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See the storm that dismasted the front runners! Weather router Jean-Yves Bernot talks tactics Which way to go in the TRANSAT? Ellen MacArthur and Kingfisher learn the ropes Roger
Badham of team Sail downwind in the Southern Ocean
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Europe 1 New Man Single-handed Trans-Atlantic yacht race Sailors take it day by day From the start, on June 4, 2000, until the winning monohull finished 15 days later, Weather-wise covered one of the greatest ocean races ever. Skippers in this legendary single-handed race faced a veritable barrage of difficult situations, not least of which involved the daily weather. Here is the race, taken one day at a time: First 24 hours: Kingfisher leads monohull fleet out of Plymouth Sound in light airs. Day 2: First front hits the fleet and makes for an uncomfortable night. Day 3: Fleet spreads north and south. Only time will tell which decision pays off in the long run. Day 4: The east Atlantic delivers a cruel blow to the monohull fleet as a quickly-intensifying low pressure cell creates chaos on the water. Day 5: Race leaders take advantage of a stable relationship between high and low pressure to sail directly into the throat of the Atlantic bellows. Day 6: Multihull fleet negotiates changeable conditions under mid Atlantic 'long wave' cloud band. Day 7: Grand Banks brings fog and more headwinds! Day 8: Multihulls negotiate high pressure bubble and light airs on the Grand Banks. Day 9: There's a world of difference between the leading trimarans and the monohull fleet. Day 10: Trimaran skipper Francis Joyon, aboard Eure et Loir, breaks TRANSAT 12 year old record. Day 11: Open 60 monohull skippers sail south in search of better winds, while a developing low to the east makes - or breaks - sailors in the smaller classes. Day 12: Leading monohulls head across high pressure towards winds that will send them to the finish line. Meanwhile, life on board the smaller boats in classes two through five is anything but fun. Day 13: Ellen MacArthur steers her thoroughbred yacht Kingfisher towards consistent winds, but a blocked high pressure system threatens to slow the race down over the next few days. Day 14: Leading monohulls battle fickle winds in the last miles to Newport, while an approaching cold front keeps their minds focused on tactics. Day 15: Ellen MacArthur and Kingfisher cross the line at Newport, Rhode Island in first place after two days of light and fickle airs. © weather-wise.com 2000 |