Betreff: LE DEFI : VIRBAC DISMAST’S OVERNIGHT, SKIPPER SAFE AND SOUND
Absender: "Team Cowes"
Datum: 10. Dec 2003 17:15
LE DEFI : VIRBAC DISMAST’S OVERNIGHT, SKIPPER SAFE AND SOUND
TEAM COWES Le Défi Atlantique campaign is supported by Skandia and Cowes Waterfront
STB TACK - APPROX 300 MILES NORTH WEST OF CAPE VERDE ISLANDS - 234 MILES COVERED IN THE LAST 24 HOURS
IN BRIEF:
* Virbac, skippered by Jean-Pierre Dick, dismasted at 0200hrs GMT. Race HQ was alerted to something abnormal happening as his boat speed had dropped from 10 knots to less than 3 knots. VIRBAC'S shore team called to confirm the dismasting and to confirm that the skipper was safe and well.
* TEAM COWES takes back 4th position overnight 118.4 miles behind the new overnight Leader PRB (Vincent RIOU). Front runners are now North West of the Cape Verde Islands.
* ECOVER (Golding) reported hitting a large unidentified floating object earlier this morning. AT RACING (Alex Thomson) has started to chase down the leading pack after gybing east at 0900 yesterday morning to hook into a low pressure system. Thomson reported constant speeds of 18.7 knots during the night.
Virbac, skippered by Jean-Pierre Dick, has dismasted. At 0200hrs GMT the race HQ was alerted to something abnormal happening to the boat as speed had dropped from more than 10 knots for several hours and then suddenly stopped at less than 3 knots boat speed.
The race director immediately tried to reach Jean-Pierre on the boat, but communication was not possible. The confirmation came very soon after hearing from Jean-Pierre's shore team that he had in fact dismasted, and they had been in touch with their skipper to acknowledge his status. At the time, Jean-Pierre had left his westerly option and was heading NE trying to chase down the leading boats. In yesterday's sat phone chat, Jean-Pierre Dick had said: "I want more than anything to finish the Défi Atlantique, but if I can get onto the podium too it would be a real bonus." These goals were shattered overnight with still over 2,000 miles to cover - half the race course.
Golding was down below when ECOVER hit a semi-submerged object which resulted in some small damage to the bow. The object also struck a daggerboard and then the keel. Golding has since had the daggerboard up and confirmed that it was not damaged. In a call to his shore team he said, "Fortunately there is no big damage, as the bow is designed to take an impact of this sort, so this shouldn't slow me down too much, but it was a scary moment."
In a brief phone call from Nick he reported all is well onboard but currently has frustratingly little wind, between 5 & 8 knots. All eyes right now are on Alex Thomson who appears to have hooked into a good system which could sling shot him through the fleet, "after what looked like a risky move west it has all come good and Thompson is on fire" commented Moloney.
LE DEFI POSITIONS 10.12.03 1100GMT:
Pos/Skippers Name/Boat Name/Lat/Long/DTL/DTF
1st Vincent Riou / PRB / N245876 / W0282348/ 0 / 1848.6
2nd Mike Golding / Ecover / N235980 / W0275050 / 31.3 / 1879.9
3rd Sébastien Josse / VMI/ N225712 / W0275980 / 88.4 / 1937.0
4th Nick Moloney / TEAM COWES / N222236/ W0280136 / 118.4 / 1967.0
5th Alex Thomson / AT Racing / N255888 / W00334648/ 138.4 / 1987.0
6th Jean Pierre Dick / Virbac / N212644 / W0303588 / 243.7/ 2092.3
Mastbruch !!
7th Joe Seeten / Arcelor-Dunkerque / N202072/ W0295048 / 275.5/ 2124.1
8th Benoît LEQUIN / Wel.network / N190364 / W0290364/ 318.7/ 2167.3
9th Benoît PARNAUDEAU / Colibri / N171996 / W0311220 / 470.0 / 2318.6
10th Anne LIARDE / Gonna Gitcha / N152004 / W0312572 / 580.1 / 2428.7
PERFORMANCE PARTNER OF THE DAY : INSENSYS
Official supplier of load sensing equipment to the Offshore Challenges Sailing Team http://www.offshorechallenges.com/insensys
For Race Information go to www.defi-atlantique.org
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