BIG SEAS OVERNIGHT & SOME DIY SKILLS REQUIRED...
SUMMARY:
0700 GMT 16.2.03
Position: 41 22' S 04 15' W
Ahead/Behind
the record: 7 hours 53 minutes behind Orange (using
WP5) Ahead/Behind Geronimo: 72 hours 21 minutes
behind Geronimo (using WP6) DAY 17 24 hour run
(point to point) : Kingfisher2 507 nm, Orange
532 nm, Geronimo 470 nm End DAY 17 distance to
go (on theoretical course) : KF2 18547 nm, Orange
18421 nm, Geronimo 17390 nm
Boat
speed in last hour: 22.1 knots Heading: 091
Distance to WP5 42 00'S / 18 28'E 490nm south
of Cape of Good Hope: 1016 nm (theorectical
shortest distance)
IN
BRIEF:
*
KINGFISHER2 MAINTAINED AVERAGE SPEEDS OF OVER
20 KNOTS for much of the past 24 hours in gale
force winds and a difficult 6 to 7 metre sea,
recording another 500+ mile day. Just a couple
of hundred miles from the longitude 0 where KINGFISHER2
will cross into the east (when they cross back
into the west they will have raced just over halfway)
and 1000 miles to the longitude 018 28'E of the
Cape of Good Hope...
*
DIY SKILLS IN ACTION AGAIN as Ellen manages to
isolate the wiring problem in the instrument system
and resurrect the all important wind information
that the helmsmen rely on - in particularly in
the "full on" conditions KINGFISHER2
has been sailing in. It took a process of elimination
throughout the day, assisted by the shore team
and B&G's David Minords...finally the offending
wire connection was found, corroded completely
by the salt water environment at the base of the
mast. After 2 hours in a tiny little carbon compartment
that only Ellen could fit in, with a screwdriver,
wire clippers and a lot of patience (it might
be easy if the boat was still, but...) she's up
and running again.
*
"YESTERDAY WE WENT DOWN THE MINE for the
first time in this voyage. 'Beautiful,' said Neal
as the bows dug in"... Read Andrew's incredible
account of what its like sailing at speed and
close to the edge in full below or at http://www.teamkingfisher.com
posted on the home page or click on crew portrait
icon for today's full story...
*
SOUTHERN OCEAN SAILING, THE ULTIMATE TRIP: "If
you came and did this for a day you would go home
with a grin from ear to ear. But the Southern
Ocean doesn't deliver day trips...." reports
Andrew on the mix of adrenalin rush and discomfort
as he takes another soaking....
*
FORECAST IS FOR LIGHTENING WINDS during today,
followed by intensifying conditions as the next
low approaches - shore-based weather router, Meeno
must help KINGFISHER2 position herself for this
next system, get it right and you have the perfect
ride, get it wrong and....
*
NOT ALL GOING TO PLAN FOR GERONIMO as ice and
an unfavourable wind direction (westerly meaning
they have to gybe and not sail a direct course)
has forced them north as they follow a similar
track to Orange. The further north, the further
you sail around the bottom of the globe. An additional
concern is the violent storm that pounded them
south of Australia is catching them up again...
http://www.grandsrecords.com
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/em160203a_uk.mp3
Kingfisher
operating company of the day CASTORAMA: Castorama
is France's leading home improvement retailer
with 203 stores* in 6 countries. (*Figures as
at 2.2.2002) http://www.castorama.fr
ELLEN
PHONECALL 0500GMT: communications by BT [broadband
users check out video and other high speed content
at http://kingfisher.sportal.com]
"The
sea state is about 5-6 meters, we have the spinnaker
up and 3 reefs in the main. The seas have been
quite crossed and were much, much worse earlier
so now still quite nasty but boat is sailing pretty
nicely with the kite. Bit of an issue about 36
hours ago - sailing along and we noticed something
a bit funny with the wind angle whereby when we
gybed it wasn't reading the correct angle. So
we played around and had a look to try and work
out what is wrong. Eventually we discovered there
was a corroded plug at the base of the mast -
we had decided to tackle the problem by checking
each connection stage by stage and finally found
the damaged plug, nearly the last one left, and
we hard-wired it back into the system.
"Conditions
right now - sea flatter, sailing along at 20+
knots in a 35 knot breeze. It is forecast to get
lighter for the rest of today then deteriorate
in about 42 hours when another depression - a
small low but with very, very strong breeze -
will arrive. Will have to make a call on how deep
we sail with the new low, and how far north we
go before this new low arrives. Sea state is going
to be big and the wind angle in front not fantastic
so may have to shoot up north to deal with that
one..."
JARGON
BUSTER : GOING DOWN THE MINE
"Going down the mine" is an expression
to describe when the giant catamaran accelerates
down a big wave so fast that she catches up the
wave in front. Twenty-two tonnes of boat travelling
at 30+ knots sails straight in to a wall of water....the
boat decelerates very quickly sending crew lurching
forward (this is why they sleep feet first in
their bunks), putting massive strain on every
bit of gear as the loads shoot up, and potentially
cartwheeling the 110 foot boat - first the rudders
come out, all the sails are eased, and then you
just hope she’ll pop out of the wave in
one piece (boat and crew)!
