Route du Rhum 2002 www.routedurhum.org zur Übersicht Guadeloupe welcomes Ellen MacArthur Press Release 23.11.02 Datum: 23. Nov 2002 05:56 The Route du Rhum 2002: Press Release N° 30 Saturday 23 November 2002 - Quotes from finish - Resumé of the race Quotes from Ellen MacArthur’s Arrival Winner of the 60-foot monohull class An elated Ellen spoke from the pontoons backed by roof-tops swamped with people shouting her name. The whole of the little bay of the Darse like an amphitheatre echoing her words into the expectant crowd. “I have had so much pleasure actually just being on the boat. For me it’s been a very special race. Very, very hard tactically without respite. You have to be at your best all the time and I couldn’t have given more. It’s so cool, I gave it everything I had. I’m pleased for myself, I’m pleased for the boat and above all I’m pleased to be in this position. You can never prepare yourself for an arrival; it just happens, you deal with it. The number of boats is impressive. It’ s just incredible. I’m so happy. I had a bit of a fight on with Mike. One day I was mild, next day he was mild. It will be great to talk to him – find out how hard he was pushing as I know I was pushing as hard as I could. We suffered the storm too but we were further West and got ahead of it. I thought about the multihulls who were hit by it a lot. I’ve never seen a storm like it in all my life with enormous waves. Resumé of Ellen MacArthur’s Route du Rhum 2002 Ellen MacArthur has once again lead a faultless race on a boat that she knows right down to the last pleat of carbon. Flawless preparation, effective choice of course, good use of her small frame and exceptional human qualities: a Little Big Girl and above all a great sailor. Flash back to the fantastic sleigh ride to victory. Throughout the 3546 nautical miles up to Guadeloupe, the sailor has been able to dodge three of the principal traps of this race: the storm, the Azores high and breakage. Thanks to her westerly course on exiting the Channel, Ellen, situated to the North of the depression, in effect escaped the worst of the storm that decimated part of the fleet between 12 and 15 November. Then it was by positioning herself south of her opponent Mike Golding that she was able to glide into the reaching winds at the edge of the anticyclone of the Azores and have the advantage definitively. She indextained her lead over six days. From the 17 November until her arrival on the 23. Saturday 9 November 2002 Start at 1245 GMT for 17 monohulls in 18 to 20 knots of north-westerly under reduced sail. Ellen MacArthur and Roland Jourdain beam to beam get the best start. The sailor passed the Cap Fréhel marker in third position, behind « Bilou » (Sill) and Mike Golding (Ecover). She holds this place for 24 hours. On the programme: tacking to exit the Channel. Das fröhliche Völkchen jubelt Photos: Martin-Raget/Promovoile Die obligatorische Champagnerdusche Das erste Siegerlächeln Ellen hat Land in Sicht Sunday 10 November Wind from the West, from 25 to 30 knots, the first monohulls reach the point of Brittany at the end of the early morning. Sill is still in the lead, Kingfisher in fifth position 8 miles behind. Monday 11 November The fleet moves along upwind in the sea off the point of Brittany, in a sustained westerly wind and in particular a very strong sea. Sill was still in the lead in front of Mike Golding and Jean Pierre Dick. Ellen MacArthur is back into fourth position. Two options become to present themselves: westerly course (Ellen) or further south (Roland Jourdain, Jean Pierre Dick). Tuesday 12 November South-west to westerly wind at 25-35 knots, gusts up to 45 knots. Very strong seas locally big. The competitors found themselves in the seas of the Bay of Biscay. Those situated further North, like Ellen, are protected from the worst. The skipper managed to keep up with the leading pack behind Sill who lost his place during the day to Ecover. Wednesday 13 November The storm continues (south-west to westerly 40 knots, gusts up to 70). The northerly, followed by Ellen, was the right one: less wind, less sea, fewer obstacles to hind progress. Torn sails, Dominique Wavre (Temenos) retires. Jean Pierre Dick (Virbac) dismasts 120 nautical miles from La Coruña. Ecover and Kingfisher (13 miles behind) launch into their “pas de deux”, which they were to continue right up to the finish. Thursday 14 November The leading monohulls are at least 300 miles from the archipelago of the Azores. Kingfisher, the fastest over 24 hours ( 271.2 miles at an average of 11 knots) takes the head of the race. Roland Jourdain heads to Madeira for a technical pitstop (torn indexsail). Joé Seeten