ELLEN MACARTHUR / KINGFISHER 2 JULES VERNE RECORD ATTEMPT
Absender: "Team Kingfisher"
Datum: 26. Jan 2003 18:21
RADIO ADVISORY : 26 JANUARY 2003
* Ellen MacArthur and crew plan to depart Lorient tomorrow on board KINGFISHER2 to make the 130 mile passage to the Jules Verne start area...
* Tuesday forecast to bring 30 knots from the NW with 7-8 metre swell making it difficult to make the passage from Lorient or to start the record attempt...
* Potential Jules Verne start planned for Wednesday as wind goes north and sea state decreases...
* ELLEN AUDIO AVAILABLE FROM 1200 TOMORROW (MONDAY 27.1.03) AT http://ocftp.com/audio
IN DETAIL:
The weather situation is about as complicated as can be . Based on the current weather forecast Ellen MacArthur and her crew will leave Lorient (NW France)
on board KINGFISHER2 tomorrow in fairly clement conditions to make the 130 mile passage to the Jules Verne start area between Ushant (France) and the Lizard
(UK) at the mouth of the English Channel. However, it is unlikely that KINGFISHER2'S non-stop round the world Jules Verne record attempt will start until
Wednesday.
The weather forecast for Tuesday is for strong 25-30 knot winds from the north west - which is exactly the direction KINGFISHER2 needs to sail in to reach
the start area - combined with a 7-8 metre swell making the passage from Lorient extremely difficult in conditions that could potentially damage the boat and
tire the crew.
As KINGFISHER2 faces the prospect of departure on her record attempt - Olivier de Kersauson and his crew on board 'Geronimo' are entering the Southern Ocean
on day 16 of their Jules Verne record attempt and still ahead of the existing record set by Bruno Peyron on 'Orange' of 64 days, 8 hours, 37 minutes, 24
seconds.
Audio files produced by Windreport will be available from 1200 tomorrow (Monday 27/01/03) recorded with Ellen MacArthur about her departure from Lorient and
the impending non-stop round the world Jules Verne record attempt start. Visit http://ocftp.com/audio to download audio files (each audio file is referenced
by the date and initials eg em270103_uk.mp3.
KINGFISHER2 PLAN TO DEPART LORIENT MONDAY - POSSIBLE START WEDNESDAY...
Absender: "Team Kingfisher"
Datum: 26. Jan 2003 14:59
* Ellen MacArthur and crew plan to depart Lorient tomorrow on board KINGFISHER2 to make the 130 mile passage to the Jules Verne start area...
* Tuesday forecast to bring 30 knots from the NW with 7-8 metre swell making it difficult to make the passage from Lorient or to start the record attempt...
* Potential Jules Verne start planned for Wednesday as wind goes north and sea state decreases...
Kingfisher plc is one of Europe's leading retailers and title sponsor of Ellen MacArthur since 1998. The 110 ft catamaran KINGFISHER2 is sailing under the
colours of B&Q and Castorama, the principle home improvement businesses
of the company.
Visit http://www.teamkingfisher.com for latest information
IN DETAIL:
The weather situation is about as complicated as can be but starting record attempts is never an easy task. Based on the current weather forecast Ellen
MacArthur and her crew will leave Lorient (NW France) on board KINGFISHER2 tomorrow in fairly clement conditions to make the 130 mile passage to the Jules
Verne start area between Ushant (France) and the Lizard (UK) at the mouth of the English Channel. However, it is unlikely that KINGFISHER2'S non-stop round
the world Jules Verne record attempt will start until Wednesday.
The weather forecast for Tuesday is for strong 25-30 knot winds from the north west - which is exactly the direction KINGFISHER2 needs to sail in to reach
the start area - combined with a 7-8 metre swell making the passage from Lorient extremely difficult in conditions that could potentially damage the boat and
tire the crew.
"It is a really tough call and things could change," said MacArthur. "But we know that trying to get from Lorient to the start area on Tuesday would be a
nightmare so we decided to go early and leave Lorient on Monday afternoon. Equally we can see there is an opportunity to cross the start line on Wednesday
as the wind moves back to the north and, perhaps more importantly, the sea state also decrease. It is usually the sea state that stops us sailing these
boats at their full potential not the wind - so it is not smart to start when we can't sail at our maximum."
The 14 crew will be arriving back in Lorient tonight to prepare for their departure tomorrow. The final decision to depart will be reviewed in the morning
but all being well KINGFISHER2 will be on her way.
As KINGFISHER2 faces the prospect of departure on her record attempt - Olivier de Kersauson and his crew on board 'Geronimo' are entering the Southern Ocean
on day 16 of their Jules Verne record attempt and still ahead of the existing record set by Bruno Peyron on 'Orange' of 64 days, 8 hours, 37 minutes, 24
seconds.
You are subscribed to receive updates while Ellen and Kingfisher2 are at sea, if you would like to change your frequency of updates please email
updates@offshorechallenges.com stating E1 for Daily, E2 for Weekly or E3 for Major news only.
For more information and images of KINGFISHER2 visit
http://www.teamkingfisher.com
For media enquiries please contact Lou Newlands lou@offshorechallenges.com
For images and stills, please contact Josie Robinson
josie@offshorechallenges.com
For TV feeds contact rsimmonds@appbroadcast.com
Kingfisher plc is one of Europe's leading retailers operating in the
international home improvement and electrical and furniture markets.
Kingfisher employs around 90,000 people in over 1,397 stores across 16
countries and includes some of the best known retail brands in Europe: B&Q
and Comet in the UK and Castorama, Darty and BUT in France.
http://www.diy.com
http://www.comet.co.uk
http://www.kingfisher.com
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