14 November 2003
TEMPO SLOWS AT FRONT OF OPEN 60 MONOHULL FLEET...
The front runners in the Open 60 monohull fleet have had their speeds checked as the winds go light approaching the Doldrums... TEAM COWES 24 hour run reduced by 26 miles on the previous 24 hours but is minimal compared to Virbac's 24 hour run - only 235 miles in the last 24 hours compared to 323 miles on the previous day...
* TEAM COWES GAIN ON 67 MILES ON LEADER IN LAST 24 HOURS - TRICKY DOLDRUMS CROSSING AHEAD... Virbac skipper Jean-Pierre Dick said "our lead could melt like snow"... Summing up the concerns of the leaders as the chasing boats maintain higher speeds but TEAM COWES skippers not anticipating an easy crossing: "The doldrums is looming ahead of us and it is looking like the crossing is not going to be easy...even Meeno (our weather router) is sounding nervous about it."
* FORECAST...the Doldrums is a notoriously unstable area situated just north of the Equator. The north-east trades settled in the North Atlantic meet the south-east trades in the South Atlantic - the effect is a cancellation of the wind but not always. Other weather systems do influence the area adding to the complexity of sailing in this part of the ocean. TEAM COWES still furthest boat to the west is going for speed the whole time staying as close to the leaders as possible who are all east of the rhumb line...
* SIMILAR SCENARIO IN THE 60-FOOT MULTIS...as Ellen MacArthur and Alain Gautier cover 416 miles in last 24 hours compared to 310 miles of leader Groupama... Groupama's average boat speed in the last 4 hours is 12.9 knots [considered slow for these boats!] as Foncia gains the edge racing at 17.4 knots. Foncia, still in 11th place, is now south of the Cape Verde Islands having kept the group of islands to port yesterday as some boats chose to navigate through the islands. MacArthur now looking to find different tactical option ahead as way to catch up knowing that the window of opportunity begins to fade once the front runners are through the Doldrums...
Team Ellen's website
* TEAM COWES GAIN ON 67 MILES ON LEADER IN LAST 24 HOURS - TRICKY DOLDRUMS CROSSING AHEAD... Virbac skipper Jean-Pierre Dick said "our lead could melt like snow"... Summing up the concerns of the leaders as the chasing boats maintain higher speeds but TEAM COWES skippers not anticipating an easy crossing: "The doldrums is looming ahead of us and it is looking like the crossing is not going to be easy...even Meeno (our weather router) is sounding nervous about it."
* FORECAST...the Doldrums is a notoriously unstable area situated just north of the Equator. The north-east trades settled in the North Atlantic meet the south-east trades in the South Atlantic - the effect is a cancellation of the wind but not always. Other weather systems do influence the area adding to the complexity of sailing in this part of the ocean. TEAM COWES still furthest boat to the west is going for speed the whole time staying as close to the leaders as possible who are all east of the rhumb line...
* SIMILAR SCENARIO IN THE 60-FOOT MULTIS...as Ellen MacArthur and Alain Gautier cover 416 miles in last 24 hours compared to 310 miles of leader Groupama... Groupama's average boat speed in the last 4 hours is 12.9 knots [considered slow for these boats!] as Foncia gains the edge racing at 17.4 knots. Foncia, still in 11th place, is now south of the Cape Verde Islands having kept the group of islands to port yesterday as some boats chose to navigate through the islands. MacArthur now looking to find different tactical option ahead as way to catch up knowing that the window of opportunity begins to fade once the front runners are through the Doldrums...
Team Ellen's website
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