Nervous last days in Transat for monos

Friday, 11 June 2004

Ecover at speed running downhill, flat and low under kite.

Nick Moloney`s Skandia, always pushing, pushing, pushing !

Mike Golding continues to lead the IMOCA 60 class in the Transat Race and has been able to extend to a 34 mile lead ahead of Mike Sanderson on Pindar. Pindar will be hindered though by the breakage of her starboard dagger board during 40-45 knots wind encountered at the weekend. The failure of the board will affect Pindar whenever she is upwind on the port tack during the final 500 miles to the finish. It’s going to be a tense time to see if Temenos and skipper Dominique Wavre can be held off in third position during this time. Meanwhile Nick Moloney on Skandia is maintaining his lead over fifth place Briton Conrad Humphreys and endorsing his credentials for the up and coming Vendee globe with a solid performance with a veteran boat of that race. In deed readers will remember that the same boat in it’s Kingfisher colours and under the ‘skippership’ of Ellen MacArthur won the 60’ class in the last Transat Race. Kingfisher as she was then named was designed by Owen Clarke Design and Rob Humphreys Yacht Design in a joint collaboration as part of the Kingfisher Design Team. In the 50’ Class meanwhile: “A long haul” is how Kip described the last 300 miles. Constant winds of 35-40 knots have battered Artforms, causing several problems. Conditions earlier disrupted his Iridium satellite signal, temporarily blocking access to crucial weather data. In the last 24 hours, the mainsail has come down twice in a 40-knot winds—to put in the fourth reef, and to clear the port rudder, which had hung up on something. “I actually thought that I’d lost my rudder, but after stopping the boat I was able to shake it off,” said Kip. Lastly, his staysail halyard failed, so he’s had to rig a replacement until the seas flatten out and he can make the repair. In the meantime, Joe Harris and Wells Fargo – American Pioneer has held onto a fifteen mile lead gained in the last day-and-a-half over Kip and Artforms. “Joe has done a fantastic job in the last 48 hours. We’re about to close ranks just south of the Flemish Cap, and I’m on the edge of my seat wondering what’s going to happen next,” Kip said, noting that they were entering a patch of light air. “It’s tricky sailing ahead for the next 24 hours.” Artforms after loosing the lead briefly to Joe Harris’s Wells Fargo has now found herself back in the same latitude/longitude and fought back rapidly extending her lead in this division back up to forty miles. With 1000 miles to go there is everything to play for however and plenty of passing lanes and opportunities in this class over the next five to six days. This will be the last report on this website until close to the finish of the Monohull classes in the Transat which will be reported on site from Boston USA, by Merfyn Owen. In support of the small guy, don’t forget that Artforms is powered by T shirts, go to: www.ksopen50.com and log on for email updates. Open 60 Monos 17.00 hrs 10/06/04 Posn Name DTF DTL Design 1 Ecover 476 0 Owen Clarke 2 Pindar AlphaGraphics 511 34 Owen Clarke 3 Temenos 521 45 Finot 4 Skandia 612 136 Owen Clarke/Humphreys 5 Hellomoto 642 166 Finot Open 50 Monos 17.00 hrs 10/06/04 1 Artforms 939 0 Owen Clarke 2 Wells Fargo 979 40 Finot

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