Tagesberichte siehe Menu unten
Latest Video Offshore: www.maserati.soldini.it
Maserati clears Newfoundland ice
with a "virtual" advantage of 200 miles on Mari Cha IV
Weather forecasts changing and high pressure to be challenge in the final rush to
England
At 12.30 GMT today (8.30 EDT), after three days navigating the icy waters southeast
of Newfoundland, Maserati has a "virtual" advantage of 200 miles on the 140 foot
Mari Cha IV (the maxi yacht that set the NY-Lizard Point speed record with a time
reference of 6 days, 17 hours, 52 minutes, 39 seconds). Giovanni Soldini and his
international crew have been pushing hard, and the results show. Maserati has been
flying at 20 knots through the fog, floating ice, and 2.3° Celsius water, eating
up the miles.
"It is indeed an eerie feeling to be dodging icebergs in thick fog near where the
Titanic sank about 100 years ago," said navigator and watch leader Brad Van Liew.
"The fog is very dense and Maserati (our little carbon sailing rocket ship) seems
highly unnatural in the vicinity of such difficult to detect chunks of hard water."
Although Maserati is clear of the most dangerous ice zone, the crew faces new challenges.
Compared with the weather forecasts before the start in New York, the situation
between Newfoundland and Great Britain has noticeably changed. Before the start,
the forecast showed that Maserati would face north westerly winds taking the boat
straight to Great Britain at a fast pace, with an advantage of one day and 11 hours
on the time reference set by Mari Cha IV. As things stand now, the arrival of the
Azores high pressure could put the plans in jeopardy.
To reach Lizard Point in time, Maserati must "cross" the high pressure; this is
why the boat has gybed sailing north and choosing a longer route. It will all depend
on how fast the high pressure moves. Despite Maserati's northerly route, if the
high pressure moves too fast, the boat could end up in an area of weak winds.
"Up to now everything was working out okay," said Soldini. "But now the weather
patterns have changed: behind the cold front there is no longer a north-west wind
but the high pressure.
The only thing we can do is to choose a northerly route and try to catch the north-westerly
wind we were expecting to find along our original route. If the high pressure moves
east slowly, we will be able to break the record anyway, even if without such a
large margin. But if the high pressure moves faster, we will end up sailing in dead
calm and we will have to wait until it's over. Everything will be decided between
tonight and tomorrow: just moving 10 miles east or west could be enough to break
the speed record. The weather forecasts keep changing, sometimes it seems we will
be able to escape east, sometimes it looks like we will end up in dead calm. We'll
have to take our chance without giving up, as we always do. Every mile we gain north
or east is of vital importance."
The record attempt can be followed live on Giovanni Soldini and Maserati's website
(www.maserati.soldini.it
The site contains news, videos and photos of the lifestyle of crew members on board,
and provides continuous monitoring of the marine weather conditions, as well as
online tracking to check the position and speed of Maserati in real time. Continuous
updates are also available on Facebook (through Giovanni Soldini's official page)
and Twitter.
The challenge is being sponsored by Maserati as index partner and inspiration for
the boat's name, by the Swiss bank BSI (Generali Group) and by Generali itself
as co-sponsor.
Meaghan Van Liew
Maserati Challenge | P.O. Box 1477 | Mt. Pleasant | SC | 29465
|
