zur Übersicht Betreff: SKIRTING THE BULGE OF BRAZIL Absender: "Aroundalone" Datum: 16. Apr 2003 01:24 15 Apr 03 SKIRTING THE BULGE OF BRAZIL It's heartburn time for Emma Richards on Pindar as she watches Simone Bianchetti on Tiscali duke it out at the front of the fleet. Emma know that for Simone to knock her off the podium in the overall standings, he is going to have to not only beat her, but put a boat between them and right now that's what he doing. To make it worse Thierry Dubois is currently behind her on distance to go, but Emma knows that given Thierry's track record over the last ten years it's unlikely that he's going to reindex at the back of the pack for long. Should he slide up in to third, more Alka Seltzer will be on the menu. Having said that, the boats are sailing with the wind on the beam, a point of sail that does not favor the water-ballasted Pindar. Those boats with canting keels are able to add a lot of power with out the weight of water, and for now anyway that's the reason Emma is struggling for speed. On board Pindar Emma is find ing the sailing frustrating. "With the wind shifting regularly 50 degrees and going from 6 to 18 knots under some clouds, it makes for interesting sailing but highly frustrating when it doesn't go your way," she wrote in her daily log. She is also finding the heat tough to take. "It is very hot during the day so I am trying to accumulate some sleep in the dark hours while the temperature it is bearable below." April 15 at 06:00 3D image courtesy of www.voyager2020.com Emma/Pindar verläßt das Dock Mary Ambler photo Simone Bianchetti has been hugging the coast since leaving Salvador, a strategy that seems to be paying off. After taking a lead early in the leg he lost the wind inshore allowing Bernard Stamm to scoot ahead during the day yesterday, however last night the wind gods smiled favorably on the Italian skipper and he made up lost miles. "I am so happy that the wind did not die on me last night," he said in a satellite phone call. "Everything is really going well on the boat. I have no problems and am able to push hard this time." At the last poll he was a scant five miles astern of Bobst Group Armor lux. The only Class 1 boat that is not hugging the coast is Thierry Dubois on Solidaires. His course is surprising since the easterly wind should allow him to sail a direct course for Newport, but instead the French skipper has chosen to head more to the east than the rest of the fleet. Dubois is no fool and he may well be looking at a small localized weather system that he's heading for in the hope of finding his own private wind, but on the weather charts I have studied the trade winds are steady all the way to Africa. Solidaires is 43 miles astern of Bobst Group Armor lux, a small distance given the length of the leg, but one that must be giving Dubois some concern. As the fleet gets their bows around the bulge of Brazil the wind should come aft allowing them a straight shot to Newport. The equator lies just over 400 miles ahead and beyond that the doldrums. Fortunately the doldrums are fairly narrow this side of the Atlantic and most of the skippers hope that it will barely slow them down. For now it's going to be interesting to watch how the Tiscali/ Bobst Group Armor lux battle plays out, and to see if Thierry Dubois has some wild card to play out to the east. Other than that join me in wishing birthday boy Bruce Schwab a great day on the water. Turning 43 in the tropics with the likes of Thierry Dubois and Emma Richards astern is a nice way to spend the day. Happy Birthday Bruce. --- Brian Hancock great.circle@verizon.net Betreff: TEMPERATURES RISE OFF RECIFE Absender: "Aroundalone" Datum: 15. Apr 2003 19:09 TEMPERATURES RISE OFF RECIFE CLASS 1 LEADERBOARD SHAKING UP ALAN PARIS COLLIDES WITH 2 WHALES SPIRIT OF CANADA UPDATE LATEST POSITIONS, OVERALL POINTS AND ELAPSED TIMES AFTER 4 LEGS Media Contact: Mary Ambler - Email: mambler@clipper-ventures.com - Fixed Mobile in Salvador: +55 71 9142 5225 Salvador, Brazil - 15th April 03. The temperatures are rising on the racecourse as the Around Alone fleet skirt the coastline past Recife with a light easterly breeze and at 7 degrees south are nearing the brutal heat of the Equator. The Class 1 boats are still within 40 miles of each other averaging 10 knots boatspeed and yet again the leaderboard has been shaken up. At dawn, Italian skipper Simone Bianchetti on Tiscali held the lead as the boat furthest inshore: "I am so happy that the wind did not die on me last night, and everything is really going well on the boat, I have no problems and am able to push hard this time." Thierry Dubois on Solidaires has opted to stay further offshore and so has dropped back in the latest positions according to the DTF, however, he is the fastest boat in the class at 12.12 knots and clearly is going for better boatspeed over heading. With these two boats on either side, current leg leader Bernard Stamm seems to be displaying his usual tactic of 'if you push, I push harder', as Bobst Group - Armor Lux yo-yo's back up to first place every other position