KINGFISHER DUELLING WITH BANQUE POPULAIRE OFF LAND'S END

TIME:1100HRS WEATHER:Unstable light SE winds north of Land’s End DISTANCE TO FASTNET ROCK: 150m AVERAGE SPEED SO FAR: 12.8 knots AVERAGE SPEED OF RECORD:13.86knots (1 day, 21 hours, 44 minutes) CURRENT SPEED:3 knots MAXIMUM SPEED:27.3 Knots POSITIONS IN FLEET Kingfisher at 11.15am: 50 05 N / 6 10 W Fuji at 9.16am: 50 42N / 7 16W Banque Populaire at 9.16am: 50 03 N / 5 55 W Broceliande at 9.16am: 50 42 N / 7 21 W Groupama: Retired at Plymouth

KINGFISHER DUELLING WITH BANQUE POPULAIRE OFF LAND’S END

Ellen MacArthur, co-skipper with Yvan Bourgnon aboard Kingfisher reports: “After an extreme wet and wild night, reaching speeds of up to 27knots, the crew are totally exhausted and I am absolutely soaked through! The wind is light again, and Banque Populaire is close by – so the whole crew are pretty tense & focused. Mixed feelings aboard of either frustration trying to keep Kingfisher cruising, or total exhiliration as the boat just takes off. But there is nothing better than the feeling of being up on the helm among the first boats passing Land’s End.”

“More wind is predicted to come from the North East – a pretty hairy time ahead – and we are all determined that Kingfisher can still beat the record!”

GROUPAMA RETIRE

Details are at the moment that gear failure has caused Groupama to retire and they have gone in to Plymouth.