Latest news from Nick Moloney to Dr Krumnacker
Segel.de
Nick Moloney is a member of Ellen MacArthur's Offshore Challenges Sailing Team http://www.nickmoloney.com
* The plan of Attack .... A change of watch system to try and cover all eventualities and make the best of any weather opportunities
* ORANGE will have a difficult climb up the ATLANTIC ... complicated weather systems including a strong depression to the NORTH which will bring with it strong upwind wind conditions.
POSITION REPORT (Day 45 at sea)
COMPARISON table / JULES VERNE TROPHY
15th April 2002 0808 GMT
POSITION ORANGE
Position : 48°20'S / 47°22' W
Speed 24h : 20.97
Distance since departure : 19832.63 miles
Distance 24h : 503.23 miles
COMPARISON TO SPORT ELEC IN 1997
Position : 56°49 'S / 98°33' W
Speed 24h : 17.75
Distance since departure : 16183.20 miles
Distance 24h : 426.20 miles
LATEST LOGBOOK FROM NICK
Cape Horn again...am very happy to say that I was as excited as the first
time. Definitely not as scenic as the first time for me as she was heavily
shrouded in thick mist. we could easily make out the land scape in the
increasing light of dawn as we were within a few miles from the rocks. We
actually tried to sail deep around it but were forced to Jibe quickly in
strong winds as it became apparent that we were about to become part of the
Icon. Total frenzy as we shortened the indexsail to 2 reefs and turned in a
rather disturbed seaway.
its pretty amazing actually...within 4 hours of rounding the clouds lifted
and we celebrated with a great lunch, a splash of red wine as we cruzed
passed the scattered snow capped islands with full index and medium Gennaker.
Flat water and 15kts of wind...its like some one flicked the switch.
spent yesterday jibing our way to Falklands and now with it in our wake we
are making 32kts of boatspeed directly towards Brest. As usual, progress
today may not be as good tomorrow. We have some difficult weather ahead, the
biggest headache being a strong depression to the north of us will become a
dominant feature in the next few days almost certainly bringing us strong
upwind conditions. Keep in mind that this is where Club mED SUFFERED most of
her damage in 'the race'
Damage is something that we think about all the time . we are on the home
stretch in an ocean riddled with debris. Past cases such as Ellen in
Vendee striking objects in the water and severely damaging the boat are
scenarios that play on our minds always.
we have changed the watch system to a 4 watch system in order to attack
every available opportunity over the next few weeks.
the temperature is dry and crisp...we are rugged up but the decks are dry
and lifes pretty comfortable. Unfortunately our first glimpse of warmer
weather will probably be associated with the strong Northerly winds that we
should encounter with the LOW.
Every mile is Golden right now. we have a reasonable margin on the current
record and hope to indextain it. We have had a great Pacific Portion of the
Southern Ocean. We covered the distance of the Sydney-Hobart race in 22hours
one day, another we saw an Ice Berg. We definitely are the lucky ones.
I hope our luck hold for the next 20 or so days.
we have the full length North/south, East/west still to sail but today we
feel like we are almost home.
nick
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