30.01.2005
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DAY 64 MEDIA RELEASE: COLLISION: DISASTER IS ONLY A SECOND AWAY...
KEY DATA DAY 63 0710 GMT:
Distance ahead: 447 miles
Time ahead: 1 day 12 hours [representing 15.00% of time reindexing] calculated using the time it took for Joyon to get to the same Distance to Finish as Ellen's current position
OMEGA: Official timekeeper for Ellen MacArthur
Lat/Long: 12 08 N / 031 55 W (728 miles N Equator, 470 miles SW Fogo, Cape Verde Islands)
Average Boat speed: 13.87 knots (heading N by W)
True Wind speed: 12.6 knots (direction E by N)
Sea temperature: 25.5 degrees C
Distance sailed so far: 24,465 miles at an average speed of 16.2 knots
(data communicated by Thrane MiniC via BT Business Broadband)
Update based on data recorded 0710 GMT...check http://www.teamellen.com for the latest data updated hourly
IN BRIEF:
* COLLISION IN THE NIGHT AND A NEAR COLLISION WITH A WHALE YESTERDAY is a sharp reminder of how close to disaster MacArthur can be at any point on the reindexing 2,600 miles left on the race course.
* B&Q KEEPING JUST Ahead OF THE PACE OF IDEC in the last 24 hours, as B&Q gains back a couple of more hours on the clock to give her a lead of 1 day and 12 hours this morning.
* HIGH PRESSURE DEBATE CONTINUES to see which way the high pressure area off to the west of Ireland decides to move.
* MACARTHUR IN CONSTANT STATE OF NERVOUS TENSION as each day of the reindexing 10 days tick by.
IN DETAIL:
A collision in the night and a near collision with a whale yesterday, is a sharp reminder of how close to disaster <> skipper, Ellen MacArthur, can be at any point on the reindexing 2,600 miles left on the race course: "I hit something last night - I don't know what it was, maybe a fish or squid, I don't know but it wasn't huge. It went on the leeward rudder [and got stuck there] so I ended up doing a 360 [turning the boat full circle] to get that off. I gybed the boat so the rudder just lifted out of the water and it came off and drifted away. The rudder seems fine, it wasn't massive maybe the size of a bin bag but I really felt the thud." With the equivalent of a transatlantic race to go in terms of distance, a tired boat, an exhausted skipper and a damaged indexsail track, Ellen's record attempt still has a long, long way to go.
B&Q is staying just ahead of the pace of IDEC in the last 24 hours, as B&Q gains back a couple of more hours on the clock to give her a lead of 1 day and 12 hours this morning [0710gmt], as she continues her upwind slog northwards putting over 700 miles between B&Q and the Equator. Wind speeds continued to fluctuate through the night both in speed and direction: "Lot of changeable breeze as always pumping up from 14-18 knots - boat's pretty powered up but when its 14 knots its on the edge of genoa and on the edge of 18 knots its solent and 1st reef so its pretty hard to get it right. I'm happier with the full index anyway, just because of the car situation so if I can hold on to full index I will. It's quite stressful, not relaxing, as you never seem to have exactly the right sails up - we're over-powered rather than under-powered, right now, and I am not sure which is worse. 20 degree swings all the time and its not like nice gradual waves up and down its aggressive, few seconds, here we go again, swings happen unbelievably quickly." The pace of the 75-foot multihull, B&Q, and that of her virtual competitor, Francis Joyon's 90-foot multihull IDEC, are fairly evenly matched with MacArthur just claiming the upper hand for now. B&Q managed a 24 hour run of Distance Made Good to the finish of 317 miles compared to 257 miles of Joyon. But today IDEC was fast, clocking up a 300 mile 24hr of Distance Made Good, then 299 miles tomorrow followed by 278 miles before the tally starts to fall before his final and fast 4-day run into the finish.
The high pressure debate continues to see which way the high pressure area off to the west of Ireland decides to move: "The high pressure doesn't appear to be moving quite how it was yesterday, so we'll probably end up going upwind into it, rather than downwind through it - going on the south-east side but we'll have to see. But conditions are pretty much for me, going to stay like this for another couple of days - it's still Trades and we're going to start reaching soon." For now, the upwind slog continues until the winds back to the south-east tomorrow and into Tuesday then fast conditions mid-week as the effects of a low pressure to the west deliver some strong breeze.
MacArthur is in a constant state of nervous tension as each day of the reindexing 10 days tick by: "Still very nervous, still miles to go. At moment full index solent, looks like we can keep this all day, breeze generally under 17-18 knots so would be stupid to be under-powered all day. Then build tonight a little, bit stronger and then by Wednesday seems a long way, way away. Feel like I'm playing the waiting game now..."
The temperature starting to drop to around 25 degrees: "Have one layer of thermals on again in the morning...its really nice temperature at the moment, but I think I might need to get the second pair out in a few days. For now though during the day it's still pretty hot but better compared to the 29 degrees we had only a few days ago."
WEATHER ANALYSIS FROM COMMANDERS' WEATHER 0600 GMT:
In the rules of record attempts, skippers are allowed to use the advice of shore-based weather experts to assist them with their choices. Ellen is working with two teams, principally Commanders Weather in the USA, backed up by Meeno Schrader in Germany.
Satellite imagery shows a lot of haze in Ellen’s vicinity. The haze will clear north of 13N or around 1200UTC Sunday. Wind speeds are down a bit and will continue to hold in the 12-17 kt range for another 6 hours or so. Wind speeds will slowly increase Sunday afternoon and night. However, by staying further east on Tue and Wed, Ellen may not see the gales that will definitely occur west of 35W.
Wind directions will continue to oscillate between 070-090. Sunday night and Monday, wind directions will veer into the E-SE and reach SE for a while on Tuesday.
Huge high pressure just SW of Ireland today will be index weather feature for Ellen this week.
Wind forecasts
Wind directions are TRUE, wind speed in kts, time is UTC
Sun, Jan 30
12: 070-090/12-17
18: 070-090/12-17
Partly cloudy, maybe a brief passing showery squall
Mon, Jan 31
00: 070-090/14-20
06: 080-100/15-21
12: 090-110/16-22, near 19N/32 20W
18: 090-110/15-21
Partly cloudy to fair
Tue, Feb 1
00: 090-110/13-18
06: 120-140/16-22
12: 110-130/20-25, near 24 40N/30 40W
18: 120-140/16-22
Partly to mostly cloudy Tue - Thu, maybe a shower or 2.
http://www.commandersweather.com
FRANCIS JOYON 24 HOUR RUNS
Francis Joyon's 24 hour runs. These are VMG distances, ie distance sailed towards the finish, not through the water:
26.1.05 IDEC 162 miles / B&Q 388 miles
27.1.05 IDEC 130 miles / B&Q 367 miles
28.1.05 IDEC 232 miles / B&Q 258 miles
29.1.05 IDEC 257 miles / B&Q 317 miles
30.1.05 IDEC 300 miles
31.1.05 IDEC 299 miles
1.2.05 IDEC 278 miles
2.2.05 IDEC 221 miles
3.2.05 IDEC 212 miles
4.2.05 IDEC 162 miles
5.2.05 IDEC 284 miles
6.2.05 IDEC 383 miles
7.2.05 IDEC 400 miles
8.2.05 IDEC 439 miles
9.2.05 IDEC 345 miles
[dates normalised to Ellen's]
PARTNER OF THE DAY : B&G
Official marine electronics 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
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