The Transat Race 2004 Plymouth - Boston - Start 31.05.2004 www.thetransat.com - zur Übersicht 01.06.2004 IN BRIEF: After 18 hours of racing in The Transat, Skandia skipper Nick Moloney is in tenth place in the 15 boat Open 60 class * Nick is already lacking sleep. "In the initial 24 hours Nick always digs in pretty hard," explains Skandia shore team member John Hilderbrand. * Next obstacle for Nick is how to cross the high pressure ridge in front of the fleet - an unavoidable area of light winds. IN DETAIL : Daybreak on Tuesday marked the end of an undoubtedly stressful first night at sea for Skandia skipper Nick Moloney. Solo sailors are always nervy near land and when in close company with dozens of other yachts, but by this morning, Skandia had cleared the south-west tip of England and was out into the Irish Sea with the Transat fleet scattered across several hundred miles of ocean. Nick Moloney Skandia/Moloney DPPI Skandia ranked tenth in the provisional standings at 0900 GMT on Tuesday, 32.3 nautical miles behind the leading Open 60 Virbac, sailed by Frenchman Jean-Pierre Dick. Briton Mike Golding on Ecover is a mile and a half behind in second. Kiwi skipper Mike Sanderson on Pindar is a further 11.7 miles back, holding third. The ranking of the fleet is based on distance to sail to the Boston finish line and doesn't reflect the north-south divide as yachts try to skirt the high-pressure system lying in their path. Pindar skipper Mike Sanderson has opted for the mostly northerly route, with Ecover just to the south of Pindar and Skandia the third yacht in that line. "We looked at some models before the start and the northern option looked good," explains Skandia shore team member John Hiderbrand. "Nick has to sacrifice some miles initially but it should pay off in the long run and put him in a better position over the coming days as things evolve." Virbac is one of the most southerly yachts in the Open 60 fleet. In a brief call to the Skandia team this morning, Nick reported no problems although, like all skippers, he is already lacking in sleep. "He's doing the hard yards at the moment," continued Hilderbrand. "In the initial 24 hours Nick always digs in pretty hard and then over the next day or so he'll settle into a routine and sleep pattern." "He was disappointed with his start but he knows that's now behind him and he's focusing on the race ahead of him." Skandia is expected to hit the high-pressure system late tonight or early tomorrow. The results of the north against south tactical dilemma should be known by mid-week. IMOCA POSITIONS 1100 GMT NAME / SKIPPER / LAT / LONG / DATE / DIST 1. VIRBAC / DICK / 50 15.44'N / 9 10.80'W / 2538.7 miles to finish 1. ECOVER / GOLDING / 50 36.84'N / 9 00.56'W / 2.1 miles behind leader 4. PRB / RIOU / 50 27.96'N / 8 52.00'W / 14.1 miles behind leader 3. PINDAR / SANDERSON / 50 48.28'N / 8 38.32'W / 14.1 miles behind leader 5. CHEMINEES - ARMOR LUX / STAMM / 50 22.28'N / 8 42.64'W / 16.7 miles behind leader 10. SKANDIA / MOLONEY / 50 28.96'N / 8 14.28'W / 32.9 miles behind QINETIQ FACT OF THE DAY : Nick has been recieving expert scientific advice from QinetiQ's Centre for Human Sciences. As well as pre-race advice on nutrition, food intake and sleep, QinetiQ scientists will also carry out a continuous physiological assessment on Nick during and immediately after The Transat. The resulting data will be used to help Nick to prepare for the Vendee Globe starting in November 2004. QinetiQ completed a series of tests in the 2 days prior to Nick's departure from Plymouth, which will be repeated on his arrival at Boston. Departure Day 1 The evening before the race start as part of QinetiQ's race monitoring of Nick, he was dosed with around 200 milliitre of Doubly Labelled Water, from which his daily energy expenditure will be calculated. Details of QinetiQ's physiological monitoring of Nick during the race will be published tomorrow. Departure Day 2: Nick completed the battery of pre departures tests to read more http://www.nickmoloney.com/uk/default.asp?m=displayarticle&id=11390 http://www.qinetiq.com PERFORMANCE PARTNER OF THE DAY : MUSTO Official technical clothing supplier to Nick and the Offshore Challenges Sailing Team http://www.nickmoloney.com/musto For more information visit http://www.nickmoloney.com or contact : Helen King hk@offshorechallenges.com T : +44(0)870 063 0210 M : +44(0)7870 678360 NOTES * Nick Moloney is one of an impressive group of Skandia Set Sail athletes. * Skandia Set Sail is a global sponsorship programme that aims to offer people more opportunities to participate in the sport on a broader level. The objectives of the Skandia Set Sail Campaign are to make sailing more accessible, grow the sport's reach and enrich peoples' lives through the sport. The Skandia Set Sail portfolio is divided into three groups; events, teams and athletes. * The portfolio includes the title sponsorships of Skandia Cowes Week, the world's oldest and largest regatta on the Isle of Wight, UK (title sponsors for 10 years in 2004) and Skandia Geelong Week in Victoria, Australia - now twinned with Skandia Cowes Week; UK sailors Iain Percy and Steve Mitchell in their Athens Star campaign; Sam Davies, the up and coming single-handed yachtswoman and her Figaro campaign; Austrian 470 sailors, Sylvia Vogl and Carolina Flatscher; the Skandia Brown Cup, the Scottish Schools Sailing Championship; Skandia Cowes Youth Week, a leading international match racing championship, the Skandia Yachting Academy (in association with Kit Hobday's Bear of Britain) and the Skandia Maxi, Australia's biggest ocean racing yacht and line-honours winner of the 2003 Sydney-Hobart Race. * Sail 4 Cancer is the official charity of the Skandia Set Sail programme. * For further information contact www.skandiasetsail.com. 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