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03/03/2001 - Day 63: 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 63 - Club Med Finishes at 7:56 PM GMT - Play by Play was Updated as News Came In
News - Saturday, 03/03/2001, 5:32 PM GMT
| Position | 03/03/2001 5:32 PM GMT |
| 1st | Club Med (83 nm from finish. Revised finish time 8:30 GMT, avg speed 18.3 knots) |
| 2nd | Innovation Explorer (909 nm from the leader. Heading for the Med at speed, another 100 miles knocked off, avg speed 21.9 knots) |
| 3rd | Team Adventure (6189 nm from leader. Well beyond Falklands heading NE, avg speed 8.4 knots) |
| 4th | Warta Polpharma (6758 nm from the leader. Heading towards Falklands, at risk with another bad low approaching, avg speed 9.0 knots) |
| 5th | Team Legato (9617 nm from the leader. Has fallen another 400 miles behind, avg speed 3.5 knots) |
| 6th | PlayStation DNF |
| cat-alist Estimated arrival dates and Positions | ||
| 1st | Club Med | Saturday, March 3rd - 8:30 PM GMT |
| 2nd | Innovation Explorer | Monday, March 5th - evening |
| 3rd | Team Adventure | around March 18th |
| 4th | Warta Polpharma | around March 21st |
| 5th | Team Legato | around March 30th |
The finish line is in the Western Mediterranean, by Marseille.
The finish line is the length of The Catalans. Once the leading maxi-cat finishes, they will dock at the quai des Belges, where an 80 meter finger has been especially constructed for the occasion.
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Click here to read more on the finish in Marseille |
Club Med, 'the Untouchables' - The End is Near!
"Direction of course, direction of course" Club Med is sailing at 20 knots, they will be on the line between now and 10 minutes" the VHF crackles, the excitement intensifies around the islands of Frioul - the accompanying boats and spectators perform an uncertain but enthusiastic ballet. Then the machine accelerates, her speed surprises everyone. "They have passed the line", it is now official, the distress flares light up the sky - Club Med has arrived, the victor.
Karen-Ann: "I am watching them on video, I can see the team mates going around shaking each other hands on Club Med, small inflatables around the boat, protecting the hulls. I can hear lots of horns. Visibility is poor because of the night. I see flashes of light periodically, I can presume camera flashes.
They are onshore now, I can see fireworks going off."
Club Med finished at 7:56 and 33 seconds PM GMT, with a race time of 62 days, 6 hours and 56 minutes and an average speed of approximately 18 knots.
Innovation Explorer was at that time 901 miles behind, Team Adventure 6253, Warta Polpharma 6793, Team Legato 9685.
8:21 PM GMT - Dalton: "We are happy to see all these people come out to see us, I feel very humble, and very privileged. It's been great sailing with all these guys and I hope that will sail with me again."
Once they docked at the red carpetted finger, all of the yellow clad team leaped from various parts of the tramp: Grant Dalton is tossed by his teammates into the blue sea of the old port, promptly followed by Franck Proffit!
Dalton, on the podium, failed to open the first magnum of champagne he was presented. Worse, he broke the cork. Happily, the infallible logistical support of his shore crew supplied him with a second one.
As expected, the prize-giving ceremony went quite quickly, out of a wish to spare the crew who were anxious to devour a real meal and have a little drink after two months of complete abstinence from alcohol.
Congratulations to: Franck Proffit, Ian Dekker, Jacques Caraës, Hervé Jan, Nicolas Pichelin, Guillermo Altadill, Alexis de Cénival, Neal Mac Donald, Frédéric le Peutrec, Mike Quilter, Stefano Rizzi, Ed Danby, Neal Mac Donald and Grant Dalton.
Dalton: "There’s a possibility we will get becalmed if the northwesterly knocks out the southwesterly. We think we will make it, but it’s a funny old place the Med. We can’t predict the estimated time of arrival. It is dead downwind and the wind is dying out. "
Marseille is preparing for the winners, a red carpet has been rolled out on the finger of champions. Scaffolders have erected the presentation stages, TV and lighting towers.
Lights, fireworks and all the church bells tolling is planned when Club Med docks, with the family and friends first aboard. Sponsors have flown in more than 30 family members of the crew. If they do arrive by midnight or afterwards, the church bells will not be tolled due to the late hour.
It seems like a normal day with people selling fish on the dockside... for now. Plenty of people are milling about, looking at the boats.
Club Med president, Philippe Bourguignon: "Club Med is about freedom and choice and the spirit of adventure. When I heard about The Race I knew that our company's spirit was exactly right for this kind of adventure. I had no hesitation in getting involved and I have been a strong believer in the concept from the beginning."
"The first Race, with Club Med winning, will be remembered as a new page in sailing history. I am proud that we at Club Med contributed to turning this page and it was our crew who wrote the first lines."
Dalton: "Last night was really tough because we had so much wind - the highest consistent winds we’ve had in the whole race. In the Mediterranean, 50 knots is a lot of wind and the waves were really big. It has been quite tough. There was so much variation in the wind we had to change the sails constantly and gybe. It is only literally this afternoon I’ve been prepared to accept, barring something awful, we’re going to win. It was really rough, though. I’ve done more sail changes in the last 24 hours than we’ve done since New Zealand."
Bruno Peyron is reputed to be already thinking of another event in four years time. It will be interesting to see what boats and boat construction is built by that time, as this is a design development class (no rules, no restrictions). A 38-meter trimaran is already under construction for Olivier de Kersuason in France.
Innovation Explorer, 'the Hunters' - Salutes Club Med's Performance
Innovation Explorer has gained another 100 miles today.
Team Adventure, Entertainment Extreme - passing the Argentinian coast
Those Fabulous Poles - surviving the low?
Dariusz Drapella: "I am surprised by the height of the waves that sometimes reach more than 10 meters and seem at times to be as high as the mast of the boat!"
And to beat all, a new low pressure system is advancing to the south-east of their position. This low that will impact them at noon tomorrow should bring winds of 60 knots.
Team Legato - 'the Survivor's' - Pray for Wind
They have just sped up, with 7 knots of breeze, a prayer answered for this frustrated team.
E-mail: Webmistress
Taken from www.therace.org website
Taken from www.therace.org website
Elena Caputo-Novak: "We are pleased with our position, even though it is not first place. Club Med have sailed superbly, and we salute their performance."
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
5 knots of wind on the nose, 7 knots of average boat speed.
Warta-Polpharma is encountering winds of 85 knots.
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 is smack in a Southern Ocean doldrum, having covered just 77.5 miles in the last 24-hour period at an average speed of 3.2 knots.
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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