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Trimaran
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Ellen
Macarthur
KEY DATA DAY 14 1510 GMT: 17 hours 13 minutes
ahead of Joyon (data communicated by Thrane MiniC via BT
Business Broadband)
Lat/Long: 29 21 S / 018 42 W (1620 miles E Brazil / 1920
W Cape of Good Hope)
Average Boat speed: 11.92 knots (heading S)
True Wind speed: 27.5 knots (direction SE)
Distance sailed so far: 5626 miles
Update
based on data recorded at 1510 GMT...check http://www.teamellen.com
for the latest data updated hourly...
OMEGA:
Official timekeeper for Ellen MacArthur
IN
BRIEF:
*
GENERATOR PROBLEMS ON BOARD B&Q ARE SERIOUS enough
to threaten Ellen MacArthur's solo record attempt...
Ellen forced to switch from main water-cooled generator
to back-up air-cooled generator to charge batteries -
lacking in efficiency, the smaller air-cooled generator
has to run for longer and is expelling "suffocating"
exhaust fumes into the cabin... "If we lose the
air-cooled generator, it's all over..."
*
ONE OF TWO WATERMAKERS ALSO NOT OPERATIONAL: Ellen’s
only method of making fresh water for drinking and
eating the freeze dried food. "Once I get in
flatter water, I will try to fix watermaker" -
another 10 hours of upwind sailing to go until then and
in another 24 hours Ellen will be in the Southern
Ocean...
*
EXTREMELY ROUGH CONDITIONS MAKING IT ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE
for Ellen to solve problems: "Everything is
flying around the cabin - I have to hold on to something
the whole time to stop being flung across the
boat...I’ve had my head smashed against the hull a few
times by the violent motion"
*
HARSH REALITY FOR ELLEN IN COMING TO TERMS WITH THE
PROBLEMS and staying objective as emotions run high
after coming this far. Ellen and shore team continue to
assess viability of her continuing with the record
attempt...
http://www.teamellen.com
IN
DETAIL:
Ellen
MacArthur is suffering serious technical problems on
board <<B&Q>> that could threaten her
solo round the world record attempt. Two days ago it
became apparent that the main generator - required to
charge the batteries that power all the electronics on
board, from the B&G instruments, satellite
communications to the fresh water maker - was burning up
an excessive amount of oil, and at a rate that was
unsustainable for the duration of the record attempt.
Ellen therefore then switched to the smaller generator
to conserve the oil stocks she had left, but this engine
does not have the same efficiency and has to run longer
to charge the batteries. This in itself is not a problem
but, unfortunately, the heat caused by the back-up
generator has become excessive. The temperature inside
the cabin at one point reached 48 degrees, melting some
surrounding components and, in addition, it is omitting
'suffocating' exhaust fumes that are invading the cabin
area down below. With the boat being also pounded by a
sea that even Ellen said she had not experienced before
on this boat, life onboard has been extremely difficult,
with sleep non-existant and very high stress levels.
"After
a week of being at sea, I realised the main generating
engine was using a massive amount of oil and that amount
of oil was not sustainable - in other words, I did not
have enough oil to complete the trip with that engine.
So we've been through a whole process of different tests
and I've changed now from using the main generating
engine to the small generator which has bought a whole
host of problems - like ventilating the boat, trying to
keep the temperature down in that room [the cabin]. The
temperature in the main generating room went up to 48
degrees the first time I ran that generator and that was
with all the hatches open... So its been a huge amount
of stress - we've not used it enough yet to know for
sure that it can do the job," reported Ellen
from onboard <<B&Q>> this afternoon.
Ellen
has been trying to find ways of ventilating the cabin by
leaving the deck forehatch open but, of course, it is
unthinkable to enter into the Southern Ocean with any
deck or hull hatches open. As such, Ellen is trying to
find ways of ventilating the cabin by using internal
hatches located at the side of the daggerboard casing to
expel the fumes from inside the boat bypassing the cabin
area. "The smaller generator is an 'air-cooled'
generator rather than a 'water-cooled' which means it
gets very hot and it is relatively small - it's
incredibly noisy and it only creates a maximum of 55
amps from its alternator, whereas the other one is about
200 amps. So it means lots and lots of charging with the
engine running for longer periods of time, it means
having the hatches open as I am still fighting to get
rid of the exhaust fumes from blowing back inside the
boat."
