Betreff: ANTICIPATING THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE
Absender: "Aroundalone"
Datum: 17. Apr 2003 20:14
ANTICIPATING THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE
MEDICAL SERVICES CALLED UPON BY 2 SKIPPERS
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 - 17th April 03. The 5 Class 1 Open 60's in Around Alone are within 3 degrees of the Equator line and from tonight will one by one cross back over to the Northern Hemisphere for the first time since the end of October 2002. The thought of being in 'home waters' again is a great motivation for all, and their travel weary boats are not under too much stress in these light air conditions. However it is the skippers themselves now who are being put to the extreme physical test, as temperatures soar to 36 C and the breeze comes and goes from whatever direction it pleases. For the skippers this means constant manouevres - and constant rehydration - on the boat in unforgiving heat with no opportunity or comfort to sleep.
Current Leg and overall leader, Swiss skipper Bernard Stamm on Bobst Group - Armor Lux, is being hotly pursued still by Italian skipper Simone Bianchetti on Tiscali over to the West. Both boats are now slowing up as they hit the ITCZ (Inter Tropical Convergence Zone). Stamm said before the start that the Doldrums would be the biggest obstacle and so his strategy was to gain as much mileage over the others beforehand. But it is exhausting work and both skippers are impatient for the Northern trades over the horizon: "Over the last 48 hours I've only grabbed a few 5 minute naps. The sun wasn't yet up and already the little thermometer on top of the mast was registering 31°. I'm dripping in sweat. Outside there isn't a breath of air and the deck is boiling hot." Bianchetti was brief on the satellite phone call: "I get no sleep, this is crazy work, I must have tacked 20 times in the last 2 hours!"
American Bruce Schwab on Ocean Planet, lies in third still between the two leaders and the two chasers in Class 1, and is finding his narrower boat excelling in these moderate conditions as he drives her with the big masthead kite up. His goal is to go as fast as he can right now: "Once the reaching starts in the tradewinds I will have a hard time staying ahead of the other 60s, so I'm trying to get as big a gap as possible. Then if I can stay close until past the Caribbean it will be a fun battle to the finish."
Stamm and Bianchetti are of course more concerned about French skipper Thierry Dubois on Solidaires and Emma Richards on Pindar respectively. The scenario now is that the two front runners took the early advantage when they caught the wind inshore 2 days ago, leaving these two back markers wallowing in little wind over to the East of the course. Dubois is learning to keep a cool head in the unbearable heat: "I may be retiring after this race but I am not dead and buried yet! I am banking on my easterly option to pay dividends later as I will hopefully pick up the northeast trades first." Richards is 10 miles directly behind Solidaires, and with 2 boats between hers and Tiscali, she is in an uphill struggle already to retain her 3rd on the podium overall.
In Class 2, leader Brad Van Liew on Tommy Hilfiger Freedom America took the inside track on the left hand bend around Brazil and has overtaken Pindar at the back of the Class 1 fleet. However, Van Liew is very much in touch with his own class, sympathising with rival Tim Kent on Everest Horizontal as both are now stuck in the same flukey conditions. "The sailing has been the same for the last 24 hours," Kent reported. "The big Code 5 and full index, no ballast, light winds and flat seas. I just got off the Iridium satellite phone with Brad and we are dealing with the same conditions, some 32 miles apart. The weather reports for the next 24 hours show more of the same. Believe it or not, this is good news; we are where the doldrums could have us stopped cold, yet we are still moving."
There has been some drama, however, as two skippers have needed to call upon medical services in the last 24 hours. Firstly, Alan Paris on BTC Velocity reported in 48 hours after his collision with the whales that one of his ribs gave him a sharp pain, and he was suddenly very nauseous and close to passing out in a cold sweat: "After speaking with the Around Alone medical referral system, it seems I have one fractured rib, maybe two; however, it is not in danger of puncturing a lung as if this was too occur the symptoms would have already shown themselves. It takes 10 weeks for a cracked rib to heal fully so I will be in some pain until arrival in Newport. This will just have to be managed like any other problem on board, one step at a time." Tim Kent has also reported in with "an ominous ache" in one of his lower left molars "Within an hour I could tell that it was clearly going to cause a problem. This is one of the few medical emergencies that I f eared the most; a dental problem at sea." He was advised to take an antibiotic called zithromax, along with a strong painkiller. "I am glad I took this advice as I am told it is harder to kill pain in the lower jaw. We'll see what happens in a couple of days when the antibiotics take effect."
Meanwhile, Derek Hatfield is heading more west after clearing the Falklands: "I am preparing for a strong low pressure system that will deepen to the East of my position starting tomorrow afternoon." Spirit of Canada snagged a huge piece of kelp, which slowed him to 2 knots boatspeed took him several attempts at backing the boat to release it.
Weather - The Raymarine 3 day weather forecast and map is posted up online at www.aroundalone.com every other day.
ETA for first boat: 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 17th 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 1 00.160 S, 37 53.560 W, 43.86 nm, 5.48 kt, 315 °T, 3129.67 nm
2. Tiscali 1 19.840 S, 37 42.480 W, 51.58 nm, 6.46 kt, 312 °T, 3152.24 nm
3. Ocean Planet 2 38.160 S, 35 26.480 W, 36.73 nm, 4.60 kt, 292 °T, 3290.74 nm
4. Solidaires 2 43.200 S, 33 42.840 W, 31.04 nm, 3.89 kt, 345 °T, 3351.43 nm
5. Pindar 3 03.080 S, 33 55.160 W, 35.93 nm, 4.49 kt, 325 °T, 3361.24 nm
Class 2
Boat Lat Lon AvgBsp Avgheading DTF
1. Tommy Hilfiger 2 49.000 S, 35 10.320 W, 34.52 nm, 4.32 kt, 338 °T, 3308.57 nm
2. Everest Horizontal 4 20.240 S, 34 21.840 W, 0.35 nm, 0.04 kt, 286 °T, 3411.50 nm
3. Spirit of yukoh 4 43.040 S, 33 57.702 W, 36.93 nm, 4.62 kt, 356 °T, 3443.68 nm
4. BTC Velocity 5 06.092 S, 32 43.900 W, 69.37 nm, 8.68 kt, 11 °T, 3503.07 nm
* Spirit of Canada (Leg 4) at 14:00 GMT - 46 55 799 S 53 59 547W
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.
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Mary Ambler - Email: mambler@clipper-ventures.com - Mobile: +55 71 9142 5225
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