28.06.2004,05:00
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IN BRIEF
* FINAL DAY OF SOLO TRANSATLANTIC RECORD ATTEMPT ONLY 25 MINUTES BEHIND
the existing 10-year-old record of Laurent Bourgnon... "It's going to be very, very tight there is no doubt about it..."
* AT 0500 GMT THIS MORNING, ELLEN HAD 350 MILES TO SAIL WITH JUST UNDER 20 HOURS left on the clock to make it to the finish line off The Lizard before the deadline at 00:44:42 GMT tomorrow to beat the 7d, 2h, 34m record...
* DRAMA ON BOARD <> WHEN AUTOPILOTS FAILED... "the wind instruments went completely haywire which meant the autopilots steering the boat lost control...it was a scary moment". A midnight call to B&G put the trimaran back on track and continued making good average speeds ahead of record pace.
* ONE ALL-IMPORTANT GYBE LEFT TO THE FINISH LINE which Ellen must time perfectly to avoid losing any time on the record. Complicated finish as <> encounters more traffic as they approach the busy shipping lanes.
* WEATHER FORECAST PREDICTS AVERAGE WIND SPEED OF AROUND 20 KNOTS through today from the south-west turning more west but diminishing later tonight to less than 5 knots after midnight...
* ELLEN RUNNING ON PURE ADRENALIN TO THE FINISH as she has averaged less than 2 hours sleep per day for the last 6 days bringing on her very first hallucination (see audio transcript below) and has only eaten 3 hot meals since leaving New York...! It will be crucial in the final stages of this record attempt that fatigue does not force her to make a costly mistake.
PLEASE NOTE:
THE WEBSITE WILL BE UPDATED EVERY 2 HOURS THROUGHOUT TODAY AND HOURLY FROM 2000HRS TONIGHT. PLEASE REFER TO THE WEBSITE FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION.
http://www.teamellen.com
STATISTICS AT 0500GMT 28 JUNE
Elapsed Time: 06d 06h 50m
Ahead/behind record: -7nm, 0h 25m Behind
Existing record: 7d 2h 34m 42s
Distance covered: 2505 miles
Distance to finish: 350 miles
Position 49 10.24N, 13 52.07W
Average boat speed (VMG) towards finish so far: 16.66 knots
Average boat sped (VMG) now required to beat record: 17.0 knots
Current boat speed: 19.3 knots
Sailed in last 24h (point to point): 430 miles
Sailed in last 12h (point to point): 238 miles
Listen to latest audio from Ellen on board <>
LATEST NEWS FROM ELLEN AT 0500 GMT THIS MORNING
Communications by BT Broadband http://www.teamellen.com/bt
It's been brilliant - wind direction tonight been absolute glam... Really scared it was going more to the west but it hasn't but we've been sailing straight down the direct route for the last 5 hours... Commander's say it will go west between 9-12hrs GMT and we will have to gybe so we just need to play the shifts to benefit the most and we can only afford time to gybe once so it has to be the right time...
I think we still have a chance of breaking the record but it's going to be very, very close and it all depends on how long this breeze we've got with us stays - it's as simple as that. We will hang on to the breeze as long as we can, keep driving the boat and I think we will have to do one more gybe to come into the finish but it's going to be very, very tight but there is a chance...
I did have some problems in the middle of the night with the wind instruments when they went completely haywire which meant the autopilots steering the boat lost control which was a slightly scary moment. It was an electrical problem and there was a small glitch in the callibration - we don't realy know how but we solved it with the help of B&QG which was a huge relief to have the wind instruments back for this final part. It was a bit of a scare so its good to be back on track and doing 20 knots again.
We have had pretty good averages during the night but one thing that hasn't happened is that we thought the breeze would get up to 30 knots in the night which it hasn't and we have had breeze of about 20-22 knots all night. So luckily that is enough to keep us sailing over 20 knots. We just have our fingers crossed that this breeze holds out throughout the day and for as long as possible so we can average 20 knots and knock that average down to have a real good chance at breaking the record.... It's going to be very, very tight there is no doubt about it. At this stage, it's a very hard record to break.
