03.12.2004
Trimaran title sponsor B&Q is the biggest DIY retailer in Europe and third biggest in the world. http://www.diy.com
DAY 6 MEDIA RELEASE: THE CLOCK NEVER STOPS TICKING...
KEY DATA AFTER 6 DAYS 7 HOURS: 4 hours 9 minutes behind Joyon
(data communicated by Thrane MiniC via BT YAHOO!)
Lat/Long: 21 00 N / 025 43 W (175 miles NE of Cape Verde Islands)
Average Boat speed: 21.09 knots (heading SSW)
True Wind speed: 17.9 knots (direction ENE)
Distance sailed so far: 2131 miles
Update based on data recorded at 1510 GMT...check http://www.teamellen.com for the latest data updated hourly...
IN BRIEF:
* B&Q PICKING UP SPEED AND MAKING UP LOST TIME...sailing in established Trade Winds, averaging 20+ knots since 1200 GMT, Ellen is sailing faster and clawing back a few precious minutes on the record...
* WHY THE DEFICIT? Ellen is currently sailing a more south-westerly course to set up for faster crossing of the Doldrums and Equator, compared to Joyon who sailed a more direct course to the east in a more favourable wind direction...
* NEXT WEATHER OBSTACLE THE DOLDRUMS...sailing in good ENE trades for now, by the second half of the weekend, B&Q may start to feel the effects of the Doldrums by Sunday... (see Jargon Buster below)
* ELLEN FINDING HER FORM AND GETTING TO GRIPS WITH THE MATHS..."I'm alright, much more into it than I was. Spent a long time going over Joyon's positions and his average speeds and things. I needed to get a grip of that..." (see Ellen log below)
IN DETAIL:
Having dealt with the extreme emotions at the start of her record attempt, the 40+ knot winds in the low pressure system off the Spanish/Portuguese coast three days ago and the investigation of the moving rudder cassette box yesterday, Ellen seems to have put the struggle of the first five days behind her and is back on form. Passing the 2000 mile mark this morning, covering this ground in 120 hours, B&Q's average boat speeds have been steadily climbing since 1200GMT to 20+ knots in the last three hours. The clouds are still causing problems on the race track, bringing extremes both in direction and pressure: "The wind direction has gone completely ballistic. Think it's more to do with the clouds...suddenly shifted 40 degrees!" The stress of the first five days of racing were compounded by Ellen's frustration at not being able to come to grips with the record itself: "Spent a long time going over Joyon's positions and his average speeds and things. I needed to get a grip of that..."
B&Q is approximately 175 miles NE of the Cape Verde Islands and should pass to the west of the islands before midnight tonight. Joyon was 450 miles east of B&Q's track on day 6, tucked in close to the North African shore and sailing a significantly more direct course to the ultimate destination. IDEC finally gybed at approx 18 N / 18 W (approx 180 miles down the race track), heading west by south to track through the middle of the Cape Verde Islands. Taking advantage of the ideal wind direction, Joyon was not troubled by the risks of wind shadow or changes in wind pressure caused by the effects of the land.
Ellen's next major concern will be the Doldrums - a weather phenomenon found a few degrees north and south of the Equator that can deliver periods of frustrating no wind or violent rain squalls : "We haven't had any really big squall clouds yet, but they're just coming - I can see them on the horizon. It's going to be a pretty tough few days coming up to the Equator." B&Q may feel the first affects of the Doldrums by Sunday and Commanders' Weather are still predicting B&Q to cross the Equator on Tuesday (7.12.04) - Ellen's 9th day into the record. Joyon made the Equator in 9 days, 8 hours, 23 minutes - the clock never stops ticking...
OMEGA: Official timekeeper for Ellen MacArthur
ELLEN LOG - 1100 GMT:
Been checking all the rigging, all the pulleys, adjusted the gennaker halyard, let off some tension on the halyard which involves going to the end of the bow...trying to prevent things going wrong later on down the track.
I'm alright, much more into it than I was. Spent a long time going over Joyon's positions and his average speeds and things. I needed to get a grip of that, as I think we are going to have a slow approach to the Doldrums and I noticed that on his way back up the Atlantic he only averaged 11 knots over a 10 day period - this makes me feel better to know it!
I had a very fast night with 15 to 18 knots of breeze, but now the wind direction has gone completely ballistic. Think it's more to do with the clouds so going to keep up the gennaker for a while. Suddenly shifted 40 degrees! There has been a lot of clouds, and that's not helping so been significantly slower. We need to get more west [of south] at some stage so using this to do it right now. Should be genoa not gennaker, sure direction will come back soon.
I felt nervous this morning but I think that happens after good sleep, and good dreaming! My breakfast is porridge this morning as I didn't anticapte it being so hot (or so south) so quickly, so day 6 rations are still porridge. It's a bit too hot really!