has taken third place. Friday 15 November On the approach to the Azores, the competitors are beginning to ease the sheet, but the wind is still strong. The wrestling continues between the two Brits, a duel which leaves Joé Seeten (Arcelor-Dunkerque) speechless, 208 miles behind. Ellen who has had a bit of a fright with her runners, is positioned slightly south of her adversary to anticipate the negotiation of the Azores high. Saturday 16 November The first monohulls are sailing close to the Azores archipelago, on the edge of the anticyclone. The sparring between Ellen and Mike continues and the two Brits have their eyes glued to their barometers to avoid being trapped in the calms. In the 1600 GMT rankings, Ecover, faster, scoops into the lead: he has 8 miles on Kingfisher. Sunday 17 November Wind from the north-east at 15-20 knots: the trade winds are here and we are at the halfway point in the race. Sailing under full indexsail and spinnaker, positioned to the south of the her rival, Kingfisher retakes the lead in the rankings of 07h00 GMT. At noon, Ellen was in the lead by 16 miles on Mike. The two Brits had an enormous lead on third placed Joé Seeten from then on. Monday 18 November In the trade winds, Ellen MacArthur is working hard and holds her position: 33.2 miles ahead of Mike Golding. She is also the quickest over 24 hours (229 miles, 11 knots average), despite her little trip to the top of the mast to repair the lashing of the gennaker halyard. Tuesday 19 November Ellen has lost some miles following her expedition to the top of the mast the day before. At the end of the day, she finally gybed and left the Southerly edge of the anticyclone to dive into the trade winds. Her manoeuvre was clear: to benefit from the easterly flow of the anticyclone for as long as possible so as to shift towards the west and have as few gybes to make as possible in the future. Wednesday 20 November At a little more than 1000 miles from the finish line, Kingfisher takes control with 44.5 miles on Ecover. It has to be said that Mike Golding has experienced some setbacks: first spinnaker blown and a second in tatters wrapped around his stay. Ellen is pushing her boat, spending hours on the helm and trimming so as to negotiate the squalls. The fatigue and the stress are setting in. With 330.7 miles covered in 24 hours at an average of 14 knots, she makes the best progress of the day. Thursday 21 November A moment of stress for Ellen MacArthur who has been living these 24 past hours of racing at an average of 15 knots. Not breaking anything, planning a strategy for the coastal route of 82 miles around Basse-Terre which will lead to the finish line, reindexing lucid after 12 days of racing on a knife edge… such are the reasons for her worry and fatigue. Nevertheless, Mike Golding is still losing ground: 76.3 miles behind at the end of the day. Friday 22 November Last miles to victory. At 1100 GMT on Friday 22, Kingfisher was no more than 155 miles from the finish line situated in front of the Pointe à Pitre. Once the island of Désirade is left to starboard, she will have to round a marker located to the east of Basse Terre and skirt the island by the south as far as the second marker, before the final straight line to the finish. Saturday 23 November at 0216:47 GMT Slicing the Pointe à Pitre finish line under a heavy moon and an atmosphere ripe with the anticipation of thousands of well wishers lining the beaches of Guadeloupe, the air erupted with life from the cheering and the klaxons. Averaging 14 knots towards the final hours rather than the predicted 8, Ellen was pushing back Yves Parlier’s record with every puff of wind. Reducing the record which has stood for the past 8 years by over 2 days. Finally edging her way at 7-8 along the closing straight through the throngs of boats who had come en masse to greet her after 13 days, 13 hours, 31 minutes and 47 seconds, the waiting was over and Ellen was absolutely delighted to say the very least. A hard and incredibly well fought race, tactical ly faultless, strategically brilliant and actually … inspirational! Copyright free photos, Gilles Martin-Raget On the web site : www.routedurhum.org / Obligatory photo credit : Gilles Martin-Raget or gmr@martin-raget.com Institutional Partners: Town of Saint Malo, Guadeloupe Regional Council, Town of Pointe-à-Pitre, Chamber of Commerce & Industry for Pointe à Pitre, Chamber of Commerce & Industry for Basse Terre, National Navy Official Partners: France Télécom, EPSON Official Suppliers : Air France, Bayer, Buchin Equipement Pro, Ercuis & Raynaud, Renault, Rent A Car, Station d'Avoriaz. 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