Kingfisher update - cautious in conditions

by Kingfisher Challenges on 24 Aug 2001 As forecast, after a week of hard surfing conditions the leaders have ground to a halt overnight on the approaches to the English Channel - they have just over 300 miles to go, and are south west of SW Ireland at present

At 07:44 GMT ECOVER were maintaining a slender lead of just 3 miles (insignificant in these conditions) over FILA, with KINGFISHER closing to 33 miles and SILL and GATMORE carrying the stronger wind still further to the west. In light airs like this, one boat can pick up a slightly better breeze and accelerate away in no time at all.

Latest positions update at 10:56 GMT show FILA taking back the lead from ECOVER.

Photos of FILA's mainsail repair are quite amazing - it had ripped totally across the head of the sail, and the crew have lashed vectran strops to hold it together. Yves Parlier would be proud...

Forecast is for the wind to fill in firstly from the north east, watch closely during the day to see if ECOVER can get away or not...

Nick is still cautious about how hard to push the mast on KINGFISHER - 'With the wind between 070 and 140 we are taking it easy and not using the gennaker as it loads up the top of the mast too much - outside of that we are at 100%. Its not perfect, but we are finding different sail combinations that work nearly as well as the gennaker.'

Ellen and Alain are currently sailing past Cowes on Foncia-Kingfisher as part of their training for the Transat Jacques Vabre

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EMAIL DIRECT FROM KINGFISHER THIS MORNING

Time GMT : 21:38:33
Position 50° 18.7N 012° 18.9W
Heading/speed 112 12.56
Wind from 226 at 13.2 knot
Sail configuration is Full main Gennaker

We are beginning to feel the effect of a high pressure system that is
developing in the Irish Sea. Our location is roughly 100 miles S/SW of
Ireland and we are almost on the continental shelf. The sea state is calm
for the first time in over a week and the air temp is the coldest is has
been throughout the entire trip.

A gathering of different types of fishing boats working the edge of the
shelf is usually your first indication that land is not too far away.

We are currently sailing along in 6.2 knots of wind with a Bs of around
6.5 -7kts. Inventory....full main, code zero. The sky is clear and full of
bright stars.

We are continuing to monitor problems with our mast and if the wind remains
light we will begin more work towards rectifying at first light. The
situation is pretty well under control but we want to be sure that if the
wind increases again from a reaching direction, that we are able to chase
the leaders, firing on all cylinders..

I still cannot believe the shock when I first noticed the problem. I
originally felt incredibly stupid for having allowed Kingfisher to be pushed
so hard but the emotion that came with having to throttle back knowing that
Ecover and Fila would sail away was even worse.

Most of Tuesday was a worrying period for us all. Nobody really slept until
the wind strength had settled below 20kts. We found ourselves more in tune
to the sounds of the boat and every crash landing off a wave now appeared
louder and harder than ever. I remember calling out to Adrienne for
assistance whilst taking a reef in the mainsail and Brian and Youngster
springing to attention from their bunks 'what's wrong? what's going on?' Any
other day they would have heard the commotion on deck, pulled their sleeping
bag over their heads and fallen straight back to sleep.

Today was spent trying to get our house back in order. cleaning the
interior, trying to dry everything we could, sorting food and cooking a
solid hot meal.

Tomorrow should bring sunshine and light winds and hopefully a chance to
find a passing lane.

Meanwhile Herve is calling from on deck 'its getting worse' indicating that
the wind has decreased further. I have just given Youngster and Brian their
wake up call. Their off watch was interrupted by Youngster falling out of the
top bunk. We getting less startled by this act as its becoming a common
occurrence.

Adrienne is briefing the next watch before they go on deck.

380 miles to the finish. The current forecast indicates that the leg could be
one by any boat in the fleet. Those astern are closing rapidly as our
boat speed has now dropped further to 3.3kts.

Its going to be a long night

Nick and team

Position updated at :
http://www.edsatlanticchallenge.com/en/default.asp?pg=/en/viewer/raceviewer.htm
For further information on the race visit http://www.edsatlanticchallenge.com

POSITIONS : 23st August 2001, 10.56 GMT

1 FILA, Andrea Scarabelli, 314 miles from the Finish
2 Ecover, Mike Golding, 7 miles behind leader.
3 Kingfisher , Ellen MacArthur / Nick Moloney, 23 miles behind leader.
4 Sill Plein Fruit, Roland Jourdain / Gael Le'Cleach, 75 miles behind leader.
5 Gartmore, Josh Hall, 218 miles behind the leader
6 Alpha Graphics, Helena Darvelid, 252 miles behind leader.

Not Racing
La Rage de Vivre, Loic Pochet / Patrick Tabarly

LEARNING AND UNDERSTANDING: tides

In order to stay in orbit, the moon and the sun exert powerful forces of attraction that have repercussions on the Earth. This attraction between the heavenly bodies provokes the phenomenon of tides on our planet. At the point of strongest attraction on the Earth, the tide is highest, inversely, at the point of weakest attraction the tide is lowest. Added to this energy of attraction is the centrifugal force of the earth which, remember spins on its own axis. On the other side of the point of strongest attraction can be found the highest centrifugal force and therefore high tides. The distance of the moon from us modifies the power of attraction; this modifies the height of the tide (the highest tides are called spring tides and the lowest neap tides). In the port of Saint Malo where the EDS Atlantic Challenge finishes, the difference between high tide and low tide, called the tidal range, is one of the greatest in Europe; more than 12 metres, whilst the world average is only 2 metres.

For those of you in the UK with a television tune in to BBC Grandstand on Sunday 26th August for a feature on the EDS Atlantic Challenge

Listen to the latest audio from KINGFISHER by downloading :
In Realplayer http://64.23.31.209/clients/kf/latesta_uk.ram
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Regular updates at http://www.kingfisherchallenges.com

Official race site http://www.edsatlanticchallenge.com