DAY 28 - Club Med and Innovation Explorer About to Face a Storm, Warta Polpharma Takes 3rd Place
News - Saturday, 01/27/2001, 7:54 AM GMT

Position	01/27/2001 7:54 AM GMT
1st	Club Med (Rougher conditions expected, avg speed 23.3 knots)
2nd	Innovation Explorer (855 nm from the leader, has gained ground on Club Med, avg speed 20.9 knots)
3rd	Warta Polpharma (3504 nm from leader. Surging ahead in the roaring forties, has taken 3rd place away from Team Adventure, avg speed 20.2 knots)
4th	Team Adventure (3597 nm from the leader. Left Cape Town at 11:30GMT but are hampered by light headwinds, avg speed 6.8 knots)
5th	Team Legato (5110 nm from the leader. Still in the high, had hardly moved at all, avg speed 1.4 knots)

Team Adventure left Cape Town at 11:00 AM GMT, much delayed - the planned departure was 7:00 AM GMT.They were chained to the coastline by poor wind conditions, a commercial vessel in its path and the need to clean the decks after beam workers left at 8:30 AM GMT.

Then after leaving port, they were becalmed under the lee of Table Mountain. It took them an hour and half to cover 5.5 miles.

However once out of the wind shadow of Table Mountain, they'll be slammed by southeasterlies blowing at 35 knots. Cape Point, 35 miles down the course, was reporting winds of 55 to 65 knots and big, confused wind-driven seas.

Lewis: "We will have to claw our way south on port tack, with two reefs in the main and the staysail. We'll be punching straight into it. Once we get clear of the Cape of Good Hope, we have to work our way through a band of light air. Our forecasters have cautioned us that there is a deep low-pressure area advancing east. We need to get on the right side of the low and get east in a hurry."

Team Adventure got off the dock this morning at 9:30 AM local time as her team of composite construction experts was still removing the last of their equipment from the interior of the repaired crossbeam. The boat took 20 guests sailing on Table Bay, including the building crew, media and local supporters. They hooked into a localized band of fresh breeze and hit 35 knots boat speed in flat water before offloading the visitors and officially restarting.

Club Med and Innovation Explorer are about to meet a storm, south of Australia severe gales are predicted with winds of 40 knots. The two front-runners are in a westerly airflow, wedged between, in the north, a huge area of high pressure stretching right over to Australia, and, in the south, a very deep depression which rules out any possibility of a smooth run. Rough seas to come.

Club Med is moving along steadily, at about midday, she'll be in the longitude of Australia. By next Thursday, she could reach New Zealand.

Innovation Explorer has had steady wind, sunshine and effective sailing, except for a very uncomfortable messy sea. They have seen flocks of small storm petrels and huge albatrosses. In the afternoon, they were joined by a couple of hourglass dolphins for a while. They are making good mileage, but yet are forced to cover more distance because they can't sail the direct route due to their sail situation.

Innovation Explorer has passed Heard Island very closely, well known because it is the nearest to Antarctica. 159 sq. miles of Australian territory way out in the Indian Ocean. This group of islands is uninhabited because they are uninhabitable - much of their surface is covered with snow and ice and there is virtually no vegetation nor wildlife. The highest point on Heard Island is a volcano known as Big Ben Mountain which rises to 9,005 feet.

Warta Polpharma has made good ground in the roaring forties, and has moved into 3rd place, but the lead over Team Adventure is slender. Once Team Adventure reaches the Roaring Forties, positions could change again. Warta Polpharma's boat may be smaller, but it is solid and proven, that is her main advantage.

The question still remains as to when they will put in to repair their electronics. Darius Drapella: "At the moment we can’t use the standard B system. The antenna can’t make contact with the satellite".

Team Legato is still trapped in the St Helena High, hardling making any ground at all, with an average speed of 1.4 knots. They are likely to remain in these light winds for the next 48 hrs.

Steve Fosset’s PlayStation will undergo repairs in Palm Beach, Florida, before a transatlantic record in June.

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