The Race…Club Media nearing Australia

by The Race Media on 27 Jan 2001 Club Med is still being pushed eastwards by a low and is fast approaching Cape Leeuwin, at the extreme western tip
of Australia.

Further south than her adversary, Innovation Explorer lost a bit of ground overnight. Third place is held by the amazing Poles on board Warta Polpharma, hanging on to the train of southern lows, are continuing to fly along.

This morning, the boats leading The Race have got Australia in the firing line, with Club Med just a day away from Cape Leeuwin. As they have clocked up more than 1000 kilometres in 24 hours, sailing really fast, it is not difficult to imagine in the words of Grant Dalton that ' everything on board is soaked.'

Frustration and disappointment on board Innovation Explorer. At then end of his watch, Skip Novak notice that the big gennaker was torn again along the leech. Stitching and patching work ahead for the crew again in the freezing cold! Our island chronicle this morning comes to you from Elena: 'Quick break from work (repairing the gennaker) as we near a craggy rock from Mac Donald Island. It was discovered in 1833 and now belongs to Australia. No-one has ever wanted to settle there, but it is home to one of the biggest colonies of Southern Ocean seabirds. With MacDonald island and Heard to the south and the Kerguelen islands to the north, the next time we see land might beTasmania, although it is more likely to be New Zealand¹s South Island.'

On board Warta Polpharma, the atmosphere is quite different. The 'Tom Thumb' of the fleet is not going to let the big
guys put one over him. She is determined to keep her third place. Roman Paszke and his crew are maintaining an
incredible rating and are showing Innovation Explorer a thing or two : both boats are clocking up similar speeds.
What an amazing machine she is. This Ollier designed 75-foot cat (yes, him again !) first saw daylight in 1987 when
she came out of the Multiplast yard under the name Jet Services V. She must have one of the finest records of all
multihulls.

Starting out with Serge Madec as skipper, she has won two Round Europe Yacht Races (87 and 89), one Québec St
Malo (88), the Route de la Découverte (88), two Transatlantic records (88 and 90), the last one remaining unbeaten to
this day. Thereafter, with Bruno Peyron at the helm, she was lengthened to 85 feet. She was the first multihull to sail
non-stop around the world in less than 80 days. Not content to stop at this first Trophée Jules Verne (93), she went
on to add the Transpacific record (97) and then the North Pacific record (98). Will she be adding a place on the
podium in The Race?

Whatever happens in the end, Team Adventure is not giving her cause for concern right now. Cam Lewis's boat in
struggling in light southerly winds and not much of a threat at the moment. Currently at 36° 39¹ south, she finds
herself forced to sail close to the wind. Cam and his crew will have to muster up all the patience they have before
they reach the westerly flow lying 400 miles further south.

As for Team Legato, has notched up another record for The Race ­ with 33 miles covered in 24 hours at an average
speed on 1.4 knots!

Météo Consult's weather forecast:
For Club Med : south-westerly force 5 to 6 strengthening to 7 at the end of the system.
For Innovation Explorer : north-west force 5 to 6 easing force 5 becoming westerly.
For Team Adventure : easterly force 3 to 4 easing to north-east at the end of the system. South-west swell 3 to 3.5
metres.
For Warta Polpharma : north-west force 4 to 5 becoming changeable.
For Team Legato : easterly force 3 to 4 easing east force 2 to 3.

Latest Positions at 07:00 GMT - 27/01/01:

1.Club Med - 14374.3 miles to finish
2.Innovation Explorer +684.6 miles
3.Warta Polpharma +3293.0 miles
4.Team Adventure +3419.6 miles
5.Team Legato +4934.7 miles

Retired - PlayStation 14/01/01