JV DAY 6 : 1500GMT MEDIA UPDATE
Datum: 04. Feb 2003 16:19
SUMMARY: 1500 GMT 4.2.03
Position: 14 29' N 26 25' W (163 nm South of northern most island of Cape Verde's / 521 nm west of Dakar)
Av/Max boat speed in last hour: 23.65 / 31 knots
Av/Max wind speed in last hour: 22.47 / 30.5 knots
Wind direction: 056
Distance to Equator: 874 nm (theorectical shortest distance)
As KINGFISHER2 continues to fly south averaging 23.65 knots in the last hour (top speed of 31 knots) the next crucial tactical decision for Ellen and Meeno Schrader (weather router) will be the best place to cross the Equator giving KINGFISHER2 a good corridor to cross the notorious Doldrums as quickly as possible. The Doldrums are as they sound - an area of little or no wind that sits near the Equator. Currently, KINGFISHER2 is on track to cross the Equator between 26 to 27 degress west. From there they must work out how to cross the giant anticyclone spreading across the entire South Atlantic (St.Helena high) that is blocking their route to the south.
It now looks almost impossible for KINGFISHER2 to break the existing Ushant to Equator record set by Geronimo (they would need to cross the Equator by 18:15:09 tomorrow) but it may be possible based on the current routing for Ellen and her crew to beat the time of 7 days 22 hours set by Orange last year and with some fast sailing even the ENZA time of 7 days, 4 hours, 24 minutes set by Peter Blake and Robin Knox-Johnston in 1994 (see below).
At 0700 GMT this morning KINGFISHER2 were 11 hours, 36 minutes behind the existing 64 day record set by 'Orange' but have closed up the gap on Geronimo to approximately 14 hours behind as KINGFISHER2 is sailing a more direct route than Geronimo was forced to, and therefore less miles. In the Southern Ocean Geronimo has been forced to sail north-east due to a deep depression making progress south impossible.
http://www.grandsrecords.com
EXCERTPS FROM CREW EMAILS TODAY...
(see full stories at http://www.teamkingfisher.com)
ANDREW PREECE: This afternoon we are expecting a GRIB file [weather prediction in a data format that is processed by the onboard routing programmes to ‘suggest’ best route to follow] to come in from Meeno that will give us our first picture of the South Atlantic. It is pretty exciting to have left the UK winter only a few days ago, to be in our shorts now and planning for the South Atlantic in the next couple of days. Right now we are about 250 miles behind Geronimo's pace but considering how much light air we have suffered over the last couple of days, we're not unhappy. There are plenty of tactical possibilities in the next 10 days or so.
NIGEL KING: One aspect that has been a little disappointing has been the wild life, so far there have been very few sighting and have been very down on my previous races in the north Atlantic. The sight of a giant squid with a body length of around 1 metre was amazing [could be the anti-biotics at work].
EQUATOR RECORD:
For KINGFISHER2 to beat the existing Ushant (start) to Equator record of 6 days, 11 hours, 26 minutes, 21 seconds set by Geronimo, KINGFISHER2 must cross the Equator 1 second before 18:15:09 GMT on Wednesday 5.2.03. However, based on the current forecast and boat speed it is not expected that KINGFISHER2 can better this record.
For KINGFISHER2 to beat the Ushant to Equator time set by Orange of 7 days, 22 hours, KINGFISHER2 must cross the Equator 1 second before 04:48:00 GMT on Friday 7.2.03.
For KINGFISHER2 to beat the Ushant to Equator time set by ENZA of 7 days, 4 hours, 24 minutes, KINGFISHER2 must cross the Equator 1 second before 11:12:49 GMT on Thursday 6.2.03.
JULES VERNE RECORD:
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 15:25:13 GMT on 4th April or less if GERONIMO lowers the record.
http://www.grandsrecords.com
JV DAY 6 : KINGFISHER2 FLYING SOUTH AGAIN REACHES CAPE VERDE ISLANDS...
Absender: "Team Kingfisher"
Datum: 04. Feb 2003 10:44
SUMMARY: 0700 GMT 4.2.03
Position: 17 27' N 25 54' W (43 nm off Cape Verde Island)
Ahead/Behind the record: 11 hours 36 minutes behind Orange
DAY 5 24 hour run (point to point) : Kingfisher2 395 nm, Orange 467 nm, Geronimo 526 nm
End DAY 5 distance to go : KF 22704 nm, Orange 22523 nm, Geronimo 22465 nm
Click on POSITIONS link at http://www.teamkingfisher.com to see graphic images comparing the tracks of these 3 challengers at 4 hourly intervals.
