DAY 57 - Club Med Sacrifice to the Wind Gods? Team Adventure Passes Warta Polpharma
News - Sunday, 02/25/2001, 5:23 PM GMT

Position	02/25/2001 5:23 PM GMT
1st	Club Med (2410 nm from finish. Skirting the Azores High, avg speed 10.3 knots)
2nd	Innovation Explorer (706 nm from the leader. Has lost a little ground through the Doldrums, avg speed 11.8 knots)
3rd	Team Adventure (6080 nm from leader. Pulling away from Poles, avg speed 20.1 knots)
4th	Warta Polpharma (6204 nm from the leader. Have put up an impressive fight, avg speed 14.9 knots)
5th	Team Legato (7921 nm from the leader. Speed has dropped off, playing it cautiously, avg speed 13.3 knots)
6th	PlayStation DNF

Estimated arrival dates
Club Med - around March 3rd (Saturday)
Innovation Explorer - around March 5th ((Monday)
Team Adventure - between March 18th and March 24th
Team Legato and Warta-Polpharma afterwards.

Club Med, 'the Untouchables' - Sacrifice to the Wind Gods?
There is an low coming in, unusual for this time of year, it's edge extending way down south. Club Med has been blessed with wonderful conditions throughout this race, and has navigated superbly taking advantage of all of these gifts from the wind gods. When Club Med picks up this unusual low located in the north-west of the North Atlantic, they will be propelled by a 20 knot south-easterly that could take them at least as far as the Canaries, 980 miles away, and even to the gateway to the Mediterranean, Gibraltar.

Dalton: "It's the perfect storm. It's a biggie, but we will be able to get out of its way, by moving away to the African coast, if things get a bit rugged. It's a big low, and I imagine it will blow us and Innovation right into the Med."

Dalton: We're just sort of in this ridge now between systems, when we were basically totally becalmed. You know we had the three zeros on the speedo just before. But we'll pass through the ridge. It could take us 12 hours though. The ridge will pass over us, rather than us through it, because we're basically not moving. Then we are away. Next stop Marseille. Being becalmed is not such a bad thing. It is dropping the head sea. It is down to zero, so when the wind picks up it will bring with it a new wave pattern, and we will be able to accelerate. "

Innovation Explorer - 'The Hunters': fun on board
Skip Novak: "We crossed the equator at 12:20 GMT. Shortly after, King Neptune and his Queen, the wind god Aeoleus and two of Neptune's pirates came over the bows.

Skipper Loick Peyron summoned Innovation's novices Jean Phi Saliou, Xavier Dagault, Yves Loday, Jerome Teigne, Thierry Douillard and Olivier Lozachmeur and they were brought before the King, castigated in good measure and interrogated to see if they were worthy of safe passage.

"We celebrated at sunset with the last of the pate and the last bottle, so I'm led to believe. Dagault also announced next Friday will be day 63, and that's when the set menus will run out and we will be into our reserve provisions."

"The latest predictions are we may actually be in time to benefit from this massive low which is forming in the Atlantic. Club Med will certainly catch it within the next 24 hours. If we can slip through the doldrums quickly, we could possibly ride up on the tail end of the system, hot on their heels. We don't want to see Grant Dalton having too much sleep."

Elena Caputo: "We are in a 12-knot wind at the moment. We are moving pretty much at a constant, and staying with the speed of the wind. We are trying to head as far north as possible, so as not to head on a parallel route with the doldrums. We are heading between 330 and 340 [degrees] at the moment."

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

Water Ballet in the Furious Fifties
Team Adventure and Warta Polpharma are in raging seas with oversized waves and the wind is blasting from the south-west 40 to 50 knots. This vast depression is hanging about around Cape Horn and would seem to want to accompany them along the coast. For the moment Team Adventure is 3rd 1474 miles away from Cape Horn and Warta-Polpharma, 100 miles behind is 1564 miles from the rock by the direct route. They are making long broad reaching tacks, punctuated by awkward gybes, the two boats turn to face one another again each time they gybe back on to the direct route.

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 Legato - 'the Survivor's'
Team Legato is struggling to get south and leave the grips of this eternal anticyclone centered over New Zealand, the pressure is on to escape before a big blow predicted in 72 hours time, where they would be forced to beat into strong south, south-east winds.

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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