Latest news from Ellen - Kingfisher Challenges

by Ellen and Kingfisher Challenges on 15 May 2001 * Stop press: La Trinitaine / Team Ethypharm retires. Marc Guillemot's trimaran has just shattered the forward end of her starboard float, after colliding with an unidentified floating object. They are heading for France and are currently 600 miles from Brest (about 1112 km).

* Retirement also for Jean Le Cam (Bonduelle). He confirmed it at 1700 on Sunday: 'we heard a loud crack, a shroud block had exploded and caused a 350 mm long tear in the port float. It could have brought the mast down'. The trimaran has turned back for Port-la-Forêt, in Brittany. At the same time, Banque Populaire also announced that they were heading for the Breton port, following halyard problems. Unlike Bonduelle, Lalou Roucayrol's crew hope to set off again within a few days to continue the race.

* For the rest of the fleet, the southerly option is the one that's paying, as witnessed by the change in leadership. It's Yvan Bourgnon who has taken the lead ahead of Foncia-Kingfisher. Bayer, positioned further south, is the only one making satisfactory speed: 11.5 knots at last night's position report. All the other boats are recording less than 10 knots.

* Gitana IX, which reported a mainsail problem yesterday, has announced that it has been solved, but other problems are occurring, as reported by the skipper Thierry Duprey, in his message this morning: 'last night, electrical problems, on board all is damp, the crew alsoŠ'
LATEST TELEPHONE CONVERSATION WITH ELLEN
Monday 14th May 2001 - 0800 GMT.

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'The last 24 hours have been complicated, because we had to cope with two lows, one to the north and one to the south. In addition, we had a problem with the mainsail, and we had to drop it. Our current tactic is simple: head west to skirt the low. At this game, Bayer can still increase her advantage. In any case we are remaining very alert. We are picking up a southerly wind, between 13 and 15 knots. Everything is damp on board, it's a very different exercise from monohullsŠ We're suffering a bit. I'm still busy navigating (weather charts), but I'm also participating in manoeuvres'.
Ellen.

Position updated at :
http://www.challenge-mondialassistance.com/uk/classement/classement.htm
For race map updates http://193.104.87.4/
For further information on the race visit http://www.challenge-mondialassistance.com

POSITIONS : 14th May 2001, 1000 GMT

1 Bayer, Yvan Bourgnon, 2076.3 Miles from the finish.
2 Foncia-Kingfisher, Alain Gautier, 40. miles behind the leader.
3 Groupama, Franck Cammas, 41.2 miles behind the leader.
4 Belgacom, Jean-Luc Nélias, 71.1 miles behind the leader.
5 Gitana IX, Thierry Duprey, 252.9 miles behind the leader.

* La Trinitaine / Team Ethypharm, Marc Guillemot (now Retired)
* Bonduelle, Jean Le Cam (now Retired)
* Banque Populaire, Lalou Roucayrol (will try to rejoin race)

Jargon Buster : Speed through the water
.
Why are multihulls quicker than monohulls? The answer is simple. Not having a keel, they are lighter and have a much lower wetted area than monohulls. So they suffer from less drag in the water and therefore go faster. In addition, their three hulls give them form stability that allows them to increase their sail area. They are more powerful and capable of creating their own apparent wind for propelling themselves. In this way, the maximum speed of a 60 ft trimaran can reach 36 knots (67 kph) whilst that of a 60 ft monohull tops out at 28 knots (52 kph). 'It's much tougher', said Ellen MacArthur after the start of the Challenge Mondial Assistance. 'At the start we were going very fast, 26 knots!'






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