KINGFISHER2
UNDER 1500 MILES TO SW AUSTRALIA
SUMMARY:
1100 GMT 28.2.03 day 30 (position taken at 0856
GMT)
Position: 47 16'S 90 01'E
Boat speed: 10.1 knots
Distance to Fremantle SW Australia: approx 1484
nm
IN BRIEF:
*
HAVING COVERED NEARLY 750 MILES SINCE THE DISMASTING
KINGFISHER2 has under 1500 miles to sail under
jury rig to SW Australia. Weather conditions have
been good and the catamaran has been averaging
around 8 knots - if these averages are maintained
then Ellen and the crew may be stepping ashore
in Fremantle in 10 days time.
*
WEATHER FORECAST FOR NEXT FEW DAYS from shore
based weather router, Meeno Schrader: "The
guys will get some stronger north westerlies over
the weekend - perhaps 30-34 knots from a new low
that is coming their way. Longer term another
big low may catch this smaller low early next
week and help rebuild the gradiant. Importantly,
this will help push the high sitting south of
Australia further east which will give KINGFISHER2
a good chance to reach the SW Australian coast
by next weekend." Of course, if the low is
not strong enough to push the high eastwards,
then there is a risk that Ellen and the crew will
get slowed by a zone of light air blocking their
route.
*
MORALE ON BOARD IS MEASURED BY ANDREW'S NEW MORALEOMETER...(read
his full account below). The mood on board is
starting to lighten as Ellen and the crew recover
from the enormity of losing the rig and coming
to terms with the loss of their Jules Verne record
bid. Andrew Preece has invented "the Moraleometer"
to monitor the crew's status using a scale from
1 to 10 - 1 being "suicidal" (no one
is marked at 1!) and 10 "ecstatic".
The crew are also coming up with many inventive
ways of keeping themselves occupied from fishing
to playing backgammon or human chess involving
the whole crew and using the trampoline as a chess
board...
********
LATEST
NEWS FROM ANDREW PREECE - THE MORALEOMETER SWINGS
INTO ACTION... (see Andrew's story online at http://www.teamkingfisher.com
on the home page or click on Andrew's portrait
icon plus other crew news from Kevin McMeel and
Nigel King available today...)
It's amazing to witness the human condition in
action. Three days ago we all threw ourselves
into the challenge of getting ourselves to Australia
as quickly as possible. The intellectual might
of the KINGFISHER2 crew was focussed on designing
as elegant and efficient jury rig as possible.
The talk was all about "refocusing goals‚
and working towards new ends". Thoughts of
the Jules Verne challenge were - if not forgotten
- suppressed as we began to talk and dream about
the delights of Fremantle where most of us have
spent enjoyable times at one stage or another.
Now
that the rig is up and pulling at anywhere between
3.9 and 14 knots (a difference on the 'Time To
Go' window of 22 days and six), and that people
are beginning to tire of 16 hours sleep a day,
there has been a rush to provide ourselves with
stimulus for the brain. Three of the five computers
on the boat have either Solitaire or Pinball permanently
awake on their screens and Hendo combines his
time between telling me he is the undisputed Pinball
champion and devising crosswords that we are going
to put into an Excel file and beam to everyone
on their Sony Clies. Neal and Ellen are trying
to decide whether the chess set should be real-life,
full-size played on deck and involving all the
crew or constructed from something smaller that
can be played indoors (we are still at 48 South
and the water temperature is still only six degrees);
Guillermo assures us that he knows of a legal
opening gambit that involves bringing out both
knights in the same move! Unless he can prove
it he will not be using that ploy in the KINGFISHER2
chess league. Nigel is learning some exotic splices
and is determined to use the time fruitfully as
is Damian who is planning to improve his tactical
navigation, map out the next two years of his
life and perhaps even do an Open University course.
There is a lot of reading and watching films going
on among the French: Hervé has a book two
inches thick (that a week ago would have been
coveted enthusiastically during our toilet paper
crisis) and there is a rumour that Ronny is book
critic for the Concarneau maritime book festival
back in France and has five to complete before
we get to Australia; his head torch can be seen
glowing from his bunk at all hours of the night
(Ellen's book Taking on the World is one of the
six short listed entries). Ellen is still running
the boat and plotting our course spending much
time on the phone to Meeno our weather router
in Germany trying to find our fastest way to salvation.
Youngster has withdrawn into his shell.
When
I noticed the different levels of reaction to
our plight a few days ago I started a survey -
the Moraleometer - which I have used to maintain
a watchful eye on the mental condition of my crew
mates. Initially it was an instrument of amusement
but more recently I have begun to feel it could
have a practical application as an early warning
device of anything ranging from an emotional outburst
to a stealing of chocolate or sleeping bags (we
only have six) to something more serious such
as a stabbing or a jumping ship. The Moraleometer
involves a personal rating of happiness on a scale
of one to ten (one being suicidal, ten being ecstatic).
These are my findings so far:
Hervé
8
"We are going along, nobody is dead, why
should we be unhappy?" (Hervé always
answers a question with a question.)
Ronny
7
"Not a 10 anymore but we are steel 'ere,
we steel as ze ambience, we are going to Australie‚"
(Ronny is still smiling. But then he would be
- he already holds the Jules Verne record with
Orange!)
Kevin
7
"I have never been on a boat with such a
talented delivery crew before‚" (Kev
just loves it here)
Damian
6
"We're all here, we're all safe and we're
sailing towards Australia‚" (this man
is in denial - I'm going to watch him!)
