Team Adventure returns to the Mediterranean
by Keith Taylor 21 Mar 2001 21:19 GMT
Team Adventure, the big American catamaran lying third in The Race of the Millennium, passed the Rock of Gibraltar and reentered the Mediterranean today at 6:00 pm local time. With less than 700
miles remaining in her 26,000-mile sprint around the world, the 110-foot high-tech cat is expected to cross the finish line off Marseille some time on Friday or Saturday.
"We were becalmed for much of the day as we worked the north shore of the Straits looking for breeze," said Larry Rosenfeld, co-navigator of Team Adventure, in a satellite phone call from the boat. "A nice breeze came up in the late afternoon and now we're flying again, carrying our big
quadrilateral jib and doing 14 knots."
Earlier in the day, with Gibraltar still 60 miles distant, skipper Cam Lewis provided details of the boat's position relative to other landmarks. "Cadiz, Spain, is 40 miles to the northeast, Coney Island, NY, is 3,097 miles west, Miami Beach, FL, is 3,738 miles southwest and Cape Horn is 6,320 miles behind us to the south and west," Lewis said. "Team Adventure headquarters in Lincolnville, ME is 2,832 miles away, bearing 300 degrees."
Lewis also reported an unidentified flying object sighting. "The most amazing UFO streaked across the night sky and exploded in a ball of green light that lit up the whole boat and ocean," he said. "This was just after two dolphins entertained us with an incredible display of swimming and
jumping in a sea alive with phosphorescence, zigging and zagging through the water and leaving incredible wakes."
Lewis said that the cat was surrounded by processions of ships on the main shipping channel in and out of the Mediterranean.
"We have returned to civilization," he said. "Already the air is changing, the smells of mass humanity are starting to replace the crisp sea airs. It is going to be different coming back out of our little biosphere. Wellington was a long time ago. Now we must adapt again to the sounds of car doors slamming, dogs barking, sirens shrieking, horns blaring and the dreaded smoke of the millions of cigarettes on fire in every restaurant in France! Oh well, that's life!"
Crewmember Philippe Peché reported yesterday that the speedy cat had passed one ship: "We overtook an old freighter, a gas tanker that was having a job to make 15. They saw a rocket pass them at 25/26 knots and must have wondered what on Earth just happened to them!" he said.
Peché, who is making his first circumnavigation, described it as a tremendous experience. "What has impressed me most about this voyage is the boat," he said. "She's a magic boat, very fast, and in perfect condition. On board, there are two aspects that are surprising to me: the sails which are
still giving 85 % of their performance after 25,000 miles racing round the world, and our ropes. Everything has held really well. We have only broken a mainsheet and that was when had to "dump" it in a hurry. The new Spectra fibers have proved themselves. they are light and very efficient and could without problems be used on big cruising yachts."
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