JULES VERNE DAY 2 : 1600 MEDIA UPDATE
Absender: "Team Kingfisher"
Datum: 31. Jan 2003 16:50
SUMMARY: 1500 GMT 31.1.03
Position: 40 46' N 13 18' W (west of Portugal)
Ave/Max boat speed in last hour: 18.96 / 27.9 knots : course 237
Ave/Max wind speed in last hour: 22.98 / 30.3 knots : direction 027
Distance to Equator: 2,500 nm (theorectical shortest distance)
DAY 1 24 hour runs: Orange 457nm, Geronimo 472nm, Kingfisher2 453nm
1500gmt Position chart showing Kingfisher2, Orange, Geronimo and record pace [Orange time divided by theoretical distance of 24712 miles] normalised at 1500gmt :
http://www.ocftp.com/posnimage/kf_PIC3_2003-01-31_150000.jpg
KINGFISHER2 at 1500 GMT was approximately 212 nautical miles due west of Porto on the Portuguese coast over the Iberian Basin taking advantage of the southerly current in this area of the North Atlantic. KINGFISHER2 gybed to port this morning but has gybed back to starboard this afternoon to get some westerly advantage whilst pushing south to avoid the weakening gradiant expected later in the day. The wind is expected to go further right (040) during the night.
After the first 24 hour run KINGFISHER2 was just 12 minutes behind the existing record set by 'Orange'.
KINGFISHER2 started Jules Verne record attempt at 06:48:39 GMT on 30.1.03. To beat the existing 'Orange' record of 64 days 8 hours 37 minutes 24 seconds, KINGFISHER2 must finish 1 second before 1525 GMT 13 seconds on 4th April or less if GERONIMO lowers the record. (Geronimo website http://www.grandsrecords.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 Richard Simmonds rsimmonds@appbroadcast.com
For audio feeds contact Hélène Belleoud hb@windreport.com
JULES VERNE DAY 2: KINGFISHER2 PAST CAPE FINISTERE
Absender: "Team Kingfisher"
Datum: 31. Jan 2003 10:21
SUMMARY : 0719 GMT 31.1.03
Position : 11 21' W 43 58.8' N (passed Cape Finistere in the night now sailing south-west approx 180 miles off Portuguese coast)
Max boat speed : 34 knots
Max wind speed : 41.4 knots
Course: 248
Wind direction: 042
IN BRIEF:
* KINGFISHER2 passed Cape Finistere after a rough night in the North Atlantic - winds average 30 knots but set to decrease today. Wind direction more from the NE pushing KINGFISHER2 to sail slightly further west but still heading south averaging 19.87 knots.
* KINGFISHER2 will pass the sunken oil tanker Prestige later this morning.
* Crew settle in to watch system although conditions are still making life on deck, and below, pretty tough.
Listen to Ellen's latest audio this morning... Visit http://www.teamkingfisher.com and click on the 'Audio' icon on the menu bar or download from http://www.ocftp.com/audio/em310103a_uk.mp3
Kingfisher operating company of the day Comet : Comet is Britain's original out-of-town electrical chain and enjoys the number two position in the UK electrical market.
http://www.comet.co.uk
IN DETAIL:
Latest communication with Ellen on board at 0900GMT:
“Its been a full on 24 hours since we started. We saw 60 knots of wind during yesterday, and some wild seas. But to make use of this weather window, we did the right thing to leave, even though sailing in these extreme conditions has not been that great. The wind off of Portugal is definitely going to shut down soon, but hopefully we’ll have pushed past in to the Trade Winds before it does”
"The watch system is working well - when the guys are not on deck they are just crashed out everywhere. If I go on deck to speak to the helmsman I am climbing over bodies still in their oilskins and on deck the spray is just constant - the helmsman is constantly ducking to avoid the worst of it - its pretty cold and and has been really quite violent onboard since the start.”
"But the food is good and everyone is eating properly apart from myself, Bruno and Benoit - we all caught some kind of bug during our very short pitstop in Plymouth. This hasn’t made this wet and cold 24 hours very easy!”
"When we passed Cape Finistere in the night the seas were very confused coming from the NW and the North but the sea conditions are steadying now, wind down to about 30 knots.
"We are about 180 miles offshore from the Portuguese coast west of Sanxenxo (port on the Spanish coast just north of Vigo). Not passed the 'Prestige' yet (sunken oil tanker) - it is about 40 miles south east of us and we will pass it about 50 miles to the west.
"There is no real next way point as such - we will make a final gybe towards the Trades in the south later today hopefully. The breeze will run out soon where we are right now so we are pushing south as fast as we can."
Life on board should improve considerably for the 14 crew by the weekend as KINGFISHER2 aims to hook into the Trade Winds. The watch system on board KINGFISHER2 is a four hours off-watch, four hours on-standby and four hours on-watch with a crew of 4 in each system. Guillermo Altadill, Neal McDonald and Hervé Jan are the 3 watch leaders on board - both Ellen and Andrew Preece are outside of the watch system to allow them to focus on their specific roles on board as navigator and media communications respectively. Visit http://www.teamkingfisher.com to see which watch system the crew are currently in (updates in real time).
The forecast for next 24 hours shows the wind staying in the North East decreasing to 20-25 knots. KINGFISHER2 will gybe later today heading south towards the Trade Winds.
PARTNER OF THE DAY - BT Openworld:
BT Openworld have been a long-term partner of the Team Kingfisher and now via the BT Broadband facility Kingfisher2 will have broadband capacity on board to download weather information and send images and emails back to Team Kingfisher mission control in Cowes. These images will be streamed to a new dedicated portal http://kingfisher.sportal.com allowing viewers to see the latest images from onboard Kingfisher2.
http://www.teamkingfisher.com/btopenworld
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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