Bruno
6
"There is no point in worrying about what
you cannot change. Being unhappy will not get
the boat there any faster‚" (Bruno
has been on an even keel since we left. He continues
to live meticulously and continues to be happy
to be out here.)
Benoit
6
"Is not so bad; we 'ave food, ze boat is
in one piece and we can sleep‚" (BB
is a cool customer, takes everything in his stride.
But, like Ronny and Hervé, he does already
hold the Jules Verne record so it's easy to be
pragmatic when you're sitting on the trophy)
Neal
5
"I'm not unhappy. In fact it makes me more
happy to see all these other people getting miserable‚"
(Neal thrives on extreme prospects - whether it
be going into bigger winds, venturing into colder
latitudes or spending a month crabbing 2000 miles
to civilisation)
Guillermo
5
"We are 'ere. What are we going to do about
it?‚" (Guillermo looks permanently
unhappy but frequently turns out to be fine. He
controls the food and now we have started using
the heaters occasionally, his life is getting
back to normal)
Ellen
5
"I just want us all to get back safely‚"
(Ellen shoulders an additional level of responsibility
that is clear to see in her face and her general
demeanour)
Hendo
4
"Sailing as a sport rarely gives me more
than an 8 so I can't see why anyone would be happy
at having to do this‚" (Hendo is permanently
jovial. He's not happy to be here but, like the
rest of us, is sitting this one out and waiting
for that moment when we hit land)
Andrew
4
"No one said sailing around the world would
be easy. But they didn't tell me that NOT sailing
around the world wouldn't be easy...‚"
(Ten years ago I would have been climbing the
walls with impatience. Now, there is no one that
wants to get to Fremantle quicker than me but
I have the depression management skills to deal
with it.)
Jason
4
"I don't know why all these people are so
happy. Now that the purpose is gone I just want
to get out of here," (Jason is a man of few
words but when he speaks he speaks his mind; quite
often in the manner of "I don't know much
about such and such but...")
Nigel
3
"These last three weeks were probably the
best three weeks sailing of my life but now that's
gone I just want to get it over‚" (Nigel,
like me, Jason and Hendo, is enduring what we
are in now, rather than enjoying the challenge
of sailing 2000 miles under jury rig)
Youngster
2
"Get me out of here!" (The Prince of
Darkness)
It is interesting to see how we have all reacted
to our plight and to the potential duration of
our suffering. Neal is determined not to be optimistic
and keeps talking about "being out here for
three or four weeks"‚ in order that
he will be pleasantly surprised. He refuses to
let us throw the cod stew bags over the side despite
the fact we have food for another 40 days saying
he would be very upset to be sitting on the polar
icecap with no food knowing we had discarded some.
Hervé is quite the opposite. "You'll
see, we'll be there in a couple of weeks,"
he said a few days ago.
Whatever,
we seem to now have settled into a new routine
that involves a massive amount of sleep punctuated
by an hour or so on deck steering, some occasional
sail trimming to ensure we are maximising our
progress north east and voracious game playing.
I have been toying with the idea of conducting
a real life 'Weakest Link' but I fear it might
have unfortunate consequences. I think I'll stick
to playing pinball.
Andrew
Media & Comms
********
STATISTICS
KINGFISHER2
started her Jules Verne record attempt at 06:48:39
GMT on 30.1.03. On Sunday, 23.2.03 at 2222 GMT
KINGFISHER2 dismasted after 24 days 15 hours and
34 minutes into her record attempt positioned
at 50 50'S 72 08'E 100 miles east of the Kerguelen
Islands in the Southern Ocean. At the time of
dismasting, KINGFISHER2 was 20 hours ahead of
the existing record set by Orange and had closed
the gap on Olivier de Kersauson's attempt to 53
hours behind. [L[http://www.grandsrecords.com]L[http://www.grandsrecords.com]L]
8 OUT OF 12 JULES VERNE ATTEMPTS HAVE FAILED.
KF2
was ahead of Orange by 20 hours 46 minutes
KF2 was behind Geronimo by 53 hours 40 minutes,
but Geronimo’s worst leg was the next 7000
miles KF2 had covered 10254 miles (total of 24
hour runs) KF2 Distance to finish was 15135 miles
JULES
VERNE RECORD TIMES:
2002 Orange (Peyron) 64 days 8 hours 37 minutes
24 seconds
1997 Sport Elec (de Kersauson) 71 days 14 hours
22 minutes 8 seconds 1994 ENZA (Blake/Knox-Johnston)
74 days 22 hours 17 minutes 22 seconds 1993 Commodore
Explorer (Peyron) 79 days 6 hours 15 minutes 56
seconds
JULES
VERNE UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPTS:
2003 KINGFISHER2 (MacArthur)
2002 GERONIMO (de Kersauson)
2002 Orange (Peyron) a few weeks later Peyron
re-started and set a new record 1998 Royal Sun
Alliance (Edwards) 1996 Sport Elec (de Kersauson)
1994 Lyonaisse des Eaux (de Kersauson) 1993 Charal
(de Kersauson) 1993 ENZA (Blake/Knox-Johnston)
OMEGA
official timekeeper of KINGFISHER2'S Jules Verne
record attempt http://www.ellenmacarthur.com/omega
KINGFISHER PLC is the title sponsor to Ellen MacArthur’s
sailing campaigns
Kingfisher
plc is one of Europe's leading retailers operating
in the international home improvement and electrical
and furniture markets. Kingfisher employs around
90,000 people in over 1,397 stores across 16 countries
and includes some of the best known retail brands
in Europe: B&Q and Comet in the UK and Castorama,
Darty and BUT in France. http://www.diy.com http://www.comet.co.uk
http://www.kingfisher.com
