Betreff: HIGH PRESSURE SURPRISE
Absender: "Aroundalone"
Datum: 29. Apr 2003 19:04
HIGH PRESSURE SURPRISE
ETA'S, FINISH LINE & LATEST POSITIONS
SPIRIT OF CANADA UPDATE
OVERALL POINTS AND ELAPSED TIMES AFTER 4 LEGS
Media Contact: Mary Ambler - Email: mambler@clipper-ventures.com - USA Mobile: +1 401 225 2462
Southampton, England - 29th April 03. Class 2 leader Brad Van Liew on Tommy Hilfiger Freedom America summed up how the final leg of Around Alone 2002-03 is being played out on the water when he wrote in his log today that from now on this will be: "a heck of a boat race to the finish!" The majority of the fleet has come together to the East of Bermuda, but the wind gods have thrown them all an unwelcome curve-ball as a small area of high pressure has developed to the west of the island.
Impatient to finish, Swiss skipper Bernard Stamm could only coax an average of 6.6 knots out of Bobst Group Armor - Lux overnight when the winds died away. "For an hour I drifted backwards and I had no idea when it would be over. I was getting really mad. The high-pressure is passing over and I'm too close to it now to go around. I'll pick up a favourable wind on the other side, but it will hardly be blowing at all. For the moment, I'm moving forward at 6 knots, 60° off the direct course, which works out at an average of 3.2 knots towards my final destination. Fortunately, it's not going to last too long".
A weak front is due to pass over Bobst Group Armor - Lux during this evening bringing a light northerly wind. That wind will slowly move into the southeast by tomorrow, but without any real teeth. All that Stamm needs is wind and his flying machine will do the rest. At that rate he will only see the skyline of Newport sometime early on Thursday May 1st.
The skipper that is reeling from the effects of the small high is Bruce Schwab on Ocean Planet. Schwab and Class 2 leader Brad Van Liew on Tommy Hilfiger Freedom America have stalled overnight and Ocean Planet was sailing at a shade under 4 knots. This morning Schwab described his feelings: "Unfortunately, now I am in hell, or rather, I have been completely parked up southeast of Bermuda while Simone gets away and Thierry catches up. Perhaps even Emma? I am going insane!"
While Schwab watches his sails slat back and forth Thierry Dubois on Solidaires is positioned to the west of Ocean Planet further away from the High, and in a touch more breeze has managed to narrow the gap to only 30 miles. "I've been sailing 'a la Stamm' this morning with the large spinnaker, my hands glued to the helm in a 25 knot breeze, surfing to the limit and even on the edge of broaching before I decided to furl the spiÂ… Shame it won't last long but I'm well positioned for the next system."
Emma Richards on Pindar is also handsteering in a good 20 knot breeze. "I have had gennaker and full index and sailing downwind, hopefully the wind will come forward a little so I can take down the gennaker and power reach which will be faster again, but I'll try not to be fussy now I at least have some wind!" With a 200 mile gap between Pindar and Ocean Planet and only 700 miles to go for Schwab, Emma is going to need more of her lucky breeze to pass her rivals before the finish.
Class 2 leader Brad Van Liew and second placed Tim Kent on Everest Horizontal are also caught in the calms, and no end of mental permutation with the weather files is helping them escape, as Van Liew discovered: "Here I sat for the most of the night with very little to no wind speed and therefore no boat speed. I was trying to decide between heading east or west but north was not an option. I can't imagine being able to hold off the 60 footers especially Thierry, as he is very close, but it would be fun. My biggest focus needs to be to try and stay between Tim and the finish line."
Newport is also getting closer for Kojiro Shiraishi on Spirit of yukoh and Alan Paris on BTC Velocity, although they are running out of steady wind flow to the south east of the fleet. As Spring is in the air for those waiting at the Newport Shipyard, Kojiro describes the temperatures where he is and what he is hoping for at the end of his race: "It is cloudy and temperature is lower than 27 degrees and the winds have gotten weaker. May is coming. It is my birthday month. I will try to finish the race by May 8th, which is my birthday."
Derek Hatfield on Spirit of Canada ETA in Salvador is Thursday or Friday this week, as the first boats finish Leg 5 in Newport, Rhode Island.
Weather - The Raymarine 3 day weather forecast and map is posted up online at www.aroundalone.com every other day.
ETA for first boat: April 30th - 1st May 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).
Finish Line is a transit from Castle Hill Lighthouse, Newport RI at 41 27.6 N 71 21.8 W. The boats will then dock at the Newport Shipyard, 1 Washington Street.
