Polish Skipper, Roman Paszke qualifies for The Race
by The Race Media 28 Feb 2000 09:37 GMT
Despite dismasting last Friday 25th February, the Polish catamaran Polpharma-Warta managed to reach the island of San Salvador (Bahamas) under jury rig. They crossed the finishing line on Sunday 27th February 2000 at 14h 41 mn and 30s GMT (15h 41mn 30s French time) thus becoming the 1st challenger to officially qualify for The Race / La Course du Millénaire.
So Roman Paszke took a little more than 14 days (exactly 14d 6h 30mn 24s) to sail his 26 metre (85 ft) catamaran to the other side of the Atlantic, after having left Cadiz (Spain) on February 13th last. A passage time that was unfortunately extended after loosing his mast.
Fate of the sea
When they were 544 miles (1007 km) from san Salvador, a chainplate (metal plate set in the hull to which the shrouds that hold up the mast are fixed) failed. Yet the wind was quite manageable (15/18 knots -–28/33 kph) and the sea easy. Roman Paszke : “We were carrying full mainsail and a small jib, and we were getting ready to set a bigger jib because the wind started to veer further aft. Then the mast just suddenly came down. We had to cut it all adrift to prevent it from damaging the boat. After this major breakage, we erected the 11 metre long boom as a jury rig, and we set two jibs (a reacher and a staysail), giving us quite a satisfactory sail area of 300 m2. This enabled us to sail at speeds of between 9 and 12 knots (16/22 kph)”.
Qualified !
On recalling this fate of the sea, the Polish skipper was overjoyed at having vanquished the elements, at having reached harbour and above all of having fulfilled his main objective : “we qualified under jury rig…!”
Indeed, Polpharma-Warta finished 1 day 9 hours 1 minute and 23 seconds before the time limit set by the rules of The Race. Not forgetting that this time is calculated using the reference time for the course increased by 25%. So the record still belongs to the catamaran Jet Services V skippered by Serge Madec, set in 1988 in 12 d 12 h 25 mn and 26 s.
Refit
Welcomed in the Club Med marina in Colombus Isle, San Salvador (Bahamas), the Polish crew will be making only a short halt. They are planning to leave again either today or tomorrow Monday 28th February, for Fort Lauderdale in Florida (USA) located some 330 miles (611 km) away. In this American port, they will have the boat surveyed to detect any other eventual sequels of the dismasting and to organise the continuation of the programme that will start with the fabrication of a new mast.
Qualification for The Race - Polpharma Warta
East-West Atlantic course Cadiz (Spain)/San Salvador (Bahamas)
3855 miles (7195 km)
Start 13th February 2000 at 08 h11 mn 06 s GMT
Finish 27th February 2000 at 14 h 41 mn 30 s GMT
Crossing time : 14 d 06 h 30 mn 24 s
Average : 11.34 knots / 21 kph
Reminder : Record for the crossing, catamaran Jet Services V/Serge Madec (F) in 12 d 12 h 25 mn 26 s - Average : 12.93 knots / 24 kph
More Information: www.therace.org