The latest daily news from Ellen to Dr Krumnacker
Segel.de
* She's back in to the Northern Hemisphere and battling it out just 26 miles
south of PRB!
At 0907 GMT today Kingfisher crossed the line back in to the Northern half
of the globe - her third crossing of the Equator in 10 months. Michel
Desjoyeaux passed the 'line' just 5 hours earlier, and is now only 26 miles
[at 0700] to his south [13 miles on the official rankings, but there seems
to be an error due to change from S to North] - as both boats hit the
windless zone. Boat speed at just 2 or 3 knots in only a whisper of wind,
this is what they the Doldrums. Whilst 26 miles at 2-3 knots is the same as
a 100 at 10 knots in reality, in this chaotic area of the ocean, one cloud
and localised wind squall can whisk you forward 30 miles in a couple of
hours, so its all to play for. It makes for tough sailing, every metre
counting - you have to leap from patch of wind to the next as best you can.
* Recovering from the physical and mental exertions of yesterday morning has
not been easy onboard 'Kingfisher', as increasingly unstable conditions near
the Equator have meant 24 hours of almost continuous sail changes -
necessary to look after the boat, yet at the same time eek every last tenth
of a knot of boat speed out of 'Kingfisher'. The area she is now is known as
the 'Doldrums', its the meeting point for the two hemispheres, north and
south along with their own weather systems. In between it can be chaotic,
alternating quickly from calms to squalls, and wild changes in direction of
the wind - a good summary of Ellen's night.
* Once through the Doldrums, Ellen will be on what one could finally call
the last part of the race - retrace her tracks but up the North Atlantic
Ocean to the finish in Les Sables d'Olonne, still some 3,300 miles to go.
The sheer length of this marathon race is brought home by considering that
after 2 and half months at sea they still have an effective Transatlantic
Race to go, a 'normal' event in the offshore racing calendar.
* On official distances to go PRB now has a lead of 26 miles, and KINGFISHER
is just under 500 miles ahead of ACTIVE WEAR, a day and a half sailing in
the new wind conditions they have finally touched. Thiercelin will certainly
try to take a radical option to find a crossing point in the Doldrums that
allows him to catch the leaders...SILL is just 60 behind him, and the next
pair SODEBO and UBP are still struggling to escape the calms still - now
over a 1000 miles behind the leader.
Click here http://www.kingfisher-challenges.com/position/2.shtml for the
weather and lastest positions
* REMEMBER ON THE WAY SOUTH? KINGFISHER crossed the equator on the way down
on November 24th last year, 68 days ago now, in 4th place behind Parlier,
Desjoyeaux and locked in battle with her friend 'Bilou'.
* GROUP 4 has overtaken Josh Hall on EBP/GARTMORE and has a 25 mile lead -
what an amazing comeback! Golding hasn't given up of even challenging
Catherine Chabaud (WHIRLPOOL), some 700 miles further north. Awesome effort!
QUICK UPDATE FROM ELLEN THIS MORNING AS SHE CROSSED THE EQUATOR
Communications sponsored by British Telecom http://www.btopenworld.com
NO AUDIO TODAY - MAXIMUM REST OPPORTUNITIES FOR ELLEN
It hasn't been very easy to recover after yesterday's exertions, as we've
now really started to feel the effects of the Equator. The Equator marks the
join in the middle, and I feel that even just looking at the water and the
sky. It is so weird, I really sense we have left one world and are joining
the other - the northern hemisphere, complete with its different weather
systems, sealife, currents and I guess civilisations as well. Including the
one I'm heading for in Les Sables d'Olonne, still over 3000 miles away.
I've been feeling a bit lonely today, the exhaustion I felt after yesterday
morning is under control, but with little time to rest since, my body is
still aching quite badly and I definitely need to get some more sleep. Sail
changes aside, the heat makes sleep so difficult - I just lie there with
water pouring off me. No air conditioning here! At night it should be easier
to sleep, but it is during the night that the squalls and sudden wind
changes are worse, each cloud forcing a sequence of sail changes and
trimming to keep 'Kingfisher' on her feet and going as fast as possible in
the right direction. Each sail change draining a bit more energy from me.
And there have been a lot of them - I've done everything from spinnaker
downwind to Solent upwind in 20 knots, and all the combinations in between.
But we're ok still, and it really is quite emotional to be rejoining the
northern hemisphere once again.
Mich not surprisingly took a few miles on me yesterday during the day, but
while I was sleeping immediately after coming down from the mast, I was
heading further east than before as I just left the genoa up, and so we've
closed on longitude [east/west separation] which I didn't actually want to
do. He has of course not left me much room for manoeuvre. But as he hit the
calms I was still going great...and so we are at just over 30 miles from him
on the last positions I've seen...it of course makes me smile to be so close
to him this morning, but I know that the person that gets away first is also
going to stack the miles on. I'm going to do my best but keep sailing the
boat how she wants to sail, and do my own race...
[note that since the conversation, Ellen has pulled up further and is now
just 26 miles from Mich]
THIS DAY IN THE LAST RACE : Auguin was battling with the St.Helena high. The
searching of the Argentinian Maritime services stopped, no sign of the boat
of Gerry Roufs. Bertrand de Broc, set off again after a 5 day stop for
repairs in Patagonia - not out of the race. Only 6 boats reindexed of the 16
starters...
CASTO KID OF THE DAY : A Donf to PIERRE in Hospital Necker, Paris
|