Av/Max boat speed in last hour: 18.18 / 27.9 knots
Av/Max wind speed in last hour: 21.64 / 30.3 knots
Wind direction: 067
Distance to Equator: 1059 nm (theorectical shortest distance)
IN BRIEF:
* NO CHANCE FOR REST ONBOARD KINGFISHER2 as the Cape Verde islands give a bit of trouble to the team as they hurtle south in new and favourable trade winds push them south at high speed. EARLY MORNING GYBE to the west [not the favoured gybe at present] called for in order to pass at least 40 miles to the west of the islands to avoid their giant window shadow [see JARGON BUSTER below]
* TRADE WINDS are behaving themselves again, the breeze kicked back again yesterday evening, and Ellen hopes that KINGFISHER2 should be at the Equator 2 days from now, just under a 1000 miles away. The record time of GERONIMO to the Equator (6d 11h) is not going to be beaten for this leg, but they have set their sights on beating ORANGE’s time of 7 days 22h, and the previous ENZA record of 7d 4h (ie pass the Equator before 1048gmt on Thursday).
* KEY TACTICAL ISSUE NOW is to determine exactly where to cross the area of no wind near the Equator, that is known as the Doldrums. Weather router Meeno Schrader with Ellen have for the moment an aim of crossing between 26 and 27 degrees west – where winds looks favourable. After that they must then work out how to cross the giant anticyclone spreading across the entire South Atlantic (St.Helena high) that is blocking their route to the south.
* THE SUNSHINE is finally starting to clear out the illness which has plagued the crew since departure, medical expert Kevin McMeel has had his hands full...news at http://www.teamkingfisher.com from various crew in past 24 hours. Click on the picture of each crew to see their latest updates. However, everyone is making the most of the sunshine, knowing only too well the cold times are not far away – Geronimo, deep in the Southern Ocean, is about to get hammered by two converging Southern Ocean storms http://www.grandsrecords.com
* GERONIMO had their best 24 hour run on day 24 of their record attempt clocking up 550 nautical miles. This gives Oliver de Kersauson and his crew a 3 day advantage over the existing 'Orange' record.
* CREW MEMBER FOCUS: Bruno Dubois, sailmaker and trimmer, manager of North Sails France has worked on the Team Kingfisher project developing sails since 1999...
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/em040203a_uk.mp3
Kingfisher operating company of the day RENO DEPOT: Réno-Dépôt is a Canadian retailer of home improvement products.
http://www.renodepot.com
LATEST COMMUNICATION FROM ELLEN (communications hosted by BT):
"We have 20 knots of breeze - it came back yesterday afternoon - and we're now just 40 miles from the Cape Verde Islands. Right now, slightly more east then we would like but we are about 1000 miles from the Equator and now the breeze has kicked in, it should stay with us to be able to make a good course straight down to the Equator.
We're going to pass the Islands and we're going to gybe away or we're lose the breeze in the shadow area. At the moment we're holding 26 00' W to 27 00' W - I discussed with Meeno the options and we decided the best option would be to gybe to the west earlier rather than later. So everything got set up on deck, the standby watch up came up and then we got a 30 degree wind shift which meant we were heading to the west side of the islands and actually making it past the islands. But the issue is that behind the big island (approx 2000m high) you get a wind shadow and that wind shadow can be up to 50 miles. So what we're doing right now is gybing away to the west to pass further away so we don't get stuck.
Sometimes the wind shadow can be 4 times the size of the islands - even if you can't see it there can be absolutely no wind. It's not the case every time but all of us have been stuck behind islands and its not much fun."
CREW MEMBER FOCUS: Bruno Dubois (BEL/CAN) - Sailmaker / Trimmer
Bruno Dubois (43) is Manager of North Sails, France. He has worked with Ellen since 1999 developing sails firstly for the monohull KINGFISHER and now KINGFISHER2. He crewed on board KINGFISHER in her maiden sail from Auckland to Cape Horn, where Bruno and the other crew left Ellen to sail KINGFISHER back to the UK solo. It is a big motivation for Bruno to not only develop the racing sails but then also to see them working: There are two reasons for me to do the Jules Verne - firstly, I wanted to see our product (North Sails) working - out on the water. I did the same thing with Ellen on the Open 60 Kingfisher sailing back from Cape Horn after the build - you get respect from the sailors and you know better what you are talking about."
Bruno has raced both big and small - he won the the Mini Transat solo trans-Atlantic race in 1983 on a 21-foot and also competed in the 60-foot ORMA multihull circuit in 2001. He knows what it takes to put a succesful team together and believes KINGFISHER2 has it: "For me, it is also about the people - to race in big projects is not always easy - but this is different and I know Ellen is the one person who can bring all these people together, to make it happen with a good feeling."
Email Bruno direct on board KINGFISHER2 at brunorace@kingfisherchallenges.com
PARTNER OF THE DAY - McMURDO: McMurdo Pains Wessex provide safety equipment to KINGFISHER2 including 7 on-board EPIRBS positioned around the boat and a personal EPIRB for each crew member.
http://www.teamkingfisher.com/mcmurdo
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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