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02/14/2001 - Day 46: News | [Print] [Close] |
| Innovation Explorer is in turqoise
Club Med in yellow Team Adventure is green | PlayStation is in red
Warta is orange Team Legato is blue |
DAY 46 - Lady Luck, or Should I say Cupid? was with Innovation Explorer Rounding Cape Horn
News - Wednesday, 02/14/2001, 5:20 AM GMT
| Position | 02/14/2001 5:20 AM GMT |
| 1st | Club Med (5640 nm from finish. Moved north out the Forties but faced by high pressure, avg speed 15.4 knots) |
| 2nd | Innovation Explorer (979 nm from the leader. Speeding toward the Falklands, avg speed 16.0 knots) |
| 3rd | Team Adventure (5949 nm from leader. Heading for 60-hour stop in Wellington, avg speed 9.6 knots) |
| 4th | Warta Polpharma (6503 nm from the leader. Not yet slowed by the light winds of Tasman Sea, avg speed 15.3 knots) |
| 5th | Team Legato (7303 nm from the leader. Steady performance, Bullimore twists his ankle on the nets, avg speed 18.3 knots) |
| 6th | PlayStation DNF |
Innovation Explorer suffered 50 knots of wind gusting to 60 as she passed the Horn at 39 knots. There was concern with the state of her sails and a shortened daggerboard that she would suffer damage in these difficult conditions, but Lady Luck, or should I say cupid? Was with her. They are heading around the eastern edge of the high pressure to the west, keeping the wind behind him and the Falkland Islands to the left.
Elena Kaputo: "The passage of the Horn was like a perfect dream come true. With 50 knots of wind gusting 60 and breaking waves making the surface of the water more white than blue, Explorer surfed passed Cape Horn at incredible speed, touching at times 39 knots on the instruments. The feeling of joy and relief was visible in the eyes and the smiles of all the crew. What a disappointment it would have been to pass the mythical rock with 15 knots of wind in flat waters after having sailed 43 days to get here! The morning started out in the usual rough manner and the sea began getting steep between one squall and the other. Wind gusted to 60 knots and hail came pouring down on us as we gybed twice during what seemed a very long approach to the Horn. We put the staysail up in the place of the Solent and eventually had 3 reefs in the mainsail."
"The honour of the helm went to Yves Loday as Explorer sailed past the Horn at incredible speed.
Elena: "We met up with Bruno Peyron who was on a boat to wave us by. When Loick sailed passed the Horn for the first time during the Vendee Globe his brothers Bruno and Stephan were here waiting for his passage. Ten years later, "le grand frere" has come again to wave a welcome home into the Atlantic to our skipper Loick Peyron."
Club Med is spearing towards the centre of the high pressure, which is drifting off the South American coast in front of them. The only decent breeze ahead of them looks to be north or north-easterly and that's right on the nose.
Dalton: "Over the next 24 hours, we’ll head into the high. We’ll go very light, maybe five knots, maybe for 12 hours. When we head onto the other side, we’ll try and head east, away from nasty head-winds.
Team Adventure continue to have a bad run, with the high pressure settling over them like a black cloud. New England boatbuilder, Eric Goetz, now has a couple of men ready to do the repair work, while the estimated time of arrival for the boat has gone back to late Wednesday, and it could be later.
Cam Lewis: We discovered the skin peeling, and some small areas are bad enough that we can see the core coming through. There are so many options that have been discussed about what is best to do with our program. Quitting the course is not one of them. Once we realized the severity of the delamination we had a talk, and to the man we decided that finishing is our best option."
Larry Rosenfeld: : "We were doing fine just cruising along, doing about 13 knots, in lightish air and about seven knots of breeze. Then we hit something which slowed us down. We had to do a little circle and we’re off again."
Team Adventure, still in the anticyclone, will get the breeze eventually as that low pressure to their west drifts towards them. The problem is that Warta Polpharma will be arriving with it - though fortunately for Lewis, not on the leading edge.
Warta Polpharma is sailing in the same anticyclone but her wind conditions are much more cooperative for now although this will not last. Team Legato is coming up behind them in excellent breeze, though the direction is less than perfect at the moment.
Team Legato: navigator Jason Owen has a bruised back and Bullimore has twisted his left knee, when jumping out of the cockpit onto the nets. Neither injury is reported as being serious. Mike Gettinger sorted out a problem with the generator in the port hull, which is now working fine.
Good news for Team Legato.
The Race organizers' announced that The Race would officially close 30 days after the winning boat crosses the line in Marseilles, and not 125 percent timewise.
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 |
Bullimore: "I was on the nets when I sprained my ankle. Looks like we’ve got some fair winds to take us to New Zealand. Then, when we get in between Tasmania and New Zealand, the wind drops off. It will stay light unless something drastic happens in the meantime."
Map images courtesy of Virtual Spectator, click here to go to The Race site for a free download of the software.
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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 |
Tidbits
Yves Loday, on Innovation Explorer is a famous beach cat sailor and Tornado gold medalist. He has designed a number of beach cats, namely the Dart Hawk (co-designed with Reg White), Dart 16, Storm and Spitfire and the KL 15.5.
Map images courtesy of Virtual Spectator, click here to go to The Race site for a free download of the software.
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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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