5. Vendee Globe 2004/2005 www.vendeeglobe.org - zur Übersicht 24.12.2004 www.conradhumphreys.com HELLOMOTO Race Update No. 37, 241204 HERE AND THERE AT THE SAME TIME Broken generator enforces power ‘shut down’ Elapsed Time: 47 days, 01 hours, 20 mins Fleet Leader: Bonduelle (J Le Cam FRA) HELLOMOTO: 14th out of 16, 600m SW of Cape Leeuwin, Australia • HELLOMOTO is making headway east ahead of this storm which will kick in with 45 knots on Christmas Day for both Conrad and Ellen MacArthur who is zooming up on ‘B&Q’ just under a day’s sailing away from him… • Conrad declares his generator has gone KAPUT and no longer works. This means that he must shut down a lot of his electrics and ration his fuel consumption – as the engine is less efficient than the generator at charging – and will have to conserve power for when he needs to use his radar to sail through the iceberg minefield ahead… • Conrad wishes everyone Happy Christmas wherever in the world you are and is glad that although he is out there on the other side of the world he feels close to home thanks to advanced satellite communications technology… • Watch SKY News at 1730GMT tonight – Conrad celebrates Christmas Day live on TV at midnight his time as he is 7 hours ahead of GMT! • Watch Conrad’s special Christmas message on BBC SW Spotlight News Sunday 26th December. Conrad will also be talking live to BBC Radio Devon at 0830GMT on their Christmas Day Breakfast Show. • Audio: Interview and Happy Christmas Message from Conrad this morning is available to listen to and download from www.windreport.com/vguk or on www.o6t.com click on latest news and follow the link to the 241204 audio on the RHS Conrad Humphreys interview from onboard HELLOMOTO this morning courtesy of Geolink/Iridium: "Yesterday I spent the whole day with the generator in bits trying to find the problem. Unfortunately there is nothing we can do, it’s something mechanical that’s broken down, the generator is completely KAPUT. That means we are back to charging on the index engine. We calculated fuel for this race of 4 litres a day based on 100 days and took an extra 80l in reserve based on the generator. To stay with the same power consumption the engine would use up 10 litres a day whereas the generator uses 4 litres a day so you can see the problem. I’ve got 200 litres of fuel, I’m doing better than scheduled, about 30 litres more than I should have at this stage, but we’re going to have a very low powered rest of the race and we’re going to have to really economise for the next 50 days. I’ve got everything switched off, I’m just running the pilots and the B&G electronics and I’m switching the computers on just when I am doing weather and navigation. I’ve got no heating or lighting, the big concern is as we move into the ice field I need to conserve power to run the radar, as I’m not sailing through that minefield without the radar. “It does mean we will have to fix the tiller on the starboard rudder. Coming up the Atlantic there’s a lot of starboard tack sailing and if I’m having to hand steer then we need to sort that. I’m not overly concerned right now, I’ve got enough gas on board to keep the cabin warm, I’ve used so little up until now and we have 10 spare gas canisters left. It’s yet another challenge being thrown at me but one we can rise to. Life on board will be less bearable but in 10 days time I shall know more about my reduced consumption rate and how I’m doing. It’s like being a mole, living in darkness! “This morning was interesting as I was on a Southerly starboard gybe and was expecting to head up north as the wind shifted round to the NW. But the last 6 hours the wind has been stronger in the south and the high pressure moved north. Last night I gybed away from it as in the long term I need to get north as on Christmas day we’re going to get hit with 45 knots. I’ve been heading east for the last 6 hours at around 14 knots boat speed which is what I wanted to do, make some ground ahead of this low pressure system. I’m at the same latitude as the first waypoint and I mustn’t drop down below any more, as it would then be a fight to get back up to cross it. I’m waiting for the breeze to clock round to allow me to go 1 degree further north. “So Happy Christmas to Mike, Nick and everyone else ahead and behind me! Well, those guys ahead will already be tucking into their Christmas meal and opening presents already! Hopefully I can wish Ellen a Happy Christmas tomorrow too, it looks like she and I will be in the same system tomorrow and sharing the same storm force weather conditions by midday on Christmas Day but she is a few degrees further north than me right now. I’m sure I’ll stop over a cup of coffee tomorrow and have a pensive moment or two about being here on Christmas Day, but I am constantly blown away by the hundreds of emails I’m getting and of course I’ll be talking to my wife, family, team and close friends on the satellite phone so in a way I still feel like I can be there with them too. Happy Christmas to everyone supporting me, I hope you get what you want from Santa, all I want is a calm exit from the Indian Ocean but it all may change tomorrow!” HELLOMOTO Position & Ranking* polled at 0930 GMT Ranking / Boat / Latitude / Longitude / heading / Speed** / DTF*** / Miles from leader 1. Bonduelle / 55 59.96' S 170 56.12' W / 127 / 8.9 / 10501.6 13. Roxy / 45 48.48' S 100 55.16' E/ 115 / 10.7 / 13779.8 / 3278.3 14. HELLOMOTO / 46 45.52' S 96 26.28' E / 097 / 11.1 / 13952.4 / 3450.8 *Rankings – A series of waypoints marking a logical route have been used to calculate the rankings. The boat is ranked according to the waypoint it is nearest to. **Speed - this is an instantaneous reading ***DTF (Distance to finish) - This is worked out in comparison to the logical route Full rankings – launch Race Console off the homepage and click on link to fleet positions ENDS Media enquiries: Mary Ambler Communications Manager – Motorola Ocean Racing Team – Open 60 HELLOMOTO Email: mary@o6t.com - Tel: +44 (0) 1752 600111 - Mob: +44 (0) 7887 643583 Motorola Ocean Racing Team web site www.conradhumphreys.com – for all sports & news media enquiries & resources Vendée Globe Official Race web site www.vendeeglobe.org/uk