15.12.2004
Trimaran title sponsor B&Q is the biggest DIY retailer in Europe and third biggest in the world. http://www.diy.com
DAY 18 MEDIA RELEASE: BEST 24HR RUN AND NEW SOLO TIME TO THE 'FIRST CAPE' LOOKING POSSIBLE...
KEY DATA DAY 16 1510 GMT:
15 hours 53 minutes ahead of Joyon (data communicated by Thrane MiniC via BT Business Broadband)
Lat/Long: 38 22 S / 000 15 W (850 W Cape of Good Hope)
Average Boat speed: 21.30 knots (heading SE)
True Wind speed: 32.4 knots (direction N)
Distance sailed so far: 6806 miles
Update based on data recorded 1510 GMT...check http://www.teamellen.com for the latest data updated hourly
OMEGA: Official timekeeper for Ellen MacArthur
IN BRIEF:
* NEW SOLO TIME TO THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE IS LOOKING POSSIBLE... B&Q must cross the longitude of the Cape of Good Hope by 0441 GMT on Saturday...
* THE PACE MAY BE HOT BUT THE TEMPERATURES ARE COOLING... B&Q turns in some blistering speeds to build on her lead to just under 16 hours as Ellen starts to feel the effects of the Southern Ocean, <> now at 38 degrees south...
* BEST 24-HOUR RUN SINCE THE START as Ellen clocks up 481.6 miles although Laurent Bourgnon's decade-old solo record still standing at 540.0 miles...
* ELLEN WILL head FURTHER SOUTH BY THE WEEKEND: "I'm almost officially in the Southern Ocean...you're generally in when you're under 40 degrees south..."
To listen to the full audio, click here http://www.ocftp2.com/audio/ellen/em151204a_uk_e.mp3
For latest information, go to http://www.teamellen.com
IN DETAIL:
The 75-foot trimaran, <>, is on the verge of crossing into the eastern hemisphere this afternoon having covered 6806 miles - over a quarter of the 26,000 mile course around the world. The speeds have been blistering since Ellen got <> back on track in her solo round the world record bid. Ellen consistently indextained 19-20 knots of boat speed during the night and most of the early part of the day. Her best 24-hour run [measured point to point] since the start came at 0910 GMT - clocking up 481.6 miles at an average of 20.06 knots [current solo 24hr record stands at 540 miles set by Laurent Bourgnon on Primagaz in 1994]. The north-westerly breeze continued to build as the low pressure weather system caught up <>, producing 35 knot gusts. Ellen had no choice but to reduce sail to slow the boat down as sea conditions deteriorated: "We're getting our arses blown off! Sailing at 120 [degrees] and side seas. Got third reef in, getting it out is a nightmare, and think it might be a mistake. Boat slowed right down, we were going really well. But don't want to end up going too far south."
Still 240 miles south of Joyon's track, <> continues to build on her time advantage to nearly 16 hours at 1510 GMT: "We're trying to make a course of due east rather than dropping into the south because at the moment the breeze is basically from the north-west which makes it very difficult for us to climb to the north. But that breeze is going to drop back into the west and then we're going to gybe over and head south east." The 30-40 knot NW air flow will continue through today decreasing by this evening. On Thursday afternoon a cold front will pass through and the breeze will turn to the south-west late Thursday or early Friday morning instigating a gybe on to starboard heading south-east. This will start a series of gybes over the next few days as Ellen manoeuvres <> in front of the depression ensuring she doesn't get too far south where the stronger breeze and bigger waves can be detrimental to the boat's performance.
The pace may be hot but the temperatures are starting to drop: "Things are getting a little bit chilly and the water temperature has dropped down to about 15 degrees. The sky is very grey and the sun has dissappeared - we're in our first Southern Ocean depression. We're actually at 38 south so I'm almost officially in the Southern Ocean. You're generally in when you're under 40 degrees south, so it definitely feels like the Southern Ocean. We're heading down there for a long time so mentally things are changing and physically things are obviously changing too as it gets colder."
With less than 853 miles to the longitude of Cape of Good Hope [18 29 degrees east], <> is certainly in the running to set a new solo time to this next major landmark. To beat Joyon's time of 19 days, 20 hours and 31 minutes, Ellen will have to cross the longitude of the Cape of Good Hope before 0441 GMT on Saturday, 18th December and with shade over 2 days left to do this, it is certainly possible: "We don't seem to have any huge light patches of wind - maybe a few hours tonight - and on the whole we should be able to keep up a pretty reasonable speed between now and the Cape of Good Hope which is a good indication that we may well be able to pass underneath that Cape ahead of Francis' time."
WEATHER ANALYSIS FROM COMMANDERS' WEATHER:
From: Commanders' Weather Corp Wednesday, December 15, 2004
NW winds have been slowly, but steadily increasing the last 12 hours. NW winds will peak during the daylight hours of Wednesday with sustained wind speeds of 30-40 kts and a few higher gusts. Ellen is trying to stay further N, where the wind speeds are lighter. This will be easier to do late Wednesday, when wind directions become more WNW. Regardless, Ellen's very fast boat speeds will be slowing down during Wednesday as the wave size increases.
Average wind speeds will be lower later Wednesday night and Thursday, but that will occur because of scattered showers/squalls. This also means there will be occasional wind gusts as high as 40 kts. Cold front will pass Ellen late Thursday and Thursday night with gusty SW winds continuing through Friday.
Some sort of westerly wind will continue right through this weekend into at least the first part of next week. Overall, favorable wind directions will continue for many days to come, but the wind speeds may be a little higher than preferred at times.
Wind directions are TRUE, wind speed in knots, time is UTC
Wed, Dec 15
15:00 320-340/30-40
18:00 310-340/30-40
Cloudy with scattered showers/squalls developing tonight.
Seas increasing to 12-16 feet
Thu, Dec 16
00:00 310-330/25-35
06:00 310-280/30-20 and squally
12:00 290-260/12-22, scattered squalls in the vicinity near 38 20S/8 30E. Wind shift will be accompanied by lighter winds for a few hrs before they increase, but wind shift will approach from the S-SW, so the further south you are, the sooner the wind shift
18:00 250-220/15-20 and squally
0Cloudy to partly cloudy with scattered showers/squalls in the vicinity.
Seas up to 10-16 feet, but you may start to see some SW swell
http://www.commandersweather.com
PARTNER OF THE DAY : MARLOW ROPES
Official Rope Supplier to Ellen and the Offshore Challenges Sailing Team
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
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
|
