From caribbeanracing.com
MacArthur Looks Set For Line Hours In A Monhull
“I’m trying to sleep a bit as the day ahead will be very difficult,”said Ellen onboard Kingfisher in the early morning radio session. “I remember catching a glimpse of the island in the small hours during the last Route du Rhum and then I crossed the finish line the following night! There was no wind, absolutely nothing at Basse-Terre four years ago. For the moment I prefer to concentrate on the race alone”. A statement which epitomises the remarkable focus of the young English girl on the verge of winning the 60 monohull ranking of this Route du Rhum 2002. Reaching at 12.5 knots, Kingfisher glides towards a victory swathed in golden froth and Mike Golding (Ecover) can do little about it, frozen for some days 70 miles behind, spinnaker-less. “That’s cool,” said Ellen on learning that she had 76.3 miles on the omnipresent Mike Golding. Ecover, also reaching but at a slightly slower 12.2 knots covered 333 miles in 24 hours. Joé Seeten on Arcelor Dunkerque is making third position his. On the same course as Roland Jourdain (Sill), Joé is sailing methodically and effectively. With an 85 miles advatange over Sill this morning at 0300 hours GMT: the rankings speak for themselves, but he has just less than 800 miles to go. In the fleet of 50 foot monohulls, Nick Moloney (Ashfield Healthcare) still reigns as he has done since the early days before Yannick Bestaven had to sadly retire. Happy to be in the trade winds which his red bob-sleigh, he is currently sleeping on his bean bag in the cockpit so as not to be caught out by the squalls! Florys of Luc Coquelin is still second 162 miles to his stern. In the Class III monohulls, Storage Tek of Régis Guillemot continues to head his class followed by Passion Entreprendre of Jérôme Thiriez. Rankings 22/11/02 03:00:00 GMTMonohulls 60 IMOCA End figures – distance to the finish in nautical miles) 1;Kingfisher;Ellen McArthur; 271.12; Monohulls Class 11; Monohulls Class 21; Meanwhile with the multihulls...
Marc continues to attack and is currently sailing under gennaker and one-reefed mainsail in a 25 to 28 knot wind: "The trade winds are fairly sustained even pretty beefy. You have to be really careful and I always keep my hand on the sheet. I am not in the same configuration as Michel as he is slightly ahead : I’m not quite sure where I am sleep wise … but I still have the drive and the aggression ! Yesterday, between the squalls, there were 18 to 19 knots of wind so I was able to close my eyes a little!." Desjoyeaux is sailing more cautiously under solent and one-reefed mainsail. "The horse wants to get back to the stable and it’s hooves are considerably smaller," said MichDesj, with 48 hours to go until the finish. The voice was clear and distinct, strong and resolute : "The course along the coastline of Guadeloupe? I have it ingrained into my memory and I am capable of doing it blindfolded. But you need to make a fair amount of manoeuvres and I think that I am going to arrive in the night. "The hardest thing will be adapting back to life on earth as opposed to on the seas. For the past week I have been asking myself if I should unfurl the gennaker first and then reef the mainsail or the other way around! In fact I don’t know the answer yet," he sniggers. Whatever happens Desjoyeaux shoud arrive on Saturday night or Sunday. At 0300 GMT, he had 704 miles to go and was doing an average of 16.9 knots an hour. In the Class II multihulls, Franck-Yves Escoffier on his Crêpes Whaou ! was leading. He was 368 nautical miles in front of Anne Caseneuve (Yachting-casino.com). Nothing today can stop him from winning his class for the second time running. Finally the tugboat La Désirade left Pointe-à-Pitre at 1430 yesterday to rescue and recuperate Stève Ravussin and his TechnoMarine-Match TV. This 27 metre boat is making an average of 14 knots and should reach the area where Stève is in 72 hours. Ranking 22/11/02 03:00:00 GMTMultihulls 60 ORMA End figure – distance from the finish in nautical miles 1;Géant;Michel Desjoyeaux; 704.72; Multihulls Class 21;
© Copyright 2001/2002/2003/2004/2005 caribbeanracing.com |