EXCERPTS FROM ELLEN AUDIO 1300 GMT : courtesy of Geolink/Iridium
To listen to the full audio http://
How are things on board?
"We're between the Canaries and the Cap Verdes, so were sailing with wind from the east with gennaker and full index. It's relatively calm on board and it's ok until we get a gust then we have to be very careful not to have too much load in the sails and I have to be really vigilant and ready to ease out the lines. So it's been a lot of up and down out of the cockpit over the last few days, just being ready to ease things when the wind increases. We haven't had any really big squall clouds yet, but they're just coming - I can see them on the horizon. It's going to be a pretty tough few days coming up to the Equator."
Tell us about the problem yesterday?
"We've had a bit of an issue with the rudder cassette box, we got hit pretty hard by a wave at Ushant and it seemed to make the box, the cassette that the rudder sits in, move slightly in its case. I've sailed 25,000 miles with this in situ and it's been absolutely fine, but now it seems that it wants to play up and we've had about a 1mm of movement in the box. I lifted the box yesterday completely out of the water, slowed down, pulled up the rudder, checked it all out and there is no serious problems - it's indexly just the fact that it's wobblying a bit. But I've made some wedges up and they're all in place now so we're going to monitor its progress as we head south."
How long did it take you to fix it?
"I had the rudder out of the water for about 45 minutes. We probably didn't lose too much boat speed - we were still moving about 8 or 9 knots during that period, so it probably cost us about 5 miles which isn't too bad at this stage. It was good to lift it up and to see what the situation was and to actually check it out properly."
Have you been able to think about the Vendée Globe?
"I do think of the Vendee and I've been discussing it with the weather routers, they've just been through the South Atlantic and for me it's the next step of the journey after the Doldrums, so we have been talking about it. And I learnt yesterday evening about Alex Thompson's problem with his gooseneck and the fact that he's going to have to head north to try and repair it. I do hope for him he's able to repair it and set off again but it sounds like pretty major damage, so we'll see how things are and how he does but it must be a big shock for him."
WEATHER ANALYSIS FROM COMMANDERS' WEATHER:
From: Commanders' Weather Corp 0600UTC Friday, December 3, 2004
High pressure from near the western portion of the Bay of Biscay extends SSW to another center close to 35N/25W. Decent trade winds to work with and will have winds today from the ENE to NE between 14-20 knots. Best wind likely to be between 24-25W and will move indexly S and SSW along this area to take advantage of the good breeze.
High pressure will stay in the same general area next couple of days. May have a few knots less wind on Saturday, but still likely to be 12-18 knots. The better wind on Saturday will be near and west of 25W and our goal will be to come close to 15N/25-26W.
Lighter wind will then be on tap Sunday night and Monday as we reach the Doldrums. The lighter wind zone will be generally be between 4-8N and will likely be smallest between 25-27W. Once south of 3-4N, should have better winds once again as we progress towards the Equator, likely reaching there on Tuesday.
Routing: Gates are trying to keep you in the max wind strength
1) 20N/25-26W to
2) 9-10N/26W
3) 0/28W
4) 5-6S/30W
5) 10-12S/30W
Wind forecasts
Wind directions are TRUE, wind speed in kts, time is UTC
Friday, Dec 3
15: 050-070/14-20
18: 050-070/14-20
Becoming partly cloudy shortly. Seas 4-7 ft
Saturday, Dec 4
00: 040-060/14-19
06: 040-060/13-18
12: 040-060/13-18, near 15 20N/26W
18: 030-050/12-17
Partly cloudy, a few brief trade wind showers in the area, 8-16N
http://www.commandersweather.com
JARGON BUSTER: THE DOLDRUMS.
A few degrees north of the Equator, there is an area known technically as the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). In very basic terms its where the North East Trade winds and the South East trade winds meet each other, effectively cancelling each other out as the result is air moving more vertically than horizontally - vertical air makes for a suction effect resulting in either no wind or often violent rain squalls. In the old days sailing ships might be stuck for weeks in the Doldrums. These days, it can still be race losing or winning, but the light and powerful trimaran can accelerate so quickly that she can use each squall to get B&Q across relatively quickly – albeit with large amounts of sweat and frustration on the way!
Click here for further information on Sailing Speed Records http://www.sailspeedrecords.com and here for information on Ellen's campaign http://www.teamellen.com
Official Partner of the Day: Derbyshire Building Society
Official Banking Partner to the Ellen MacArthur Trust
For further information, please contact Offshore Challenges:
Lou Newlands or Lucy Harwood
T: +44 (0)870 063 0210
E: lou@offshorechallenges.com or lucy@offshorechallenges.com
Email powered by Active24
http://www.active24.com
|
