DAY 37 - Two "giants" Defying "The Dark Country": The sprint to the Horn is on
News - Monday, 02/05/2001, 6:29 AM GMT

Position	02/05/2001 6:29 AM GMT
1st	Club Med (10185 nm from finish. Stretching her legs after exiting from Cook Strait, 21.0 knots)
2nd	Innovation Explorer (684 nm from the leader. Reached Cook Strait, taking time to carry out repairs, losing a bit of ground as now they are in the Strait, avg speed 20.6 knots)
3rd	Team Adventure (4337 nm from leader. Good speed - heading for the Tasman Sea, avg speed 21.8 knots)
4th	Warta Polpharma (5143 nm from the leader. Worried by high - passing Kerguelen Islands, avg speed 15.7 knots)
5th	Team Legato (6325 nm from the leader. Excellent progress, gaining on Warta Polpharma, avg speed 15.1 knots)
6th	PlayStation DNF

Club Med and Innovation Explorer, plunging southeast into the South Pacific, are now beyond the radius of operation of any means of rescue other than the other participants and the rescue boat Watcher (Watcher, the monohull rescue boat skippered by Hervé Laurent, is about 360 miles behind Warta Polpharma). It's this region that Titouan Lamazou, winner of the first Vendée Globe (ahead of Loïck Peyron), immediately labelled "The Dark Country".

In this region, seamanship and the survival instinct take priority over the quest for speed, as Bruno Peyron and his Jules Verne Trophy crew can testify following their encounter with a violent storm just before they rounded Cape Horn. Growlers are also not uncommon in these waters...

Club Med, with a lead of 684 miles, is back up to speed and has racked up 495nm to 11:48 GMT, averaging 20 knots. Club Med has eased down to 46 degrees south, she should be sailing on starboard in southwesterly winds, before getting back into a 35 knot northwest wind.

Weather conditions for the next few hours: Club Med will sail into a depression with westerly winds positioned in the 47-48° of south latitude. These conditions will permit the big blue cat to lengthen her lead and to attempt a Pacific crossing in potentially 8 days.

After Loick Peyron blasted through the Cook Straits - Grant Dalton: "So now it is all said and done and the Cook Straits are over for both of us. The net loss for us is about 170 miles, quite a price to pay for a look at home and a fleeting glimpse of friends and family. We are well settled into the Southern Ocean again. We are back with the constant speed and the water coming over the deck, back to the drysuits, the cups of tea that fill with salt water spray before you can drink their hot contents, back to the reports to monitor the fleet, the weather maps and the tactics. Back to the world we know and the competitive arena we enjoy."

Innovation Explorer was surprised by a 50 knot squall off Cape Farewell, they quickly dropped the main and sailed under gennaker alone, they then turned into the Cook Straits this morning (GMT) where it was clear sailing, firstly in very little wind, then taking advantage of a strengthening north-westerly they were able to pile on the speed again, ealier than Club Med was able to exiting the Strait. Passing the port of Wellington at 0700 (GMT), followed by helicopters and powerboats, including friends of Skip (Novak) and Elena Caputo, Peyron and team bid farewell to New Zealand in a fountain of spray of 24 knots at 11:48 GMT. Innovation Explorer traded video cassettes for a camera with the New Zealand Coast Guard, the hand off being made in calm seas.

Team Adventure is sailing at 21.7 knots in about 24 knots of wind on the back of a depression, stuck between a high behind her and a low in front. Team Adventure covered 560.2 miles at an average of 22.8 knots in the last 24 hours, the fastest of the fleet for today.

Team Adventure's satellite B system has crashed, they also broke two battens today.

Cam Lewis: "This project revolves around communication. So, no phone, no video, no pictures, no bulk email. I am using the Satellite C system for this email, but messages sent this way are expensive. We may be able to fix the B".

From the NOW live tracker, www.now.com

Innovation Explorer is in turqoise Club Med in yellow Team Adventure is green

PlayStation is in red Warta is orange Team Legato is blue

Warta-Polpharma, making her way around the bottom of a high pressure system to the north, is finally sailing due east cruising 90 miles north of the Kerguelens, but still in an unhelpful high pressure area, enabling them to cover 329nm at 13.7 knots in 14-knot northwesterly winds over the last day.

Teal Legato is now only 1,150 miles behind, covering 450nm at 18.8 knots over the 24-hour period to 11:48 GMT in about 20 knots of west-northwest wind. Team Legato will pass south of the South African Prince Edward Islands.

From the NOW live tracker, www.now.com

Innovation Explorer is in turqoise Club Med in yellow Team Adventure is green

PlayStation is in red Warta is orange Team Legato is blue

Map images courtesy of Virtual Spectator, click here to go to The Race site for a free download of the software.

Club Med in blue Innovation Explorer is in green Warta Polpharma is yellow

Team Adventure is in orange Team Legato is in brick-red PlayStation is in orange-red

Map images courtesy of Virtual Spectator, click here to go to The Race site for a free download of the software.

Club Med in blue Innovation Explorer is in green Warta Polpharma is yellow

Team Adventure is in orange Team Legato is in brick-red PlayStation is in orange-red

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