LATEST
CREW NEWS FROM ANDREW PREECE - THE FULL STORY:
Yesterday
we went 'down the mine' for the first time in
this voyage. "Beautiful" said Neal as
the bows and front beam stuffed into the wave
ahead and the boat speed dropped from the mid-20s
to under 10 knots. "The first of many,"
he enthused. Ellen was not so happy - she had
been mixing a drink in the galley and it catapulted
all over Nigel.
There
was a different tone in Neal's voice as he took
over for his watch at 2000 last night. The way
he was talking non-stop and enthusing about the
conditions, I could tell the adrenalin was running.
The boat had been pummelling along at 30 knots
all afternoon, the wind was building and night
was coming. "Take a look at that sun,"
he said. "It might be the last time you see
it for a month."
And
by today our world had changed. We were chasing
down a low pressure that was pumping 60 knots
in its centre. The waves were forecast to build
to 10 metres and as we got closer to the low,
the wind swung ahead and it started to get rocky.
All night the crack of the waves slamming into
the beam where it joins the port (leeward) hull
sounded like gunfire. And The Hilton (port hull)
and the Best Western (starboard hull) appeared
to be in a race to beat each other south, the
boat wracking and writhing under the twisting
force of every wave. Sleep was nearly impossible.
It
was made all the more impossible when Hendo pitched
us in in the middle of a moonlit night. I had
left the deck about half an hour before after
we put in the second reef as the wind built to
35 knots. I was revelling in the comfort of a
sleeping bag that was, for the time being, dry.
Hendo punched it in mildly the first time, the
only effect being a slip down the bunk and foot
contact with the bulkhead, a mildly pleasant experience
that told of the pace we were pushing up on deck.
The second time was different. The front beam
put the bow in, the boat lurched to a standstill
and for a second I was standing on the bulkhead
flexing my muscles to prevent myself from folding
up; over in the starboard hull I learned the same
stuffing had bowled Hervé over on his way
to talk to Ellen.
Over
in the starboard hull I thought the incident was
over. WRONG! As the bow pitched in, a wall of
water hurled itself aft and filled the port cockpit.
About ten seconds later there was a cascade down
the dorade vent and straight into the open mouth
of my sleeping bag! A gallon or so drenched me
and the bag and seeped under the bag and onto
the mattress soaking the whole bunk. It was a
moment where I had to fight very hard to contain
my emotions which would, if I had let them, ranged
from rage to despondency to overwhelming self-pity.
But one can't afford to let emotions like that
surface when we have three or four weeks of this
stuff ahead of us. I reeled myself in, took off
my soaking thermal top and set about trying to
avoid the wet bit in the hope that I would get
back to sleep and dry it out with my body heat.
I
don't know what it is about this trip. First I
was soaked when the media station hatch flew open
and a cascade of water forced its way aboard.
And now this: I'm on my third pair of socks from
four and we have hardly scratched the surface
of discomfort.
But
enough about me. What about the Jules Verne record?
Well, we have had a couple of storming days and
have made ground on both Orange and Geronimo.
The view on the boat is that the shape of every
record attempt will be different and if we were
to read too much into the fact that we are behind
now on such a mammoth voyage we would be making
a grave error. Geronimo is suffering now at the
end of the Southern Ocean and approaching Cape
Horn, we had a tough time last week but are rocking
now. Ellen worked out that if we can do the Southern
Ocean on an average of two knots faster than Geronimo
then we will be level pegging at The Horn. Two
knots sounds a lot but Geronimo had a dream first
section but has not blazed a similar trail across
the Southern Ocean. We have a chance and we hope
we will be in a position to take it. Certainly
the next few days will be high octane as we maintain
contact with the low ahead of us until tomorrow
and then swap horses John Wayne-style to a low
that is coming up behind us that we could ride
for sometime. This is wet, bumpy and painful progress
but it is certainly quick. As Hendo says, 'this
is what we all signed up for. We've got to grunt
up and show we can handle it.' The waves are up
to around six metres in height, the bows swoop
low as we pummel down the wave face. If you came
and did this for a day you would go home with
a grin from ear to ear. But the Southern Ocean
doesn't deliver day trips. Andrew Media &
Comms
JULES
VERNE USHANT (START) TO CAPE OF GOOD HOPE TIMES:
2003 Geronimo (de Kersauson) 16 days 14 hours
35 minutes 21 seconds 2002 Orange (Peyron) 18
days 18 hours 40 minutes To beat them, KF2 must
cross longitude 018 28'W before 01:28GMT Tuesday
18.2.03 1997 Sport Elec (de Kersauson) 21 days
18 hours 17 minutes To beat them, KF2 must cross
longitude 018 28'W before 01:05GMT Friday 21.2.03
1994 ENZA (Blake/Knox-Johnston) 19 days 17 hours
53 minutes To beat them, KF2 must cross longitude
018 28'W before 0041GMT Wednesday 19.2.03 1993
Commodore Explorer (Peyron) 21 days 12 hours 48
minutes To beat them, KF2 must cross longitude
018 28'W before 19:36 Thursday 20.2.03
OMEGA official timekeeper of KINGFISHER2'S Jules
Verne record attempt
PERFORMANCE
PARTNER OF THE DAY B&G: B&G are the official
marine electronics supplier to Team Kingfisher
and have worked with the Offshore Challenges Sailing
Team who for a number of years have provided invaluable
feedback on the performance of the B&G pilots
and instruments. This unique partnership and test
platform is integral to the evolution of electronic
systems. Development at this level ensures that
the market gets the most robust, reliable and
accurate solutions in the world.
http://www.teamkingfisher.com/b&g
