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02/21/2001 - Day 53: 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 53 - Will Innovation Explorer's Gamble Pay Off? Warta Problems at Head of Mast. Team Legato set to Depart Wellington Today with a Dramatically Reduced Team of 6
News - Wednesday, 02/21/2001, 2:57 PM GMT
| Position | 02/21/2001 2:57 PM GMT |
| 1st | Club Med (3303 nm from finish. 62 days looks possible, avg speed 17.5 knots) |
| 2nd | Innovation Explorer (1201 nm from the leader. Good speed north for the moment, avg speed 14.4 knots) |
| 3rd | Warta Polpharma (6773 nm from the leader. Head of sail problems slows her down, avg speed 17.2 knots) |
| 4th | Team Adventure (6942 nm from leader. Barrelling down on Warta Polpharma, aiming to do so before Cape Horne, avg speed 22.5 knots) |
| 5th | Team Legato (8014 nm from the leader. 60-hour pitstop and 4 crew leaving. Restart now stretched to 8 PM tonight, avg speed 0.0 knots) |
| 6th | PlayStation DNF |
Estimated arrival dates
Club Med - around March 3rd
Innovation Explorer - around March 5th
Team Adventure - between March 18th and March 24th
Team Legato and Warta-Polpharma afterwards.
Club Med and Innovation Explorer both have a sweepstake going - whoever correctly predicts the date and time of arrival in Marseille wins the pot.
On Innovation Explorer the stake is 100 french Francs (about $14. US).
Loick Peyron is the most optimistic predicting an arrival on March 1st at 10.00 am GMT. Navigator Roger Nilson’s prediction was more conservative with March 4th at 6.00 pm GMT, and the most pessimistic estimate came from Skip Novak, last to speak with March 5th at noon GMT.
Aboard Club Med they are betting 200 Francs (about $28 US).
The crew however are keeping their predictions a secret, so we will have to wait until they arrive in Marseilles to find out who won.
There have been big gains for Club Med in the last 24 hours, as they race north in the They are expected to cross the equator at 5:00 PM GMT today.
Dalton: "Setting up for the Doldrums is always complex. The basics are about crossing at the narrowest point, usually in the west. But if you go too far west and get too close to the coast there is no wind. You also end up a long way to leeward for the north-east trades and the upwind sailing that follows on the other side. A compromise must be found but it can be scientifically chosen. With the technology we have now and the ability to have a router ashore we are able to get much closer to all this information and make informed decisions at the right time. Right now I am looking at photographs here, taken by satellite of the clouds over the Doldrums. Watching cumulo-nimbus clouds forming in real time from on top when you are at sea level is pretty cool. The ability to do this allows us to watch things like tropical waves and other meteorological phenomena that help us choose our path through the Doldrums."
Dalton also had some interesting thoughts on the general principle of weather routing, "I have never sailed in a race where routing was allowed before. I think it is great and I would recommend it for the next Volvo Race. For me in my career I think it is more fun. We are able to do a more clinical job on the route we choose as a result. This is after all a mechanised sport, technology and everything is here to stay."
Innovation Explorer has now freed herself from the South Atlantic High, they are in the trades. The monotony of the light air yesterday afternoon was broken by the sighting of a group of small whales, maybe bottlenose dolphins, which swam quite close by the side of the boat.
Innovation Explorer's Elena Caputo: "Although for some hours this morning we had a chance to be optimistic as we were making decent speed on a north-west course, the wind died out in the afternoon and we seem to be constantly stuck in a ridge as the high that was supposed to go east has slipped a bit north. There are no more birds flying in the wake of Explorer but the flying fish are back in numbers."
Innovation Explorer could go for the crossing from all the way over in their easterly position. If they got through without getting held up, then they would save hundreds of miles over the detour to the west to go through near Club Med's traditional crossing point. Equally they could end up stuck for a couple of days if they get it wrong and having covered extra ground going east would not have paid off.
Aboard Innovation Explorer, a computer virus!
Valentine, one of the five most damaging computer viruses in the world, has found it’s way into Jérôme Teigné’s computer.
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 |
Team Adventure is barreling down on Warta Polpharma gambling in tougher conditions, typical of Cam Gram's style - push it to the limit. This afternoon the gap was down to 169 miles.
Warta Polpharma made the right navigational decision for the smaller Ollier ship - to stay further north, as the low pressure system that they are running with is very intense (they are currently in a heavy swell and 35-40 knot winds), any further south and they would be facing wild conditions of sea state and breeze.
Lewis is hooked into a low with plenty of breeze that is going in the right direction, he is gybing in the westerly breeze on the top of it - the north east side of the depression would be the less harsh side, being on top of it means rougher more disturbed seas. In addition a tropical depression is dropping from the north into the Southern Ocean, Warta will clear it but Team Adventure may be impacted by very strong headwinds.
Let's not forget though that the Poles still have the added time credit of around 14 hours after two non-penalized stops.
Team Adventure's goals are for a decent finish, and for potentially a new 24 hour speed record. Their best chance will be in the next seven days in the long swells and high winds on the southern regions of the Pacific, it will depend on how fast the low is moving.
Warta Polpharma's slower performance in 40 knots of breeze yesterday is now explained - Roman Paszke explained that they had a problem at the head of the mast. A crew member was obliged to climb the mast to repair the car and track of the mainsail. Roman Paszke felt that this was a design defect. If the repair holds, they are hoping to reach Cape Horn in 7 days. Their speed has now increased, as seen by a momentary burst at 36.4 knots when surfing down a wave.
Team Legato has lost another team member, Jason Owen who was injured in a big nose-dive and hurt his back - this loss will hurt alot, as he is the navigator. Bullimore must continue with a team of 6. But the larders are full, there are new generators and new pumps. Their target is to arrive within the deadline, less than thirty days after the first to finish.
Team Legato's decision to stop had been as a result of the team taking a vote and deciding to take a 60 hour break in Wellington to check over the boat and make one or two small repairs including servicing one of the generators, considering they would be so short handed with the loss of the three team members.
An anticyclone which has taken up residence over New Zealand, so they their departure has been delayed from the permitted 16:14 GMT on Wednesday to 8 PM, February 21st in 30 knots of breeze.
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 |
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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