06.06.2004
www.conradhumphreys.com
HELLOMOTO WINS MILES AND THEN LOSES WIND
Day 6: Conrad clings on to 7th as he tries to reindex on course
Plymouth, England 6th June, 2004. Yesterday, Conrad Humphreys set himself a target to overtake VMI (Josse), his nearest rival, some 40 miles up the race track. With the 25 knot SW winds which blew through the night, Conrad hand-steered HELLOMOTO for 4 hours as she pressed on at 18 - 20 knots boat speed under full index and genoa, and this morning the 0300 GMT report positioned HELLOMOTO 6 miles ahead of VMI in 6th place. And then as if by some cruel twist of fate, HELLOMOTO sailed into an unusual windless zone in the centre of the low pressure system, and has sat becalmed for 8 hours, dropping behind VMI by 29m at the 1100 GMT report.
Conrad called into his Race HQ to explain what happened: “After putting the miles in overnight, I reefed and put up the staysail, and at around 0300 GMT the wind started to back. HELLOMOTO was on the wind and I thought ‘Here we go with the north westerlies!’ it was such a violent shift, and suddenly a 12 knot NW breeze kicked in. So I tacked, which is a huge job of stacking all the moveable weight from one side to the other, pumping the water ballast, and swinging the keel over, tacking the boat – the whole task takes about an hour. Then I put up the genoa and shook out the reef in the index, and after doing all this I went to put my head down.
“I must have woken up an hour later I think, and the boat was totally becalmed and the bottom batten on the indexsail had broken! I’ve no idea what happened in between, as according to the charts the NW wind should have been building through the day, and when the shift came I thought I was through. So I’ve just spent 2 hours replacing the batten and now the boat is starting to move along at just over 3 knots. Assuming that the breeze will come back I should indextain my current course and stay strong against the boats to the South, but I’m in a weak position compared to the Northerly pack coming down on a faster sailing angle.”
For us following Conrad’s progress, it’s agonising to see HELLOMOTO win another place in the rankings, only to then slide down again and spend precious hours sailing under 5 knots whilst the others are all clocking double the boat speed. Conrad on the other hand reindexs positive: “I have to be patient, I’m sailing out of it as the system is moving Eastwards, and need some new weather files to see where the strongest wind is. I took the opportunity to go for a swim and have a good wash, so I’m smelling sweet again! Well, you never know, I might even find an old sail bag to take out tonight!”
Positions at 1100 GMT
Pos Boat Latitude Longitude Speed Hdg DTF* DTL**
1 CHEMINEES 53 21.52' N 39 04.52' W 13.1 248 1427.5 0.0
2 PRB 52 44.72' N 38 29.80' W 12.8 251 1439.1 11.6
3 PINDAR 52 05.10' N 37 49.20' W 9.1 232 1439.3 11.8
7 HELLOMOTO 49 59.32' N 34 20.68' W 2.3 221 1571.4 143.9
* Distance to finish ** Distance to Leader
HELLOMOTO positions & performance data are updated on the new Race Console feature launched on our homepage – www.conradhumphreys.com
WEATHER POINT – see The Transat web site for more details
The second low pressure system has moved over the Open 60 monohull fleet and the Northerly pack are coming down the back of the system with NW winds at a fast pace. The Southerly boats are having an upwind battle in SW winds to the SE of the system. HELLOMOTO has been sticking largely to a middle route, but unusually the centre of the low is windless. The forecast is for the NW winds to build, but it will shift later for the boats in the south of the race track.
Listen in to Conrad Humphreys in the daily skippers’ chat sessions
Media can call this number 0901 500 6100 (UK only – 25p per minute) between 0900 – 0945 hrs BST each day.
Public can call this number 0906 540 0300 (UK only – 50p per minute) between 0900 – 0945 hrs BST each day.
Audio files from this session will be uploaded onto the race web site later in the morning.
The Transat Race web site: www.thetransat.com
ENDS
Mary Ambler
Communications Manager
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