03/21/2001
Team Adventure in the home straight, Warta-Polpharma still the fastest
Wednesday, March 21, 10,00 pm GMT
Laying on the irony, Warta-Polpharma, despite being damaged
and on a course for Brazil, was going the fastest at the last
position check. At 13.6 knots average over 24 hours and with
326 miles on the log, the Poles were slipping toward Fortaleza
in following winds, and should get there a few hours from now.
Team Adventure, 3,000 miles away, has just entered the home
straight. She's in the Strait of Gibraltar but has slowed down
drastically, posting 4.1 knots average over the last hour, 9.7
knots over 24 hours, and 233 miles on the log . . .
Some it puts to the test, others it punishes, the Strait of Gibraltar that is. Jean-Yves
Bernot predicted a calm at the entrance to the Mediterranean, and it's a fact. 4.1 knots
average in the last hour . . . That'll hardly startle the schools of dolphins that normally
cruise in the area. The 233 miles run in the last 24 hours is nothing compared with the 550
miles of yesterday morning. The "wizard" navigator on board was right, depressingly, a
calm greeted these circumnavigators but we are reassured, because Jean-Yves also
predicted moderate wind conditions once the strait was behind them. Whatever, a finish in
Marseille is still expected on Friday, March 23. The rendez-vous is set, so the Big Blue just
has to behave herself.
Everything is ready in Marseille and for sure therace.org's team will have its special
correspondents in place to bring to you live the arrival of Cam Lewis and his men. No
doubt Yann Eliès, the crewmember who disembarkedwith back problems in Wellington, New
Zealand, will be at the finish to greet his compatriots . . .
There's practically no doubt that Warta-Polpharma's in great form even though she's
heading for Brazil. 13.6 knots average in the last hour, 326 miles on the log . . . The Polish
boat is once more the fastest of the fleeet still at sea. She's running downwind in a force-4
wind that's easing to force 3 and she should reach Fortaleza in a few hours. Everything is
on hand to greet the wounded giant, and Multiplast has sent one of its best specialists to
supervise the repairs. We're crossing our fingers that they can keep the immobilization to
3 days.
And Team Legato? The easterly wind seems to be having a hard time settling in for Tony
Bullimore and his men . . . 264 little miles on the log, 11 knots average over 24 hours . . .
Not great numbers given that the boat should be sailing in an easterly flow, that is, on the
beam. That would give wings to this giant catamaran, which is a previous holder of the
Jules Verne Trophy (under Peter Blake and Robin Knox Johnston as Enza). And just to add
to the bad luck of the British, the northeast force 3 wind is taking its time changing to a
force-4 easterly. The only ray of light for Team Legato at the last position fix was that she
"flashed" 14.4 knots and her average speed over the last hour was 13 knots . . . Has the
east wind finally come into its own? If so, the Equator should approach a little more
rapidly. "On va voir," as they say.
PGa
Translation by JMc
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