07.06.2004
www.conradhumphreys.com
HELLOMOTO PROPELLED INTO 4TH PLACE
Day 7: Conrad balancing between boldness and self-control
Plymouth, England 7th June, 2004. Passing the halfway stage, The Transat has become a race of attrition as two more boats in the leading pack of Open 60’s incur major damage and fall out of the race. At 0430 GMT 4th placed PRB (Riou) dismasted and lost both mast & boom over the side, and then at 0645 GMT leader Bernard Stamm on Cheminées Poujoulat-Armor Lux set off his distress beacon and contacted The Transat Race HQ as the keel had separated from the boat and she was laid over on her side. Since then MRCC Halifax has dispatched a helicopter rescue team to reach Stamm this afternoon some 360m off Newfoundland, and nearest boat VMI (Josse), 220m to his NE, has now been called off from needing to assist in the rescue operation. The winds reached 45 knots plus this morning, but it’s the sea state which has been extremely confused, with 10 metre waves coming from all sides. These ‘boat-breaking’ waves are what really affect the strong but lightweight carbon structure of these ‘Formula 1’ race boats rather than the high winds.
The Open 60 fleet is crossing Flemish Cap, the three reindexing boats in the lead, Pindar Alphagraphics (Sanderson), Ecover (Golding) and Temenos (Wavre), are rocketing down from the north in strong NE winds and converging at 47 degrees North with the rest of the fleet. Since yesterday, Conrad has gone from sailing in frustrating light airs to surviving in gale force winds and rough seas, and through this transition HELLOMOTO has overtaken VMI (Josse) and moved into 4th place, and indextained his lead over the second group of boats. HELLOMOTO holds a mere 10 mile advantage over 5th placed Skandia (Moloney), so Conrad is tight-rope walking between pushing the boat to stay ahead and keeping in control to stay safe – for him the aim of the game is to finish. “The last 24 hours have been the hardest, I’ve stayed out on deck a lot managing the sail changes and helming – in fact I enjoy it – although it’s much colder now, just trying to steer the boat through these waves. I think we’re experiencing some Gulf Stream eddies out here, the seas are really messy, I’m surfing down one wave and leaping up over the next, HELLOMOTO is shaking around the whole time.”
Despite the physically extreme conditions, it’s becoming more of a mind game out on the water: “We’re racing on the 2 hourly positions and having Skandia and VMI right on my tail, I’m fighting for every mile. Earlier I convinced myself to shake out a reef to keep up the pace. Right about when I heard that PRB dismasted, I went through a hairy broach and HELLOMOTO rounded up and was on her ear. After that I realised that I shouldn’t be taking myself or the boat out of our comfort zone as I end up less in control, and I don’t need to push like crazy in this severe weather just because someone’s right behind me. It’s about balancing your fear and boldness. Now I’ve gone back to two reefs and we’re making 14 knots boat speed, but rather that than the boat chomping over the waves at 18 knots.”
With 1325m to go to the finish of this 2,900m Transat, HELLOMOTO has crossed the half way point, heading towards the Newfoundland coastline, and Conrad reflects on what he will expect out of the second part of the race: “The Grand Banks is a fantastic stretch of coastline but we’re not going too close. There are more dramas ahead, icebergs, shipping, fishing trawlers, whales – it’ll be a tough few days but looking at the weather it’s more likely to be the ‘Perfect Calm’ now as we approach another high pressure ridge. The top boats are having to come down a lot to keep out of the ice zone and sailing more miles than us, but there’s likely to be a big split in the fleet as the 3 leaders get over the next low and sail away. I’m 290m from iceberg territory, and I’m calculating if I’ve got enough fuel to keep the batteries charged so the radar’s always on, but I put the thought out of my head about whether I’ll hit something as you wouldn’t be racing if you worried about it. I’m more concerned about how my sleep will be affected by needing to be more alert. It comes back to self-management, I’m feeling a little jaded and need some sleep right now as I’ve been up on deck a lot checking for shipping, but I am otherwise managing my personal routine, which is vital as the next half of the race will be more demanding.”
Positions at 1100 GMT
Pos Boat Latitude Longitude Speed Hdg DTF* DTL**
1 PINDAR 47 12.92' N 44 05.24' W 18.8 217 1162.3
2 ECOVER 46 56.88' N 44 11.52' W 19.6 212 1163.5 1.2
3 TEMENOS 47 51.18' N 42 53.40' W 15.8 224 1220.3 58.1
4 HELLOMOTO 48 18.04' N 40 13.68' W 12.5 236 1325.8 163.5
5 SKANDIA 47 30.06' N 39 54.12' W 10.8 250 1335.7 173.4
* 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 fleet are going through a transition zone, with a high pressure ridge off Newfoundland to cross before they go over the top of the next low pressure system coming in. Also the ice zone is to their North West above 49 degrees parallel.
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
Motorola Ocean Racing Team
Open 60 HELLOMOTO
O6T Ltd
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