09.06.2004
SKANDIA'S DUEL ON THE GRAND BANKS...
Twenty years ago, Skandia pioneered MultiManager investment within long-term savings products - and we are now bringing the same pioneering spirit to our sponsorship of Nick Moloney.
Supporting the Skandia MultiManager campaign are three of Skandia's leading international fund management partners - Invesco Perpetual, Gartmore Investment Managers and Merrill Lynch Investment Managers.
IN BRIEF:
* HELLOMOTO (4th at 1700GMT) led into last night but SKANDIA (5th at 1700GMT) emerges in fourth place this morning; Nick and Conrad were within shouting distance on the Grand Banks on day nine of the Transat. ECOVER has clear lead at the front of the Open 60 fleet.
* Nick holds fourth despite wiping-out and hitting a submerged object, but there is no damage.
*First boat arrives into Boston; Sixty-foot trimaran winner Michel Desjoyeaux on GEANT completes the 2,800 miles from Plymouth to Boston in eight days, eight hours, 29 minutes and 55 seconds at an average speed of
13.61 knots; a new course record.
IN DETAIL :
It's a case of six of one, half-a-dozen of the other for Nick Moloney and Conrad Humphreys in the Transat race.At the last poll yesterday evening before the nightly information black-out, the British yacht HELLOMOTO had a small edge. The pair then spent yesterday racing within shouting distance but at the 1100 GMT position report today SKANDIA emerged ahead in fourth place by 16.5 miles.
see the image taken by Conrad onbaord HELLOMOTO on http://www.nickmoloney.com
"I expect Conrad to catch-up again," said an exhausted Nick this morning (wednesday). He hasn't slept since yesterday morning and admits with Conrad so close, "it‚s pretty hard to relax." These two yachts last dueled to the finish in the 2002 Route du Rhum. SKANDIA (in her previous guise) won. Could it be 2-0 into Boston?
Nick's lead this morning is despite another big wipe-out overnight. He was caught out by small increases in the breeze that eventually overpowered the autopilot. At the time SKANDIA was making fast progress under full indexsail and code E in 25-30 knots of breeze. "I was just thinking to myself how well the autopilot was the sailing the boat and I wiped out," recounted Nick.
The physical effort it took to get SKANDIA under control, putting a double-reef in the indexsail, left him breathless. He now has a sore throat, not helped by the chilly temperatures. To top a tough 24 hours, SKANDIA later appears to have struck a submerged object, going from 12 knots to 4 in seconds. Several Transat skippers have reported collisions with whales in this race, although Nick is unsure what SKANDIA hit. There appears to be no damage.
This morning SKANDIA is making 15 knots boat speed in 20 knots of breeze. If Nick can continue to fend off HELLOMOTO, the next target is third-placed Frenchman Dominique Wavre on TEMENOS, 121 miles ahead with 792 miles to sail to Boston, an achievable goal given the long range forecast conditions which
indicate some holes in the breeze in which any of the boats ahead could get stuck in.
Briton Mike Golding continues to lead the Open 60 class. His yacht ECOVER is 28.2 miles ahead of Kiwi Mike Sanderson on PINDAR. Golding had 737 miles to sail to Boston at 1100 and was making an extra knot of boat speed on the New Zealander.
Three 60-foot trimaran's, all French, have now finished the Transat. Winner Michel Desjoyeaux on GEANT smashed 38 hours off Francis Joyon's record and 2000 winning time. He completed the 2,800 miles from Plymouth to Boston in eight days, eight hours, 29 minutes and 55 seconds at an average speed of 13.61 knots. The second and third boats, Thomas Coville's SOBEDO and Franck Cammas, GROUPAMA both eclipsed the previous record.
IMOCA POSITIONS 1100 GMT
NAME / SKIPPER / LAT / LONG / DIST
1. ECOVER / Golding / 42 28.72'N / 54 19.64'W / 735.5 to finish
2. PINDAR ALPHAGRAPHICS / Sanderson / 43 06.96'N / 53 37.80'W / 28.2 behind leader
3. TEMENOS / Wavre / 42 31.52'N /52 54.56'W / 55 behind leader
4. SKANDIA / Moloney / 43 44.16'N / 50 09.88'W / 177.7 behind leader
5. HELLOMOTO / Humphrey's / 43 42.76'N / 49 47.24'W / 194.1 behind leader
ABD CHEMINÉES POUJOULAT - AMOR LUX / STAMM
ABD PRB / RIOU
ABD VIRBAC / Dick
QINETIQ FACT OF THE DAY : COMBATING THE COLD - INCREASING HEAT PRODUCTION
In order to cope with cold, windy and wet conditions your body adopts a three-pronged approach. It reduces heat loss, increases heat production and mobilises metabolic fuels.
Heat production is increased through rhythmic muscular contractions known as shivering. Shivering is stimulated when heat loss causes your skin temperature to fall rapidly or your core body temperature to fall to the shivering threshold. The shivering threshold is the point to which your body temperature must fall before shivering begins, and varies between individuals, due to a number of factors including: age, gender and level of body fat. Because shivering unlike other muscular contractions produce no work the energy is mostly converted into heat.
However, like all metabolic activity, shivering consumes energy and can only be indextained while the substrates required to fuel it are available.
Further information see http://www.qinetiq.com
PERFORMANCE PARTNER OF THE DAY : RED FUNNEL
Official Transport Partner to the Isle of Wight for Nick and the Offshore Challenges Sailing Team
http://www.nickmoloney.com/redfunnel
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
* For further information contact http://www.skandiasetsail.com
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