DAY 14: KINGFISHER2 LOOKING FOR TICKET OUT OF SOUTH ATLANTIC...
Absender: "Team Kingfisher"
Datum: 12. Feb 2003 10:14
SUMMARY: 0700 GMT 12.2.03
Position: 26 05' S 34 02' W (Rio de Janeiro 539nm NW / Cape Town 2750nm E)
Ahead/Behind the record: 18 hours 52 minutes behind Orange (using WP4)
Ahead/Behind Geronimo: 64 hours 43 minutes behind Geronimo (using WP5)
DAY 13 24 hour run (point to point) : Kingfisher2 229 nm, Orange 305 nm, Geronimo 277 nm
End DAY 13 distance to go (on theoretical course) : KF2 20293 nm, Orange 19991 nm, Geronimo 19258nm
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: 9.03 / 16.4 knots heading: 232
Av/Max wind speed in last hour: 6.6 / 13.0 knots Wind direction: 98
Distance to WP4 35 00'S / 24 00'W approach to Southern Ocean : 745 nm
Distance to WP5 42 00'S / 18 28'W 490nm south Cape Town: 2734
(theorectical shortest distance)
IN BRIEF:
* LIGHT AIRS CONTINUE AS KINGFISHER2 TRIES TO CROSS THE 'RIDGE' as the blocking high pressure bubbles continue to hold back the giant catamaran. On the same day both Orange and Geronimo had slow days (305nm, 277nm). The Southern Ocean is not so far away, but right now, a little too far...
* Ellen commenting this morning..."WE HAVEN'T HAD MUCH LUCK ON THE
WEATHER FRONT so far on this Jules Verne, we are not that far behind Peyron's record, just a few hundred miles...and anything can still happen, we’ve 20,000 miles to go, thats the equivalent of 8 transatlantics..."
* THE RECORD OF PEYRON IS VERY MUCH IN REACH, the pace of GERONIMO is somewhat faster, but definitely attainable..."We are around 1000 miles behind de Kersauson which equates to over 2 days but we keep reminding ourselves that these cats did a time in The Race 2000 for the first Southern Ocean leg [Cape of Good Hope - Cape Leeuwin] nearly 2 days faster than GERONIMO has just done - so we are a long way from giving up hope on this. Although he is over halfway round the world, we've only does a quarter of this trip, still got three-quarters to go and anything can still happen."
* TEMPERATURES REindex VERY HOT AND UNCOMFORtable onboard....in just a few days time though the crew hope to be packing away the shorts and piling on the thermals, as the cold, and the wind they most desperately seek arrive. Check it all out on the webcam at http://www.teamkingfisher.com
* KINGFISHER2's HIGH SPEED DATA SATELLITE LINK, damaged by the North Atlantic storms in the first 48 hours of the record bid, has been fully repaired. On the first night of the Jules Verne, a massive wave crashed on the aft section of the boat, ripping off the port dome completely and severly damaging the starboard back-up system. But with shore-side support from Thrane & Thrane, crew members Andrew Preece and Jason Carrington have doggedly worked on the system for the last week and yesterday the first on-board pictures from KINGFISHER2 arrived back. The Thrane & Thrane Capsat Fleet77 terminal provides high speed data and voice connections allowing KINGFISHER2 to go on-line at speed to gather weather information, transmit data and media content. See http://www.teamkingfisher.com to read the full story...
* GERONIMO on day 32 has headed back south into the 50s in their part of the Pacific section of the Southern Ocean, after holding further north to avoid bad seas in the Indian Ocean.
http://www.grandsrecords.com
* CREW MEMBER FOCUS: Anthony Merrington, but known to everyone as Youngster, excelled in the Laser class at home in Australia and on the world circuit, before moving on to big boats. He raced on board the monohull Kingfisher in 2001 and now he is on KINGFISHER2 as trimmer...
