07.11.2006
WINTER TO SUMMER: SEVEN SOLO SAILORS FEEL THE HEAT
* Sweltering conditions for the seven brave skippers crashing towards Western Australia
* Bernard Stamm (SUI) on fire as he enters the Southern Atlantic ahead of the pack
* Mike Golding (GBR) and Kojiro Shiraishi (JPN) still in the heart of Doldrums territory
* British yachts pile on the pressure as the Knight of the Seas chases the Young Pretender
* Mike Golding to set British record as he crosses Equator for the 17th time
The VELUX 5 OCEANS fleet is now fully entrenched in the sweltering temperatures of the Atlantic as the heroes of the Ultimate Solo Challenge chase leader Bernard Stamm (CHEMINEES POUJOULAT). Stamm, the defending champion, was the first of this brave band to enter the Southern Hemisphere at 16:15 UTC yesterday and has continued to keep up a ferocious pace as he leaves the Doldrums well behind him. The Swiss skipper has led the race since the fleet battled the horrendous storms as they left the Bay of Biscay and rounded Cape Finisterre (Northwestern Spain). The 43 year old skipper still holds a lead of 291 miles over Kojiro Shiraishi on SPIRIT OF YUKOH and the last 24 hours has seen him setting the fastest average speed within the fleet at 11.53 knots.
The solo skippers are facing rapidly rising temperatures as they near the Equator and leave the European winter behind. Down below in their cabins it is especially humid making working, living and sleeping down below extremely challenging and uncomfortable. The conditions are made worse as the sailors regularly run their engines to power onboard technology, from communications equipment to water ballasts systems and charging batteries.
As the fleet approaches the Equator, the skippers must tackle the notorious Doldrums, which lie between 5ºN and 2ºS. This infamous region presents one of the many unique challenges of round-the-world sailing, completely different to the extreme nature of the Southern Ocean that lies ahead. The skippers must physically and mentally tackle the heat and the frustrating fluky and unpredictable conditions, choosing their strategy carefully.
Although Mike Golding (ECOVER) believes he is already through the worst and riding the South trade winds, he is still within the danger zone along with the 'Silent Assassin', Kojiro. As Mike breathes down the neck of Shiraishi, the FICO World Champion will set a new record as the only Briton who has raced more times across the Equator than any other professional sailor, notching up a 17th crossing in the early hours of tomorrow morning. It now reindexs for the rest of the fleet to choose their route through the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone.
As the fleet chases Stamm, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston (SAGA INSURANCE), sailing legend and oldest competitor in the race, is focused on catching the 'Young Pretender' he has mentored for many years, Alex Thomson (HUGO BOSS). The 'Ultimate Pioneer' has over 800 miles to make up on the young maverick, but has been making good progress over the last few days.
Bernard Stamm, CHEMINEES POUJOULAT:
"The Doldrums have been a nightmare for me. I was just stuck for one complete day and had two days with really slow speeds which allowed the others to get closer. Now I am in the South trade winds and it is quite windy, so it is not too bad. The boat is healing a lot and I am doing my best to go as fast as possible. All the power is here: ballast, keel canted at the maximum and all the material in one side of the boat. I am trimming at the moment with the auto pilot. You can't really do the trimming and the steering so I use the auto pilot and work on trimming."
"I think they [ECOVER and SPIRIT OF YUKOH] are already out from the doldrums. They have already passed the latitude where I got the trade winds so it is going well for them. I am not sure what happened with Hugo Boss and why he went so far East. Mike, Kojiro and I were already much further East than what we would usually go so I don't really understand what Alex did. In fact I have the feeling that the Doldrums were following me south and that they shrunk by the time they arrived. It's really unlucky for me. I have told Neptune that he did a rubbish job!"
"But now it [Doldrums] is over. In front of us should be the Saint Helena High that we either cross or by-pass. But it seems a bit special this time, as Saint Helena is not here! It is south of South Africa, so another one should replace it. This is a weird system and we don't really know where it will take us. But at the moment, we don't really have the choice. We have to go South. The aim is to reach as quickly as possible a latitude around the 40th to be able go high speed!"
Mike Golding, ECOVER:
"I am currently some 160 miles off the Equator, going at about 11 knots, so I reckon I should cross in about 15 hours time. The conditions at the moment are fairly stable, we are currently going upwind, which is not easy on the boat, changing sails from the Eco to the Solent, but we are making relatively good progress."
Kojiro Shiraishi, SPIRIT OF YUKOH:
"Spirit of Yukoh is a water ballasted boat, so keeping her balanced means lot of seawater pumping and transferring. Consequently, to transfer the ballast I need to turn on the engine and run the pumps. To be sailing perfectly in these conditions I would have be transferring and moving the ballast all day long. But running the engine so long would result in too much fuel consumption, so it's just not feasible."
"That is where the canting keel boats that can change the keel position at the touch of a switch have a distinct advantage. They are also not carrying the dead weight of all this water ballast either. Canting keeled boats are a great advance and very convenient. Out here, sailing amongst all these great canting boats, it is terrific to see a 90's generation water ballasted boat fighting so bravely. She's terrific. I am so proud of her."
Boat Positions as at 10:20 UTC Tuesday November 7, 2006
Yacht
Skipper
Latitude
Longitude
Course (°)
Speed (knots)
DTL (nautical miles)
DTF (nautical miles)
Average speed - last pos (knots)
Average speed - 24h (knots)
Average course - 24h (°)
VMG - 24h (knots)
1
Cheminees Poujoulat
Bernard Stamm
03° 29.88 S
028° 47.76 W
190
13
8,101
12.45
11.53
263
10.72
2
Spirit of Yukoh
Kojiro Shiraishi
01° 37.92 N
028° 16.32 W
173
10
291
9.63
8.93
265
8.51
3
Ecover
Mike Golding
02° 36.84 N
027° 31.52 W
164
9.5
340
10.3
10.42
263
9.98
4
Hugo Boss
Alex Thomson
06° 39.00 N
025° 22.68 W
184
14.2
580
13
7.83
266
7.8
5
SAGA Insurance
Sir Robin Knox-Johnston
20° 22.02 N
022° 20.86 W
180
13.3
1423
4.37
8.85
270
7.82
6
A Southern Man-AGD
Graham Dalton
27° 43.80 N
019° 32.40 W
200
9.4
1890
8.83
7.94
227
7.33
7
PAKEA
Unai Basurko
32° 46.00 N
019° 28.40 W
120
4.3
2184
3.29
3.61
281
3.35
- END -
For more information on VELUX 5 OCEANS please visit www.velux5oceans.com , or contact:
Tim Kelly / Justine Ozoux / Kate Fairclough
T: + 44 20 7494 1616
M: + 44 7773 325 533 / + 44 7824 310 035 / + 44 7789 268 814
E: tim.kelly@pitchpr.com / justine@pitchpr.com / kate@pitchpr.com
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