EDS Atlantic Challenge - Leg 5 Update

MORE WIND COMING. RECORDS IN SIGHT?

With a strong cold front approaching, thoughts are turning towards sailing safe and setting records

There is a large cold front tracking towards the yachts participating in the final leg of the EDS Atlantic Challenge, and the forecast is for strong, near galeforce winds for the next few days. Two thoughts are foremost in the minds of the skippers and crews as they prepare for this next round of weather. Safety is their main concern, but setting records is also not far from their thoughts as the conditions might present the yachts with an opportunity to break the 24-hour speed record.

“We have already set a 24 hour record for this boat,” said Andrea Scarabelli, skipper of Fila. “The other day when we did 445 miles it was the best distance ever sailed by Fila in a day. I think that the record of 467.5 miles is possible. Not easy, but possible if we get the right wind.” Fila has regained the top spot on the leaderboard staging a fantastic comeback from a deficit of 19 miles yesterday morning, to a lead of almost 60 miles today. They have consolidated their lead by heading north to position themselves better against Kingfisher (Nick Moloney) and Ecover (Mike Golding), and to take advantage of the approaching weather.

Commanders Weather, the experts who provide daily forecasts for the fleet, issued the following words of caution. “Tonight and Monday the cold front will be tracking quickly southeast. Winds behind this front will shift to the northwest and quickly build to 25-40 knots. It could get a little too rough with the wind gusts in the 40 knot range, and seas building to 8-12 feet Monday and Monday night.” With the air laden with moisture, it will pack a punch and the crews know it.

“We have been distributing the weight of stores and spares to take advantage of the strong northerly winds that are forecast,” said Josh Hall, skipper of Gartmore. “The crew have done a thorough check of the deck gear and rigging and are well rested. We even managed to watch a movie on the DVD player last night.” The Gartmore crew are well known for their good humour and light-hearted spirit, and their daily emails have provided a source of good reading since the EDS Atlantic Challenge started seven weeks ago. The movie they watched: Pulp Fiction.

The forecast is providing some anxious moments for the crew of Sill Plein Fruit who have been watching their repaired mast closely and favouring it as much as possible while still racing hard. “We noticed the top of the mast moving last night when we gybed,” said skipper Roland Jourdain. “As a result we dropped the spinnaker and sailed under genoa until it got light.”

All boats remain on a fast pace for France and are expected to finish by August 24. The EDS Atlantic Challenge website www.edsatlanticchallenge.com is an innovative and interactive resource for rankings and breaking news.

Boat Positions:

At 10:40 GMT, on a distance to finish (DTF) reading, the positions were as follows:

Radio Interview Extracts:

Nick Moloney, Kingfisher. “The boat speed right now is 19.5 knots. No it isn’t. We are now doing over 20.”

Andréa Scarabelli, Fila. “The position changes have made it an interesting race, but we hope that they do not change anymore, especially for the front boats.”

Roland Jourdain, Sill Plein Fruit. “The main topic of conversation on this boat is the mast. That is all we talk about.”

Josh Hall, Gartmore. “We could easily knock off more than a 1000 miles in the next three days which will put us close to the finish.”

Nigel King, Ecover. “It’s cold, wet and very foggy out here. Just like summer in England.”

More Information:

• YachtsandYachting.com EDS Atlantic Challenge Page