19.09.2005
ELLEN headS TO FRANCE AS UNSETTLED ATLANTIC WEATHER CONTINUES TO DISRUPT RECORD ATTEMPTS...
IN BRIEF:
*TIME RUNS OUT FOR FRENCH SKIPPER, THOMAS COVILLE, AS SODEBO QUITS NEW YORK GIVING UP ON HIS RECORD ATTEMPT FOR THIS YEAR
* UNSETTLED WEATHER FORECASTS OFFER NO POTENTIAL WEATHER WINDOWS FOR THIS WEEK LEAVING ELLEN AND HER TEAM STILL ON STANDBY MODE RED AT THE HALWAY STAGE OF THE STANDBY PERIOD
* ELLEN headS TO FRANCE FOR A WEEK OF TRAINING WITH ROLAND JOURDAIN IN THE BUILD UP TO THE TRANSAT JACQUES VABRE RACE
For updated information, please go to http://www.teamellen.com
IN DETAIL:
After two months of waiting on standby for an attempt on the solo transatlantic record, French skipper Thomas Coville and his 60ft trimaran Sodebo have had to leave New York abandoning any chance of clinching a record this season. Unlike MacArthur, Coville must return to Europe to get his trimaran ready to race in the double-handed Transat Jacques Vabre race leaving from the French port of Le Havre in early November. "We knew that this standby period would be difficult due to the hurricane season, but this year has seen some extremely unsettled weather, which has taken the Americans by surprise as we saw with hurricane Katrina," said Coville.
For Ellen and her shore team, the standby mode reindexs permanently on Red as the weather systems sweeping across the Atlantic continue to be unsettled due to the very active hurricane season. Latest update from US weather routers Commanders' identifies strong winds generating from the east coast of the States this week but not in the right direction: "Although there are significant amounts of wind in the second half of this week their direction is not really suitable for an attempt. Longer term the weather pattern looks to be getting quite active with several vigorous frontal systems moving off the East Coast. The next frontal system that could offer a potenntial weather window may arrive early next week so we will track how it evolves through this week." Ellen has been on standby since the beginning of September and realistically this standby period will have to come to an end around the 20th October for Ellen to get back in time to compete in the same Transat Jacques Vabre race as Coville, but on board the Open 60 monohull Sill et Veolia with Roland Jourdain. This race which is only open to 60-foot and 50-foot multihulls and monohulls prevents <> from competing so the upside is she can stay in New York longer to wait for the right weather.
With an almost guaranteed period of standby Red over the next week, Ellen will head to France to spend a week training with Sill et Veolia skipper Roland Jourdain (aka Bilou) in preparation for the Transat Jacques Vabre. They will work on boat preparations and sail testing off Concarneau on the north-west coast of France which is home to Sill et Veolia. "We completed our 1000-mile qualifier for the Transat Jacques Vabre race in early May but that is the only time we have sailed together this year. Sill is a new boat built for the latest edition of the Vendée Globe and I have much to learn about her and the boat set-up. My last race on an Open 60 was onboard Kingfisher in the 2002 Route du Rhum so I am really looking forward to racing on these kind of boats again, especially with Bilou who is a great competitor and a great friend."
The Transat Jacques Vabre will take the 35-boat fleet through both the stormy conditions of the Bay of Biscay, down to the tropical conditions of the Equator before reaching the finish destination of Salvador de Bahia in Brazil after covering 4,500 miles.
For more information on the Transat Jacques Vabre Race log onto: http://www.jacques-vabre.com
Standby modes:
RED: No obvious weather window in sight.
AMBER: 60 to 70% chance of departure in next 72 hours.
GREEN: Intention to depart within 36 hours.
Current solo west-east transatlantic record:
Francis Joyon: IDEC (90ft Trimaran)
30 June-6 July 2005, 6d 4h 1m 37s - Average speed of 19.75 knots over a theoretical course of 2925 miles
For further information, please contact Offshore Challenges Sailing Team:
Lou Newlands or Lucy Harwood
T: +44 (0)870 063 0210
E: lou.newland@ocgroup.com or lucy.harwood@ocgroup.com
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