Le Défi Atlantique - Moloney Scales Mast To Fix Ripped Sail

TEAM COWES Le Défi Atlantique campaign is supported by Skandia and Cowes Waterfront

STARBOARD TACK UPWIND - 13 KNOTS E - 30 MILES SOUTH OF RECIFE - 5 MILES OFFSHORE OF BRAZILIAN COAST - TEAM COWES 2ND - DISTANCE TO LEADER [VIRBAC] 8 MILES

IN BRIEF:

* TEAM COWES 2ND AS MOLONEY SCALES TEAM COWES MAST TO FIX GENOA...the sail [crucial for next 1,000 miles of upwind sailing] ripped during Sunday night: "I have been up the mast a couple of times today to try and make repairs but every time I get up there I see a fleet of fishing boats ahead...!" Moloney called at 1545 GMT to report that his third sortie up the mast proved successful as Moloney managed to reach the edge of the sail from the first spreader and repair the tear.

* FIRST 36 HOURS HAVE PROVED TO BE ANOTHER SOLO BAPTISM OF FIRE... "It is 100% torture on your emotions! Fatigue is certainly the biggest creator of the emotional roller-coaster" reports Moloney.

* DIFFICULTIES IN POLLING COMPOUNDS FRUSTRATION FOR SKIPPERS...information on the fleet's positions are proving irregular as the race organisers struggle to fix their technical problems in polling the fleet following a major communications cable under the Atlantic being cut in half!

AUDIO CONFERENCE NICK MOLONEY:
"Not really got a clue where we are in fleet and have made some presumptions. I can see PRB on the horizon just a bit further east. No sight of Ecover but heard he got stuck on a fishing net in the night so lost some miles. Alex Thomson is a long way offshore - whether he has a problem or has just opted to sail out east, we don't know but he quite a long way offshore. I am lucky to have Jo-J [Sébastien Josse / VMI] just a few miles behind me so I can guage boat speed with him and know that I am in the right ball park.

"I have been up the mast a couple of times today to try and make repairs to the geneo that ripped on the first night. But every time I get up there I suddenly see a fleet of fishing boats ahead or other shipping so it is too risky to stay up there in case I have to alter course. The sail has a tear on the back of the sail along the leach [outside edge of sail] at about the height of the first spreader. I need to unfurl the geneo a bit so that I can reach it to make the repair which will need some sticky-back tape and stitching. The sail was ripped on the first night after a bad furl - I then had to run downwind to re-furl and when I unfurled her again the tear was there. It has been frustrating because we are not sailing at our optimum having to use the solent...but hoping to get up mast again later today to try and make the repair. Having Jo-Jo right on my stern is a comfort in case I encounter any problems going up the mast.

"We had good conditions last night - good consistent wind speed around 15 knots so managed to get some sleep which was a relief as I did not sleep at all in first 36 hours...too wound up and stressed. I think I got around 3-4 hours in 15-30 minute naps on my bean bag in the cockpit cuddy.

"Fatigue is certainly the biggest creator of the emotional roller-coaster. Yesterday was hell and really doing my head in compounded with the problems on board - the ripped sail plus a tank full of ballast that I didn't need. I found that an aft ballast valve had jammed open and the back tank was full so we were dragging our stern quite heavily...problem was I was on the wrong tack to get rid of all the water. It is 100% torture on your emotions! It's a big wake up call to be racing solo again and to suddenly be on your own makes you realise how reliant you are on that other person [when racing two-handed].

"But today everything is different and its pretty difficult to complain now...good weather, quite cruisey, really, nice sunshine, light clouds, warm water. Although, ahead are tons of squalls waiting.

"We are just south of Recife and bascially trying to get round the eastern corner of Brazil - but at the moment the wind keeps moving round as well so instead of getting away from the coast I seem to be following it round. I need to get offshore shore and start heading left a bit as we move north. I am trying to get some more weather info to pick the way point to enter the Doldrums - right now I am looking at around 29 degrees west but need more info. There appears to be a massive wndless zone in the west so getting east is important."

LE DEFI POSITIONS 2.12.03 1400GMT:
Pos/Skippers Name/Boat Name/DTF
1st Jean Pierre Dick / Virbac / 3792.7
2nd Nick Moloney / TEAM COWES / 3800.9
3rd Vincent Riou / PRB / 3804.4
4th Sébastien Josse / VMI / 3804.7
5th Alex Thomson / AT Racing / 3808.6
6th Mike Golding / Ecover / 3815.8
7th Benoît LEQUIN / Wel.network / 3873.4
8th Benoît PARNAUDEAU / Colibri-Charente-Maritime / 3914.9
9th Anne LIARDET / Gonna Gitcha / 3929.5
10th Joe Seeten / Arcelor-Dunkerque / 3951.0

PERFORMANCE PARTNER OF THE DAY : ASHFIELD HEALTHCARE
Business partner to the Offshore Challenges Sailing Team http://www.offshorechallenges.com/ashfield

For Race Information go to www.defi-atlantique.org