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/em120203a_uk.mp3
Kingfisher operating company of the day DARTY: Darty is France's leading electrical retailer with 186* stores. (*Figures as at 2.2.2002)
http://www.darty.fr
ELLEN LATEST LOG: (communications by BT [broadband users check out video and other high speed content at http://kingfisher.sportal.com]
As I sit here typing there is a reflection shining through the nav station hatch on the dark water outisde... The moon seems as if it's blazing out - lighting up the sky and our still silent world... There's a funny feeling on a boat like KINGFISHER2, a feeling of complete silence when you're sailing slowly. You get used to the rush of water powering past the hulls. It's normally quite hard to hear what is going on, I suppose like having a conversation at the base of the Niagara Falls. Tonight though - tonight the sound is more akin to the noise of a bubbling burn than a giant waterfall as we trickle through the water... sittting outisde I look up in wonder and frustration at the sky. The weather has not been on our side. It has chosen to test us, to push us hard - though this time so far not with gales and storms, but with nothing. I remember my own words - which right now ring out loud in my head: "What is hard about a record attempt is that it's completely dependant on the weather - unlike a race where you are in the same weather as your competitors..." And I was right - there is no way we could have matched other record attempts at this stage when we have had so little wind. Life on board is becoming more regular as I spend half an hour to an hour on deck at each watch change. I encouraged myself to do that, and it's important. I feel happier chatting to the guys, and its uplifting to be around their fantastic humour. Despite the days of heat and frustration they are driving hard, and for the most part, smiling about it. There is nothing we could have done about this weather situation, there is little we could have predicted. Each change in the weather, and however microscopic, seems to be have been for the worse... It must be nigh on time for our luck to change... I've just been studying a satellite picture, and it shows some tiny cloud bands depictig the outer limits of our windless hole. It's a tiny fragment of information - but real information and not a prediction. The wind has risen to 9 knots - and from the NNE... For the hundredth time today I wonder - is this our ticket out of here?
ex
JULES VERNE USHANT (START) TO CAPE OF GOOD HOPE TIMES:
1993 Commodore Explorer (Peyron) 21 days 12 hours 48 minutes
1994 ENZA (Blake/Knox-Johnston) 19 days 17 hours 53 minutes
1997 Sport Elec (de Kersauson) 21 days 18 hours 17 minutes
2002 Orange (Peyron) 18 days 18 hours 40 minutes
2003 Geronimo (de Kersauson) 16 days 14 hours 35 minutes 21 seconds
OMEGA official timekeeper of KINGFISHER2'S Jules Verne record attempt
CREW MEMBER FOCUS: Anthony Merrington, aka Youngster, (AUS) - Trimmer
Younster is an accomplished Laser sailor - between 1997-1999 he mounted an Olympic Laser campaign, came 1st in the Silver Fleet at the 1998 Sydney International Regatta, 22nd at the 1999 World Championship and 2nd at the 1999 Australian National Championship - but in 1999 he switched to big boats working on illbruck's Volvo Ocean Race campaign as boat captain. The offshore life got the better of him. He competed in the Sydney-Hobart Race on board Ausmaid and in the Newport-Bermuda Race on board Farr 52 Loco. In 2001 he came to the UK and joined the crew of Kingfisher to race in the Open 60 Grand Prix circuit. Youngster was one of just two crew to race the entire 5 legs - including two trans-Atlantics - of the EDS Atlantic Challenge finishing first overall. He went back to the Volvo Ocean Race in 2002 joining Team SEB at Leg 4 (Auckland) for the duration of the race. But Youngster wanted to go "non-stop" and KINGFISHER2 happened: "The big challenge for me is non-stop - to go 60 days flat-out will be awesome." Email Youngster direct on board KINGFISHER2 at youngsterrace@kingfisherchallenges.com
PERFORMANCE PARTNER OF THE DAY - BUSHNELL: Bushnell provide protective eyewear to Team Kingfisher including Bollé and H2Optix sunglasses, goggles and night vision eyewear.
http://www.teamkingfisher.com/h2optix
To sign up for regular or 'major news only' text messages, provided by 02, email sms@kingfisherchallenges.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
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
|
