DAY 52 - Team Adventure Departs Wellington With one Less Crew, Team Legato in Wellington for 60 hours, Loses 3 Crew
News - Tuesday, 02/20/2001, 6:47 AM GMT

Position	02/20/2001 6:47 AM GMT
1st	Club Med (3947 nm from finish. Slowing on the approach to the Equator, avg speed 14.5 knots)
2nd	Innovation Explorer (967 nm from the leader. Further east, slowed in Mid Atlantic high, avg speed 10.9 knots)
3rd	Warta Polpharma (6610 nm from the leader. Playing it safe, avoiding southerly big winds and seas across the Pacific, avg speed 14.0 knots)
4th	Team Adventure (6960 nm from leader. Diving deep south to get into the big breeze, avg speed 20.7 knots)
5th	Team Legato (7370 nm from the leader. 60-hour pitstop and three crew leaving, avg speed 0.0 knots)
6th	PlayStation DNF

Estimated arrival dates
Club Med - around March 3rd
Innovation Explorer - between March 3 and 18th
Team Adventure - between March 18th and March 24th
Team Legato and Warta-Polpharma afterwards.

Club Med has been averaging overnight 17 knots, heading north, getting ever closer to the coast of Brazil. They are only 220 miles form the coastline between Salvador de Bahia and Récife. The doldrums lie about 800 miles ahead of them.

According to Gilles Chiorri, the doldrums are expected to be "less marked than on the way down."

Innovation Explorer has headed much further east in the hope of finding some winds. They are beginning to break free of the anticyclonic region that has slowed them down for several hours but she is sailnig straight into unfavourable conditions.

Innovation Explorer is presently riding a small low which formed in the stationary cold front which extends out from Brazil. This weather should them for the next 24 hours when they will lose the wind in a high.

The going is getting pretty rough, the pitching is getting to be quite wild.

Yves Loday: "We have the problem of the broken daggerboard. We have trouble sailing close-hauled and we have to bear away to enable the daggerboard to function properly. As a result we perform less well on a port tack. One of our ballast tanks is also leaking. When it broke off, the daggerboard must have hit the rear part of the hull and made a small hole. We have to pump out 100 litres (22 Uk gallons) of water every three hours!"

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 left Wellington Saturday, replacing the defective Satcom system. They have 14 hours of time credit that will be applied at the end of the race for the two unpenalized stops.

Warta-Polpharma, after leaving Wellington Saturday is heading southeast, making only 13 knots.

Team Adventure left the dock in Wellington at 2:20 AM GMT Monday, about the same time that Team Legato pulled in. They are making 26.5 knots, taking a very southerly course to catch the southwest sector of a high pressure system. The southern route will give them stronger winds and bigger seas, and more work for the short handed cat. They should get lots of westerlies for for the next few days.

Lewis: "I saw the Poles on Warta on Saturday night when they pulled in to fix their communication gear. The boat was surrounded by tight security. No one on or off except electronic experts. My offers of cold drinks and hot burgers were barred. We passed Legato coming in today as we headed out."

On the repairs: "Once we saw the delamination and peeling problems we realized how much power constant water pressure has and that the constant speed of the boat required a bigger and stronger patch outside. One problem with stopping is that we find ourselves in a position to fix a lot of other things that suddenly need to be fixed. A window in the coach roof was coming out. We did some further tuning of the headboard car, a complete mast check, some minor sail repairs and some canvas work. We restocked with produce including fresh baked bread and other foods like pasta and cheese and who knows what else Fred B and Jane spent with the [US]$1,500 I gave them."

Team Legato arrived in Wellington at 4.14 am GMT, and has lost three team members: Armand Coursodon, Olivier Cusin and Rob Salvidge.

1. Armand Coursodon has a trapped nerve in his back requiring at least 2 weeks of rest;
2. Olivier Cusin has two infected teeth and is in pain;
3. Rob Salvidge has requested to see a doctor for medical and personal reasons.

At 9.00 am GMT, Bullimore announced to the port authorities that he intended to stay in Wellington for at least 60-hours. This is welcome news for both the crew and the boat, as it means a damaged life-raft can be repaired.

The loss of communications caused by the satellite pod being washed overboard as well as the accidental inflation of a life raft will also have contributed to the decision. Other factors may also have played a part; food for example had already been rationed in order to ensure supplies lasted to the finish.

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

[Print]    [Close] E-mail: Webmistress Copyright ©Xavier Innovations Ltd. All rights reserved