11.06.2004
www.conradhumphreys.com
· Onboard image attached: An atmospheric shot of sunset whilst becalmed! (More images online) Credit: Conrad Humphreys/O6T
HELLOMOTO IN STOP-START RACE TO THE FINISH
Day 11: Conrad goes from one extreme to another
Boston, USA 11th June, 2004. The weather gods play fickle games, as any solo offshore sailor knows, and overnight they have dealt a bad hand for Conrad Humphreys in this nail-biting final phase of the 2,900 mile classic Transat race from Plymouth to Boston, USA. HELLOMOTO lies in 5th place still, but has dropped back 96m behind Skandia at the 1300 GMT position reports, sailing at a mere 5.8 knots boat speed in light winds south of the direct route and 550m from the finish.
In a shorter than normal satellite phone call this morning, Conrad was quite simply beat: “I’ve had a shocking night. I read the weather wrong, thought the high pressure ridge would drift North and sit over Skandia, but it sat over me. I spent the whole night on deck trying to get the boat to move and lost over 50 miles on Nick. What did I do wrong to deserve this kind of punishment?! Well, the reality is that I am still in 5th and very happy if I can finish like this, but there is still quite a tussle ahead with 500 miles to go!” Directly after the phone call, Conrad put his head down for some much needed rest, but will soon be searching for any advantage in the local forecasts to come back on the leaders.
In an earlier diary piece sent from onboard HELLOMOTO with some stunning sunset images he took whilst becalmed last evening (see on our web site!), Conrad observed that the full on match racing session with Skandia “did no more than deprive me of sleep, as both Nick and I spent many hours on deck trying to eek out more speed from our steeds.” His mood is apparent as the words revealed a very frustrated skipper: “The combination of lack of sleep over night and the distance opened up by Skandia have left me feeling a little subdued this morning.” However, Conrad never likes to sign off without seeing the positive in any situation, and this morning he was no different: “With under 600 miles to the finish line a lot can still happen - maybe luck will swing my way as we close on the Gulf of indexe…”
Indeed, the last stage of The Transat could still throw some ‘curveballs’ at the Open 60 monohull fleet leaders, and last night Swiss skipper Dominique Wavre on Temenos overtook Kiwi Mike Sanderson on Pindar Alphagraphics into 2nd place – the latter revealing that he had broken his starboard dagger board, which has thus affected his boat speed. Mike Golding (Ecover), the other British skipper in the fleet, holds a 34m lead, and yet as the boats get nearer to shore and into more localised weather, it will be a game of stop-and-go between here and the finish, expected to be Sunday afternoon for the current leader. HELLOMOTO is expected to arrive on Monday 14th June – we will be updating Conrad’s ETA on the web site latest news each day from now on.
Positions at 1300 GMT
Pos Boat Latitude Longitude Speed Hdg DTF* DTL**
1 ECOVER 43 05.72' N 63 08.56' W 8.4 225 347.2 0.0
2 TEMENOS 43 02.32' N 62 18.88' W 8.6 310 383.2 36.0
3 PINDAR 42 55.88' N 62 13.12' W 8.4 316 387.1 39.9
4 SKANDIA 43 12.40' N 60 19.68' W 9.0 223 467.4 120.1
5 HELLOMOTO 50.00' N 58 14.24' W 5.8 247 564.1 216.9
* 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 Open 60's still have an uphill struggle to Boston. In contrast to yesterday's strong south westerly winds today the boats face decreasing west-north-westerly winds. Speeds of 15 to 20 knots at first look set to become light and variable as the boats move west. The skippers will be looking to stay in the breeze for as long as possible, especially those in the lead as any time spent stalled in light winds could allow the rest of the fleet to catch up.
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
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