Sea, Sail & Surf newsTrophée Jules Verne
KINGFISHER2 has surfed across the start line of the Jules Verne recors
Thursday 30 January 2003 –
After months of preparation, and an exhausting 24 hour unscheduled pitstop in Plymouth, passing the start line came as a great relief to Ellen her crew - "The feeling on board is one of relief and excitement - it’s just so fantastic to take this on now," said MacArthur half an hour after the start. "As we left Plymouth yesterday evening, everyone was saying this is it now, this feels right - so I guess that’s a good sign.
"We’ve got breeze of about 35-40 knots (the boats instruments recorded a guest of 48 knots during the night) and boat speed Speed #speedsailing is quick from 25-30 knots so we’re shifting pretty quickly - the sea state though is quite rough. Conditions will stay similar for today 35-40 knots so should make good speed Speed #speedsailing - winds going to go slightly round more to the left (west) and some quite strong gusts but on the whole drop to 30-35 knots this evening.
"Life on deck is pretty rough and very cold - when the watch crew are on deck everyone is holding onto a line ready to release it or ready to change sail so really on our toes in this wind..."
If the existing record Record #sailingrecord (Bruno Peyron, May 2002, 64 days 8 hours 37 minutes 24 seconds) were to remain the time to beat, then KINGFISHER2 would need to re-cross the Jules Verne line at least 1 second before 1525 and 13 secs on the 4th of April. However, Olivier de Kersauson and his French crew onboard the 34-metre trimaran GERONIMO are currently 2 days ahead of the pace set by Peyron, having set off on January 11th - so the pressure is on, and the time to beat may well be significantly lower.
Conditions onboard are pretty tough this morning - they crossed the line in the pitch black of a cold and gale strewn night in the Atlantic Ocean. They will expect to see many days like this in the Southern Ocean, but first they will hope to make good progress towards the warmer climes near the Equator. The reference time to beat for this leg, Ushant to the Equator, was set just a week ago by GERONIMO at 6 days 11 hours 26 minutes and 21 seconds. The first reference point on their way south will be Cape Finistere, at the north west tip of Spain, some 400 miles away. They will expect to pass this landmark, made more complicated by the wreck and spillage from the Prestige oil tanker, during tonight if all goes well.
Information Kingfisher Challenges
SUMMARY : at 0648GMT 30.01.03
Position : crossed start line
Distance to go : 24,712 nautical miles (theoretical distance)
Distance to Cape Finistere : 388nm
Ahead/Behind Record : n/a
Maximums so far : 37.1 knots of boatspeed, 48 knots of windAlso in this section
Jules Verne record : Technical problems delay start time for MacArthur
Jules Verne Record : MacArthur and crew leave Lorient on Monday for possible start on Wednesday
Trophée Jules Verne : Fourteen men with Ellen MacArthur around the world
The Race : The Race 2 will start from Marseilles on February 29th 2004
