Sea, Sail & Surf newsJules Verne Record
Kingfisher 2 finally crossed the Equator... 31 hours behind Geronimo
vendredi 7 février 2003 –
WHILST CROSSING THE EQUATOR IS A MILESTONE in any circumnavigation, unfortunately there is no sudden switch in the wind ! The doldrums are still in control, and KINGFISHER2 this morning is still sailing in only 3 knots of wind... Neptune is clearly not happy at the moment. The South Atlantic ahead of them is not looking too favourable either, challenging times for Ellen and the crew !
NO CEREMONIES AT THE TIME OF CROSSING for the two uninitiated Kevin and Andrew - too much concentration on boat speed - maybe their punishment will wait for daylight and some much needed breeze...
"THE CONTRAST IN ONE WEEK is incredible...we started in huge seas, freezing temperatures and 60 knots of wind and now, only our minds and bodies are overheating, virtually no wind and a calm sea, I think we prefer the cold..." a very tired and hot Ellen.
GERONIMO SETS A NEW RECORD Record #sailingrecord FROM USHANT TO CAPE LEEWIN (SW tip of Australia) of 26 days, 4 hours, 53 minutes, 13 seconds over 3 days FASTER than Orange’s time from last year... (See http://www.grandsrecords.com)
ELLEN LOG PRE-EQUATOR : It’s a still night tonight with little other than a gentle swell to help fill our sails. This time the Equator is not so much on our side... The winds light and variable, the temperature - even at midnight - searing. My nav station feels like a sauna, there is little ventilation but still I’m spending over 20 hours a day here - decision making, communicating and, dare I say it for the moment, worrying.
Not only are we lacking wind for the moment but we have a very dfficult decision to make for the South Atlantic sitation. There are a possible two doorways which could be open - and there is no guaranteeing either. The most sure option is to follow the coast of brazil in a norherly breeze before ’hanging a left’ and heading over towards Cape Town. This will mean though we are forced to sail a thousand miles further than our rivals... The second option could be to cut through the South Atlantic in general and try to catch a front passing through the southern sector. But it’s a long shot - and every hour we spend here with less breeze means we are one step further away from that open door.
It’s hard not to appreciate what a fantastic night it is though... I’ve just popped up to help with a sail change mid-email and earlier this evening spent an hour on deck with the guys. The moon is lying on its back - as it does near the Equator - and though it’s just a mere sliver of it’s potential we can still see outside clear enough to recognise each of our faces... Earlier this evening we had a pod of dolphins, just feeding a hundred meters or so from the boat. I’ve never seen dolphins with a water temperarure so warm before...just goes to show that no area of the world is ever predictable, and can always surprise you.
The wind outside is warm, and at night quite pleasant - but the temperature saps energy away, anything physical and you are soaked. We must make the most of it though.. in days rather than weeks the temperature will be falling and, once again, in an incredibly short space of time we shall be dreaming of even a little heat from the sun. It’s a trip of extremes - just 7 days ago we were freezing, sailling in a bitter northerly storm. Now we are at the boiling point of the earth...
As I finish my email we are just approaching 8 miles from the Equator... a very different feeling with a group of people. This will be my fourth Equator crossing - but my first with company. It doesn’t feel the same...it’s different. But it’s an awesome feeling to be out here together. Such an awesome bunch of positive people... Ronny just popped his head in through the nav station door to fill in the engine log. His final words on seeing my sweaty furrowed brow staring at the computer screen were ’a donf’ - that just about sums up this team.
SUMMARY : 0700 GMT 7.2.03
Position : 0 27’ S 26 06’ W
Ahead/Behind the record
Record
#sailingrecord
: 0 hours 9 minutes behind Orange
Ahead/Behind Geronimo : 24 hours 21 minutes behind Geronimo
DAY 8 24 hour run (point to point) : Kingfisher2 143 nm, Orange 162 nm, Geronimo 302 nm
End DAY 8 distance to go (on theoretical course) : KF2 21626 nm, Orange 21624 nm, Geronimo 21237 nm
Av/Max boat speed in last hour : 3.00 / 11.1 knots
Av/Max wind speed in last hour : 3.02 / 10.2 knots
Wind direction : 167
Distance to WP4 35 00’S / 24 00’W St Helena high : 2085 nm (theorectical shortest distance)
Information Kingfisher Challenges
USHANT (START) TO EQUATOR TIMES FOR SUCCESSFUL JULES VERNE ATTEMPTS :
1993 Commodore Explorer (Peyron) 8 days 19 hours 26 minutes
1994 ENZA (Blake/Knox-Johnston) 7 days 4 hours 24 minutes
1997 Sport Elec (de Kersauson) 11 days 2 hours
2002 Orange (Peyron) 7 days 22 hours
2003 Geronimo (de Kersauson) 6 days 11 hours 26 minutes 21 seconds
2003 KINGFISHER2 (MacArthur) 7 days 18 hours 33 minutes 2 secondsDans la même rubrique
Jules Verne Record : Kingfisher2 becalmed before Equator when Geronimo sets record to Cape Leuwin
Jules Verne Record : MacArthur’s cat under 350 miles to go to the Equator
Jules Verne Record : Kingfiser 2 still 11 hours behing Géronimo
Jules Verne Record : Ellen MacArthur : "Now we are further south it is warmer"
