13.06.200
www.conradhumphreys.com
· HELLOMOTO’s ETA is currently Monday 14th in the afternoon UK time
a more precise ETA and finish time will be updated on the Latest News at www.conradhumphreys.com
· Media requests – please contact Mary Ambler via email or mobile in advance to pre-arrange telephone interviews with Conrad after his arrival or request finish photography in high resolution
HELLOMOTO SET TO FINISH THE TRANSAT IN 24HRS AND IN TOP 5
Day 13: Conrad relaxed and confident with 200 miles to go…
Boston, USA 13th June, 2004. In the early hours of this morning, Ecover (Golding), Temenos (Wavre) and Pindar Alphagraphics (Sanderson) glided across the finish line in Boston Harbor one by one to take the podium spots in The Transat Open 60 monohull fleet race. Records have tumbled as victor Mike Golding, the only other competing British skipper apart from Conrad, knocked over 2 days off the current race record of 14 days and 16 hours by covering the 2,800m course in 12 days & 15 hours. Out on the water, HELLOMOTO has gained precious miles on 4th placed Skandia overnight to come back to 83m behind as they fight the high pressure ridge on the approach to Cape Cod and navigate coastal waters rich with wildlife but also full of shipping. Moloney on Skandia reported to have caught a fishing net around the keel and is now becalmed, hoping to protect his lead on HELLOMOTO with 100 miles to go.
Conrad himself sounded very content on the satellite call-in to his shore team waiting for him in Boston and if anything is relishing every moment of his last 24hrs and 200 miles of racing on board HELLOMOTO in The Transat: “It’s been a very busy night watching out for shipping and whales, but also very relaxed, we’re moving along at about 7 knots with full index and either Code 0 or genoa up in 9 knots of breeze from the NNW. It’s just so beautiful out here, and I spent a lot of yesterday sitting in my front porch (ed: the cuddy!) gathering my thoughts on the race and writing down what needs to be done with the boat for the Vendée Globe. Clearly, work needs to be done on the sails and sheeting configuration, but she’s not that much off the pace. Also I know I can make improvements on my tactical and weather skills and turn this into an advantage for the Vendée – I’ve learnt this lesson the hard way by making the wrong call which lost me my 4th place to Skandia! The match-racing scenario with Nick, though, helped me to confirm that in terms of the boat we are going in the right direction with the set up, keeping things simple. She’s really just a pussycat right now and has so much more potential we can unleash. I’ve certainly got a lot more confidence in myself and in the boat for the Vendée now than I ever did at the start of The Transat.”
Overnight, Pro-Form overtook UUDS to be lurking 50 miles behind HELLOMOTO and matching her pace, but as long as Conrad keeps between skipper Marc Thiercelin and the finish line, there should be no dramas: “Crossing this ridge will mean that the guys behind will get closer as we slow up a bit, but we’re also going to come out the other side first and increase the gap again, after Cape Cod we’ll tack onto port and it should be a pretty straight road to the finish line.”
Conrad may have caught up on sleep, and is eating properly (“thanks to my clever wife who knows exactly what I need to eat!”), but is still feeling the effects from long term sleep deprivation after 13 days non-stop solo racing: “I had another funny dream last night which involved me talking to someone in my sleep. Suddenly the rigging had, I imagined, become entangled with a fishing trawler’s, and the mast was being pulled over to one side. In fact the Code 0 was on the limit and the boat was on her ear. The funny thing was that in my sleep I said to whoever it was mid-conversation “Excuse me just a minute, I have to go outside, I’ll be back soon!” and then woke up, jumped out on deck and spent the first few seconds telling myself that I had to cut the rig loose!”
Open 60 Class Finishers:
1 ECOVER 04:18:08 GMT on 13/06/04 in 12 days, 15hrs, 18 mins, 8s at an average boat speed of 9.23 knots
2 TEMENOS 07:22: 03 GMT on 13/06/04 in 12 days, 18 hrs, 22 mins, 03s at an average boat speed of 9.13 knots – 3hrs, 3mins, 55s behind Ecover
3 PINDAR 09:54:33 GMT on 13/06/04 in 12 days, 20 hrs, 54 mins, 33s at an average boat speed of 9.06 knots – 5hrs 34mins 25s behind Ecover
Positions at 1100 GMT
Pos Boat Latitude Longitude Speed Hdg DTF* DTL**
4 SKANDIA 41 57.92' N 68 21.88' W 5.3 336 117.4
5 HELLOMOTO 41 12.80' N 66 43.20' W 8.7 266 201.1 83.8
6 PRO-FORM 41 05.48' N 65 37.88' W 9.3 265 249.9 132.5
* 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
Listen in to Conrad Humphreys in the daily skippers’ chat sessions
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
Media enquiries:
Mary Ambler
Communications Manager
Motorola Ocean Racing Team
Open 60 HELLOMOTO
O6T Ltd
Email: mary@o6t.com
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