PRESS RELEASE of 02/28/2005
South of Tasmania
Geronimo continues along the direct route on port tack in very harsh conditions.
In an area where giant multihulls can normally exploit their full performance and really get going, Geronimo is faced once again by hard times. There's no fast surfing for the Capgemini/Schneider Electric crew, who now find themselves in a real cauldron of weather. With squalls, a short beam sea and variable winds gusting from 18 to 45 knots, Geronimo is beset by weather that is quite atypical for these waters. A characteristically philosophical Olivier de Kersauson says simply: “If it was easy, everybody would be doing it”.
Such circumstances inevitably mean incessant sail changes and manoeuvres, with the permanent concern of avoiding any further damage to the boat. Nevertheless, the repairs made in Australia seem to be trusted 100% by the crew, who continue to make good progress despite the laborious conditions. Between Sunday morning and 5 a.m. Monday morning French time, Geronimo covered 502 nautical miles at an average speed of 20.9 knots.
At the same time, Doha, Cheyenne and Daedalus continue to surf across the Pacific, with the leader indextaining a comfortable distance head of her two pursuers.
Positions at 8 a.m. French time
Doha 2006: 13,060 miles to finish
Cheyenne: 970 miles behind the leader
Daedalus: 1495.6 miles behind the leader
Geronimo: 3137.1 miles behind the leader
Doha 2006 wins the Amundsen Trophy
The international crew on Doha 2006 have picked up their first piece of silverware in the Oryx Quest 2005 by winning the Amundsen Trophy. This exquisite trophy, created by British artist John Mellows, is made of stainless steel and measures 70 cm in height. It has been awarded by Amundsen Oslo, the official timekeeper for the race, to Doha 2006 for being the first boat to cross 163° West longitude. The line of longitude has important significance to Amundsen Oslo, the Norway-based company that was founded in 2002 by Jørgen Amundsen, a relative of the legendary polar explorer, Roald Amundsen. 163° West longitude was the route taken by Amundsen on his trip to the South Pole in 1911.
On the 14th of December 1911 Roald Amundsen became the first explorer to reach the South Pole after a close race with the British expedition headed by Captain Robert F. Scott. In 1926 he went on to fly over the North Pole in the airship Norge becoming the first person ever to visit both poles. Amundsen Oslo is closely linked to Roald Amundsen and his expeditions, and produces high-quality timepieces that focus on three distinct categories; polar, yachting and aviation. The trophy will be awarded to Brian Thompson and his crew when they arrive back in Doha.
There was other good news aboard the Qatari catamaran. At the 07:00 GMT poll on Tuesday Doha 2006 had further extended their lead over Cheyenne to over 1000 miles, 1002 nautical miles to be precise, and was recording instant speeds well in excess of those being recorded on Cheyenne. At the 07:00 GMT poll Doha 2006 was traveling at 26.2 knots against 14.3 knots on Cheyenne as both boats enjoyed perfect sailing in the deep south. Skipper Brian Thompson was reveling in the good news. “Today we notched up our second 600 mile day,” he wrote in his daily log. “That’s over 25 knots average for 24 hours, and we have had a 25 knot wind from the northwest allowing us to track due eastward. At the moment we are starting to get more westerly winds which will force us to gybe downwind over the next day or so. This will reduce our speed made good to Cape Horn, but will allow us to change our latitude easily and move from north to south over the course to position ourselves for the next wind direction. Behind us Cheyenne has now escaped the low and also reached the northwest winds. She is charging eastwards and over the next few days Cheyenne is going to be taking some miles back as she sails a more direct course.”
Aboard Cheyenne navigator Wouter Verbraak was also enjoying the sailing. “Some days are just perfect,” he wrote in his log. “Today was such a day. Steady 23 to 26 knots of boat speed and at least seven albatrosses doing their stunts around the boat. The sun even came out for a while, and although it didn't provide much warmth, at least it brought a smile to the crews faces. Looking ahead for the next 24 hours, we will be close to the center of a large and rather strong low which is moving southeast. This will give us some good winds for the next few days to propel us towards the Horn. No record breaking stuff in sight yet, but for sure some good daily averages. Our route is relatively far north, which reduces the chance of running into ice bergs. Something nobody regrets.”
Eating up the miles and picking up some silverware is all well and good, but all the competitors know that there is still a long way to sail before they reach safe harbor. One of the toughest stretches of the race lies ahead; the remote south Pacific, an undulating stretch of water that ends at Cape Horn, currently 2,616 miles ahead of Doha 2006’s razor sharp bows.
--- Brian Hancock brian.hancock@qisel.com
www.oryxquest.com
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