of bits of string to pull and plenty of room for error . I can only imagine how hard it can be sailing single-handed, especially when things go wrong. For Simon and I this is the first time that we have really sailed on the boat so this trip is excellent training for the summer racing programme and really gives us a chance to learn about the boat and each other.
Over the weekend we have been making good progress north on starboard gybe and we are currently six hundred miles from the equator. As we approach the equator and the infamous doldrums, Alex has been studying the weather and looking for the best way through. At present it looks like it will be better going through a little further west of where we are at the moment so we have gybed on to starboard to make some westing for about eight hours then we will gybe back and head north again. As usual we are expecting the doldrums to be hard work with the usual diverse weather, varying from no wind to loads of wind and big changes in direction. Temperature will be up and down too, from scorching sun to thunder storms and torrential rain. We are all looking forward to crossing the equator, actually correction three of us are looking forward to crossing but I don’t think that our equator virgin is, as tradition has it, people who cross by sea for the first time have to sacrifice themselves to Neptune and be punished. The punishment is usually a concoction of the most nastiest, rotten food you can think of poured over the victims head by a crew member dressed up as Neptune. Our concoction is all ready starting to brew and as you can imagine it will be pretty grim. We have all been there and it is considered unlucky not to make these sacrifices!
Up until now we have been running a watch system of three hours on three hours off, with two people on at one time and then we would swap around each night so every night you are on with somebody different from the night before. This system worked quite well to start of with but as we have been getting further north and the temperature has been rising we have been finding it difficult to get any sleep in the day, because its too hot, so we decided to change the watch system to allow us to get some more sleep before we get into the doldrums. We are now doing one person on watch two hours on six hours off. I started the watch this evening at 2230, at about 2300 I thought I would boil the kettle to make my lovely freeze dried dinner, before doing so I had a scan of the horizon to make sure it was all clear. After about three minutes down below I noticed a mass of lights shining through the bug eye (clear bubble on both sides of the deck allowing you to see the sails from below) I jumped on deck to see a tuna factory boat go past us about 150m away! As you can imagine it gave me a bit of a scare! We do have an alarm onboard called an active echo which goes off when it picks up another boats radar, but it didnt go off until i was on deck which means he was motoring around without his radar on, not very comforting. Even though this is the first ship that we have seen since the first night is does make you wonder how many close shaves these guys have when they are sailing around the world alone and are down below having a kip. It's a bit of a scary thought!
For me this trip so far has been a bit of an eye opener to what these machines are all about, I have just spent the last year skippering a Volvo 60, which is a pretty quick boat or so I thought. For the last nine days I have been comparing the performance of the two boats and Hugo Boss is a totally different animal, this boat is extreme! She is aggressive when she charges down a wave and doesn't want to stop, but at the same time she never seems under pressure and is really light to handle, apart from our wipeout ! To get some of the speeds that we have been getting on Hugo Boss, a Volvo 60 would need a lot of crew on deck working the boat really hard and the boat would feel constantly on the edge. The biggest thing that I am having trouble coming to terms with having always sailed with crew, is the thought that one person can sail this extreme machine (and it is a machine) when they are doing 20knts plus and they are still able to go below for a kip or to make some food ! I think that says it all really, the people who sail these boats alone are as mad an extreme as the boats they are sailing!! (but then we all knew that about Alex, didn't we ?)
We hope to cross the equator in two days and fingers crossed we will be into the North Atlantic trades, the downwind sailing will become more upwind or reaching and Alex promises that the boat will become very wet but despite that I am looking forward to the change of conditions.
More in a couple of days with tales of the equator and Neptune’s punishment to our virgin crosser.
Symposium Well Attended
An all-time record of more than 250 sailing program directors, organizers, and volunteers traveled from across the country to Miami, Fla., last weekend to attend US SAILING's National Sailing Programs Symposium, presented by Vanguard Sailboats. The record attendance at the Symposium represented an increase of 33 percent compared
to last year's event. The Symposium featured many unique seminars and
workshops, including presentations by sailing experts Gary Jobson and Dave Perry. Organized annually by US SAILING, the Symposium is designed to encourage program organizers of any level to share ideas and learn more about running effective, fun, and safe sailing programs.
"The Symposium is such a great educational event for all types of sailing program organizers, we're happy that so many took advantage of the opportunity to expand their horizons,