report. Dubois has for once no complaints: "Thanks to stable wind conditions since the start, I have only had to tweak the sails and not do any major manoeuvres - which is good, because in the heat I can hardly move without sweating!" On the other hand, 4th placed Emma Richards on Pindar is having to work a lot harder to keep American Bruce Schwab in her sights as he outmanoeuvres her on his narrower Open 60 into 3rd place: "The wind has been shifting 50 degrees regularly and from 6-18kts under some of the clouds. It makes for interesting sailing but highly frustrating when it doesn't go your way. I have been sailing right next to Ocean Planet all day and night and in the last couple of clouds he has just sailed away from me." In Class 2, current leader Brad Van Liew on Tommy Hilfiger Freedom America is hoping to round the 'bulge' of Brazil on one tack, and 38 miles behind Tim Kent on Everest Horizontal is finding that the boatspeeds are dropping: "As the sun rises higher today, the winds become lighter. During the night I was able to indextain my course up the coast with eased sheets and the genoa, but daylight brought with it enough of a windshift to put me back hard on the wind, and back to the smaller, flatter solent." Literally shocking news is just in from Alan Paris as his Open 40 BTC Velocity collided with two whales as 7.5 knots boatspeed: "The boat came to an abrupt stop, I got up from the Nav station and again the boat was shaken by the whale moving away, I fell against the nav station on my ribs, but am OK. There was much blood in the water and I clearly saw 2 whales on the port side. One then followed me as BTC Velocity started moving again, but luckily did not attack the boat." Thankfully, no visible damage has occurred, although Alan will check this thoroughly. Paris lies 12 miles behind Kojiro Shiraishi on Spirit of yukoh, and the Japanese skipper is finally over his perpetual seasickness: "My boat has a lot of negative ion so that seems to be the reason I have no seasickness!" He is hoping that his light carbon indexsail, which he used in Leg 2 will last until the finish, although he says it is not so effective when close-hauled. Derek Hatfield on Spirit of Canada has just cleared the top tip of the Falkland Islands and Salvador is just under 2500 miles away. "The conditions are a little light right now as a high pressure system moves over the area from west to east. I had a long busy night negotiating through the huge fishing fleet that is just outside the entrance to Stanley Harbor. I am starting to feel good about the boat again and it's great to be back racing and making the boat go fast. With the new rig and sails, the boat's performance is right up there where it should be." Weather - The Raymarine 3 day weather forecast and map is posted up online at www.aroundalone.com every other day. ETA's - The first boats are expected to arrive at the finish from May 1st 2003. The ETA's will be updated every three days, based on the performance data calculated by RayTech 4.1 navigational software supplied by Official Race Partners Raymarine (www.raymarine.com). POSITIONS AT 1400GMT 15th APRIL 2003 You can track the race boats using RayTech 4.1 navigational software by going to the Positions page online and clicking on the link to the Raymarine website at the top of the index chart. Class 1 Boat Lat Lon AvgBsp Avgheading DTF 1. Bobst Group-Armor Lux 7 23.520 S, 34 04.040 W, 94.80 nm, 11.85 kt, 8 °T, 3590.78 nm 2. Tiscali 7 30.920 S, 34 19.840 W, 85.17 nm, 10.65 kt, 12 °T, 3596.56 nm 3. Ocean Planet 7 57.076 S, 34 05.072 W, 84.92 nm, 10.62 kt, 20 °T, 3623.91 nm 4. Pindar 8 06.084 S, 33 57.012 W, 84.94 nm, 10.62 kt, 26 °T, 3633.91 nm 5. Solidaires 7 54.044 S, 33 09.800 W, 96.91 nm, 12.12 kt, 41 °T, 3634.42 nm Class 2 Boat Lat Lon AvgBsp Avgheading DTF 1. Tommy Hilfiger 8 08.800 S, 34 19.120 W, 75.68 nm, 9.46 kt, 14 °T, 3634.42 nm 2. Everest Horizontal 8 47.250 S, 34 25.650 W, 74.79 nm, 9.34 kt, 26 °T, 3672.64 nm 3. Spirit of yukoh 9 41.323 S, 34 36.109 W, 66.89 nm, 8.35 kt, 48 °T, 3726.74 nm 4. BTC Velocity 9 52.360 S, 34 52.480 W, 57.06 nm, 7.14 kt, 46 °T, 3738.48 nm * Spirit of Canada (Leg 4) at 13:00 GMT - 551 49.08S, 57 25.92W Overall Results in Points / Total Elapsed Time after 4 Legs Class 1 1 Bobst Group-Armor Lux - 39pts / 97 days 23 hrs 7 mins 13 secs 2 Solidaires - 37pts / 98 days 9 hrs 57 mins 47 secs 3 Pindar - 27pts / 110 days 16 hrs 30 mins 23 secs 4 Tiscali - 26pts / 140 days 0 hrs 51 mins 41 secs 5 Ocean Planet - 23pts / 138 days 19 hrs 5 mins 45 secs Class 2 1 Tommy Hilfiger Freedom America - 40pts / 128 days 0 hrs 0 mins 54 secs 2 Everest Horizontal - 35 pts / 148 days 0 hrs 15 mins 41 secs 3 *Spirit of Canada - 25 pts / 174 days 6hrs 47 mins 44 secs 4 Spirit of yukoh - 28 pts / 155 days 23 hrs 24 mins 44 secs 5 BTC Velocity - 23 pts / 174 days 6 hrs 47 mins 44 secs * Spirit of Canada points & elapsed time after 3 legs only, 3rd place ranking based on his completion of Leg 4. International Media Relations: Mary Ambler - Email: mambler@clipper-ventures.com - Mobile: +55 71 9142 5225 Copyright © 1996-2016 - SEGEL.DE