Towards the finish it's going to be quite tactical because at the moment we are heading straight for that point [off the Lizard] but the wind is going to shift so we are going to have to gybe to come into there which is going to be a much tighter angle. So trying to judge that gybe right so we don't waste any time and get the angles right is going to be quite difficult because a boat like this you can't just gybe on an instinct you have to prepare everything and it takes time. So if we have to do more gybes we will definitely lose and we don't have any time to lose...
I'm feeling very, very tired. I did manage to get some sleep tonight which is a miracle. Yesterday I was very nervous, felt stressed all day and couldn't really eat - it's been full on hard work and I know we've got almost 24 hours to go and it's going to be a hard slog with a lot more effort today. We are approaching the shipping lanes now and there will be a lot more traffic around, more boats, and fishing boats as we arrive on the continental shelf and all that's going to complicate things even further. So is going to make it all important to have your finger on the pace.
I was pretty close to my very first hallucination last night...I slept in the cuddy and then woke up in a start, didn't really know where I was but checked around the cockpit and then I could see there was a ship in the distance. As I got closer I could see her lights and I was convinced it was another competitor who then told me the ship was a first aid ship sailing with him and I am thinking he can't do that, you can't take a ship with you across the Atlantic! It took me a few minutes to realise I was imagining the whole thing...!
I have only boiled the kettle three times since leaving the States so that has told you how many hot meals I've had in the past six days!
WEATHER BRIEFING: from Commander's Weather
Wind directions are TRUE, wind speed in knots, and time is GMT
1) Winds should continue from the SW through tonight
a) flow indexly 220-240 - winds will start to edge right after 0900UTC, but this will be a slow right turn
2) Little change in wind speed thru 0600UTC and then they will slowly diminish
a) there will be more wind to the N, less to the S. More to the N of 49N, less to the S of 48N
3) Wind will slowly move right during Monday and may want to gybe around 1200-1500UTC
a) winds must be moving right when we gybe
b) we have time for 1 gybe and 1 gybe only, so when we go, it must be the
correct time
c) also keep in mind, the winds will be slightly stronger to the N
tomorrow afternoon/night
Wind forecasts
Wind directions are TRUE, wind speed in knots, and time is GMT
Mon, June 28 - winds diminish E of 10W
03: 220-240/21-27
06: 220-240/20-25
12: 220-240/22-16, near 48 45N/10W
18: 230-260/12-17
Weather: Partly cloudy to fair
Tue, June 29
00: 250-280/10-15 - finish at Lizard
06: 250-220/ 5-10
<> WILL HAVE TO CROSS THE FINISH LINE BY 00:44:42 GMT ON TUESDAY 29th JUNE 2004 TO SET ANEW RECORD FOR THE FASTEST SOLO SAILOR TO CROSS THE ATLANTIC
Solo west-east Transatlantic existing records:
Laurent Bourgnon
Primagaz (60ft trimaran)
June 1994
7d 2h 34m 42s
2925 miles
Average speed 17.15 knots
Florence Arthaud (fastest female)
Pierre 1er (60ft trimaran)
1990
9d 22h 5m
2925 miles
Average speed 12.25 knots
MacArthur currently holds three previous solo sailing race records set on board her 60-foot monohull Kingfisher:
Plymouth (UK) to Newport (US) east-west transatlantic 14 days, 23 hours, 11 minutes (fastest female and winner of Class 1).
Fastest female to race solo around the world in the 2000/2001 Vendée Globe in 94 days, 4 hours, 25 minutes, 40 seconds and finishing 2nd overall.
Route du Rhum race (St Malo, France to Guadeloupe) new course record 13 days, 13 hours, 31 minutes, 47 seconds
Visit http://www.sailspeedrecords.com for further information.
For latest information, please go to http://www.teamellen.com
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