Ellen Only Minutes Behind World Record
Jun 28, 2004 12: 30 EST
Ellen MacArthur is within 4 miles of Laurent Bourgnon's record; only 13 minutes behind with 9 hours, 44 minutes and 42 seconds left on the clock and 152 miles to go to the finish line. She has been averaging almost 18 knots and needs to only average 15 and a half from now on, but the winds are decreasing.
"We had about 20-22 knots all morning and now it is falling and oscillating in direction and our average in the last hour has been under 20 knots and it looks like it is going to be hard to maintain that right through to the finish. I just did a calculation for our average speeds that we need to maintain to break the record which is 16.2 knots which is pretty high when we see the breeze may be on its way out. So it's absolutely touch and go and unbelievably stressful.
For the moment the wind is holding out in the south-westerly sector which means that I am still on starboard gybe and if it stays like this, which is doubtful, I will be able to hold this quite a long way in. But what looks like is going to happen is that although I am pointing at the line right now, as the breeze shifts round I am going to start pointing south of the line and I'm going to have to take a very unfavourable gybe into the finish line which is going to be really, really bad news but for the moment all we can do is sail as fast as we can on this heading to the line and just hope that the breeze holds in there.
It's not over, till it's over... We have a chance of breaking the record, it's a small one and its going to take everything we've got to do it.
We are in the hands of the weather and we've just go to see what happens with the breeze. It's either going to sit in there and stay in from the south-west and let us finish or it's not. And that's a pretty raw way of looking at it but that's how it is. If the wind strength stays around 20 knots and we have to gybe then its still feasible but if decreases below 20 and we have to gybe then it looks like we won't make it."
STATISTICS AT 1500GMT 28 JUNE
Elapsed Time: 06d 16h 50m
Ahead/behind record: -4nm, 0h 13m Behind
Existing record: 7d 2h 34m 42s
Distance covered: 2703 miles
Distance to finish: 152 miles
Position 49 39.40N, 9 07.16W
Average boat speed (VMG) towards finish so far: 16.79 knots
Average boat sped (VMG) now required to beat record: 15.58 knots
Current boat speed: 17.8 knots
Sailed in last 24h (point to point): 466 miles
Sailed in last 12h (point to point): 226 miles
Ellen MacArthur shot to fame when she became the fastest solo woman to sail round-the-world in 2001’s Vendee Globe. Now she has her sight set on breaking the world solo speed record over the next two years in a brand new £1.5million trimaran designed by Nigel Irens. Named Castorama B&Q, after its sponsors, the 75 ft long triple-hulled boat is built for speed, said to reach over 35 knots. Ellen is eyeing several records including the 24-hour distance record as well as making it round-the-world fastest. Typically, trimarans are fast boats, but trickier to handle in high winds. After last year’s dismasting on her catamaran Kingfisher 2 in the Jules Verne Challenge and everything it took to come this far, Ellen is thrilled to be on the water again.
Image of the B&Q courtesy of DPPI.
|
|
Feature Stories |
|
Latest News |
more news |
 |
Young sailor missing outside of Trinidad
Full Story
|
 |
Minoru Saito: Oldest around the world update
Full Story
|
 |
A new world speed sailing record: Ellen made it!
Full Story
|
 |
Vendee Globe 2005 Finish newsflash
Full Story
|
 |
Maud Fontenoy - another adventure has begun
Full Story
|
 |
Fedor Konyukhov: Declines Argos replacement on unassisted sail
Full Story
|
|
|
| Fedor - less than a week to go! Jun 3, 2005 | | Saito San - closing in on home and record! Jun 2, 2005 | | Atlantic Four: And they are off! Jun 1, 2005 | | Ollie - is anybody out there? May 31, 2005 | | ExplorersWeb Week in Review May 30, 2005 | | And they are off! May 27, 2005 | | Ellen gives transatlantic record a second battle May 27, 2005 | | Vagabond update - Polar bears, 200 candles and ice melting in Inglefieldbukta May 26, 2005 | | ExWeb interview - Atlantic Four: "It was all about persuading our wives" May 25, 2005 | | Iridium: "Invalid battery - matches found, 0" May 24, 2005 |
|
|
|
