KINGFISHER2 RACING TOWARDS HEAVEN... OR HELL...
SUMMARY:
0700 GMT 13.2.03
Position: 30 59' S 33 46' W (approx 870 east of
Brazilian coastline)
Ahead/Behind
the record: 31 hours 26 minutes behind Orange
(using WP5) Ahead/Behind Geronimo: 77 hours 34
minutes behind Geronimo (using WP5) DAY 14 24
hour run (point to point) : Kingfisher2 295 nm,
Orange 378 nm, Geronimo 404 nm End DAY 14 distance
to go (on theoretical course) : KF2 20096 nm,
Orange 19593 nm, 18855 Geronimo nm Click on POSITIONS
link at http://www.teamkingfisher.com to see graphic
images comparing the tracks of these 3 challengers
at 4 hourly intervals.
Av/Max
boat speed in last hour: 16.28 / 20.7 knots Heading:
191
Av/Max wind speed in last hour: 15.26 / 22.8 knots
Wind direction: 85
Distance to WP4 35 00'S / 24 00'W approach to
Southern Ocean : 547 nm Distance to WP5 42 00'S
/ 18 28'W 490nm south Cape Town: 2564 (theorectical
shortest distance)
IN BRIEF:
*
HEAVEN OR HELL, IT'S HARD TO TELL: The contrast
couldn't be greater, one minute shorts and t-shirts,
sunshine and gentle but frustrating progress -
the next, water hosing across the deck, violent
motion in to an opposing sea, oilskins on, storm
clouds and a sense of foreboding as the Southern
Ocean approaches - but at least a boatspeed in
double figures...
*
KINGFISHER2 IS NOW IN THE 30s of southerly latitude,
and seems to have finally touched some new breeze
that will propel them in to the Southern Ocean.
A sense of relief onboard, but also a sense of
nervousness as life onboard changes dramatically
in the space of just a few hours.
*
TACTICALLY THE NEXT CHALLENGE is to hook into
one of the depressions that circle the bottom
of the globe (see JARGON BUSTER below on how the
weather can do this), and hopefully begin the
Southern Ocean sleigh ride.
*
GERONIMO HAS PASSED THE 180 DEGREE MERIDIAN -
now sailing east of the dateline Geronimo is starting
to count down the degrees of longitude on her
way to Cape Horn. Her lead over Peyron's record
has reduced dramatically to just over 2 days,
after having to make her way south again. The
new record time to the 180 degree meridian of
32 days, 3 hours, 13 minutes and 47 seconds puts
them 2 days, 6 hours and 7 minutes ahead of the
time Bruno Peyron.
*
CREW MEMBER FOCUS: Andrew Preece, runs a specialist
sailing TV production company and writes regular
racing features, he is on board KINGFISHER2 in
charge of media and communications - the right
person for the job...
Listen
to Ellen's latest audio this morning... Visit
http://www.teamkingfisher.com and click on the
'Audio' icon on the menu bar or download from
http://www.ocftp.com/audio/em130203a_uk.mp3
Kingfisher operating company of the day DATART:
Datart is an electrical retailer based in the
Czech and Slovak Republics. http://www.datart.cz
ELLEN
LATEST LOG: (communications by BT [broadband users
check out video and other high speed content at
http://kingfisher.sportal.com]
What
a stark contrast from just hours ago... It's now
a black night - we are crashing through the waves
making typing virtually impossible. It was Neal's
watch just before sunset - there was little wind,
less than 15 knots - and the sea was as flat and
quiet as it had ever been. It was approaching
2100 hours - and the sun was begining to set.
There was a line of cloud in the distance which
seemed to close on us very quickly... I called
Meeno for our evening weather update - and incredibly
within that one phone call where I was descrbing
the new clouds - we were sailing in 25 knots of
wind with a really lively sea... Incredible how
things can change like that. As Guillermo left
his watch to hand over to Neal he looked into
the distance seeing the clouds approcah. "Welcome
to the gates of hell," he proclaimed and
retired below to his bunk.... ex
JARGON
BUSTER: Weather in the Southern Ocean
Without any land masses to hinder them, the weather
of the South is driven by a series of low pressure
systems that circle the bottom of the globe around
Antartica. The winds and wave heights can build
to severe storms, and are particularly unstable.
The wind in the southern hemisphere rotates clockwise
around the systems (the inverse of the northern
hemisphere), so being on the northern side of
them gives favourable downwind conditions as they
travel east. However, the further south you go
the shorter the distance you sail. Finding the
compromise is the key decision to make...as well
as trying to stay with the same system for as
long as possible - as you fall of the back of
a depression, there can be period of light winds
while you wait for the next to catch you up.
JULES
VERNE USHANT (START) TO CAPE OF GOOD HOPE TIMES:
1993 Commodore Explorer (Peyron) 21 days 12 hours
48 minutes 1994 ENZA (Blake/Knox-Johnston) 19
days 17 hours 53 minutes 1997 Sport Elec (de Kersauson)
21 days 18 hours 17 minutes 2002 Orange (Peyron)
18 days 18 hours 40 minutes 2003 Geronimo (de
Kersauson) 16 days 14 hours 35 minutes 21 seconds
OMEGA
official timekeeper of KINGFISHER2'S Jules Verne
record attempt
CREW MEMBER FOCUS: Andrew Preece (UK) - Media
& Comms
Before Andrew got behind a camera, he had studied
naval design and been racing at top level events
for a number of years - crewing British Admiral's
Cup campaigns or doing tactics for Lawrie Smith
on his Ultra 30. He had already established himself
as a racing journalist before a job as a consultant
to a sailing TV production took him off in a new
direction. By 1997/98 he was Director of programming
for the Whitbread Round the World Race, in 2001
Director of Programming for The Race and BBC Producer
for the Louis Vuitton America's Cup TV coverage
last year. Record attempts are not a new thing
for Andrew, he has already been on board Steve
Fossett's Playstation in a trans-Atlantic record
bid and with Orange on their Round Britain &
Ireland record attempt but the non-stop circumnavigation
was another ball game: "As a sailor, racing
non-stop round the world is the biggest thing
you can do in the sport... I always knew if someone
asked me to sail round the world I would say yes
- I've dreamed of doing it but never thought I
would. I hope to capture all the images I have
heard about for so long." Email Andrew direct
on board KINGFISHER2 at andrewrace@kingfisherchallenges.com
PERFORMANCE
PARTNER OF THE DAY - TBS: TBS are the official
shoe supplier to Team Kingfisher. http://www.teamkingfisher.com/tbs