POSITIONS AT 1400GMT 29th 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 36 41.428 N, 67 33.701 W, 32.57 nm, 4.07 kt, 348 °T, 336.54 nm
2. Tiscali 33 09.160 N, 63 44.160 W, 48.70 nm, 6.08 kt, 292 °T, 616.72 nm
3. Ocean Planet 31 17.680 N, 64 16.360 W, 17.00 nm, 2.13 kt, 337 °T, 699.00 nm
4. Solidaires 32 56.520 N, 60 23.200 W, 63.23 nm, 7.90 kt, 333 °T, 731.30 nm
5. Pindar 30 28.428 N, 58 42.884 W, 45.78 nm, 5.72 kt, 3 °T, 899.11 nm
Class 2
Boat Lat Lon AvgBsp Avgheading DTF
1. Tommy Hilfiger 31 21.880 N, 62 43.080 W, 10.21 nm, 1.28 kt, 319 °T, 734.84 nm, 1
2. Everest Horizontal 28 35.210 N, 60 58.853 W, 22.56 nm, 2.82 kt, 339 °T, 924.15 nm, 2
3. Spirit of yukoh 24 44.186 N, 55 43.665 W, 43.85 nm, 5.47 kt, 338 °T, 1270.24 nm, 3
4. BTC Velocity 20 50.358 N, 54 48.588 W, 54.90 nm, 6.86 kt, 324 °T, 1495.23 nm, 4
* Spirit of Canada (Leg 4) at 13:00 GMT - 24 24. 000 S 37 00. 000 W, avg bt spd 7.5 kts
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 - USA Mobile: +1 401 225 2462
Official Photography - Marinepics
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Official Schools' Programme: HSBC Glocal Education Challenge - www.education.hsbc.com
Betreff: A HIGH PRESSURE CURVE BALL
Absender: "Aroundalone"
Datum: 29. Apr 2003 15:09
A HIGH PRESSURE CURVE BALL
A small area of high pressure has developed to the west of Bermuda and it has thrown some of the boats an unwelcome curve-ball. The last 1,000 miles are always the toughest and when the wind gods don't cooperate it can be very trying. Bernard Stamm on Bobst Group Armor lux kept moving overnight, but not at his usual blinding pace. From the 22:00 UTC poll last night until the 06:00 poll this morning Bobst Group Armor lux averaged 6.6 knots. At that rate he will only see the skyline of Newport sometime early Thursday morning. A weak front is due to pass overhead Bobst Group Armor lux during this evening bringing cooler weather and a light northerly wind. That wind will slowly move into the southeast by tomorrow, but without any real teeth. The offshore forecast is for 5 to 10 knots with slight seas. All that Stamm needs is wind and his flying machine will do the rest. So long as he gets in before Thursday evening he will miss the sho wers forecast for later in the week.
The skipper that is really feeling the effects of the small high is Bruce Schwab on Ocean Planet. Schwab and Brad Van Liew on Tommy Hilfiger Freedom America have "parked up" overnight and Ocean Planet was sailing at a shade under 4 knots. In a short email this morning Schwab described his feelings. "Unfortunately, now I am in hell," he wrote. "Or rather, I have been completely parked up southeast of Bermuda while Simone gets away and Thierry catches up. Perhaps even Emma? I am going insane." It's true, while Bruce watches his sails slat back and forth Thierry Dubois on Solidaires is still moving reasonably well and has narrowed the gap to only 77 miles. His position to the west of Ocean Planet has him further away from the High and in a touch more breeze. Emma Richards on Pindar is also moving along although she is really going to have to have some good luck to overtake Ocean Planet. At the last poll Pindar was 218 miles behind Ocean Planet. With just over 700 miles to go for Schwab, Emma is going to have to really move.
From reading her log it seems as if the old Emma is finally back. Her log was upbeat and short, which meant that she had little time for writing. Instead, since we know Emma so well, we know that she would be at the helm trying to eke a bit more speed from the boat. "Wow what a perfect afternoon," she wrote. "Clouds finally came over and with them some wind. For the last few hours I have had 20 knots of wind and I hope to continue hand steering as long as it lasts, perhaps through most of the night before it gets light and frustrating. I have had gennaker and full index sailing downwind. Hopefully the wind will come forward a little so I can take down the gennaker and power reach which will be faster again, but I'll try not to be fussy. Not to waste it, I must go, 'til tomorrow."
We will continue to keep you updated on Bernard's ETA as best we can with the information we are getting from the boat. If you are in the Newport area tune in to 1540 WADK AM for the latest update.
--- Brian Hancock great.circle@verizon.net
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