To
compound problems further, the main watermaker has also
failed - whether from the excessive heat inside or
another reason is not yet known. Again, Ellen has
switched to the back-up watermaker but it is struggling
to make limited amounts of fresh water as the conditions
are so rough, it is proving difficult to 'suck-up'
enough salt water through the intakes. To operate the
watermaker, the small generator has to provide enough
power and there the problems are being compounded.
The
implications of these technical issues are serious as
<<B&Q>> is about to enter the harsh,
freezing conditions of the Southern Ocean. Ellen and her
shore team are desperately researching possiblities for
her to ventilate the boat internally and to look at
getting the main generator operational again using a mix
of olive oil and rapeseed oil that Ellen has a small
stock of on board. If the main generator can operate on
this type of oil, there is only enough on board for it
to be operational from Cape Horn to the finish (ie 20
days or so) so <<B&Q>> is totally
reliant on the smaller 'air-cooled' generator through
the Southern Ocean.
<<B&Q>>
is battling it out in rough conditions - 30+ knots of
headwind and big waves that are slamming into the side
of the boat "literally picking us up and throwing
us sideways". These conditions alone are
potentially boat-breaking and hampers any chance Ellen
has of solving the immediate technical issues. For
Ellen, she will not want to give up but she is
experienced enough to weigh up the pitfalls to help her
make the decision to continue or not on this particular
attempt. This decision will not come easily or quickly,
as her and the shore team look at all the options open
to keep <<B&Q>> on course for this
attempt – or take the decision to bail out and get
back to the UK in time for a second go this winter.
EXCERPTS
FROM ELLEN AUDIO 1200 GMT : courtesy of Geolink/Iridium
To listen to the full audio http://www.ocftp2.com/audio/ellen/em121204a_uk_e.mp3
Describe
conditions on board?
Right now, we are sitting in a [weather] front in
the South Atlantic and we've been in here now since the
early hours of the morning. We've seen maximum of 37
hours of wind but the biggest enemy is actually the sea
because the waves are absolutely huge and in this breeze
we are just flying off them and coming crashing down.
The noise the boat is making is horrendous, as are the
noises I am making as I am bouncing off the sides of the
boat and its really, really uncomfortable.
How
hard is it for you?
Life on board is pretty tough – doing anything is
virtually impossible... I've been trying to do some
things this morning and its even difficult to just move
inside the boat - you are permanently holding on to
something, you're permanently getting thrown around.
I've, literally, been thrown off the chart table seat,
I've had my head thrown agains the roof of the boat and
my feet thrown against the floor on numerous occasions -
airbourne about six times during the night so its not
much fun on board. The boat is standing up to it
amazingly and I'm trying to hang in there as well.
Explain
the generator issues?
We've had number of technical issues since the
begining of the trip and the most preying on my mind, is
the charging. After a week of being at sea, I realised
the main generating engine was using a massive amount of
oil and that amount of oil was not sustainable - in
other words, I did not have enough oil to complete the
trip with that engine. So we've been through a whole
process of different tests and I've changed now from
using the main generating engine to the small generator
which has bought a whole host of problems, like
ventilating the boat, and trying to keep the temperature
down in that room [the cabin]. The excessive heat I
think is the reason I've burnt out one of the
watermakers. The temperature in the main generating room
went up to 48 degrees the first time I ran that
generator and that was with all the hatches open... So
its been a huge amount of stress and its still preying
on my mind - we've not used it enough yet to know for
sure that it can do the job, or whether I can cope with
the fumes.
What
are the issues with the back-up generator?
The smaller generator is an 'air-cooled' generator
rather than a 'water-cooled' which means it gets very
hot and it is relatively small, it's incredibly noisy
and it only creates a maximum of 55 amps from its
alternator whereas the other one is about 200 amps. So
it means lots and lots of charging with the engine
running for longer periods of time, it means having the
hatches open as I am still fighting to get rid of the
exhaust fumes from blowing back inside the boat.
What
was your decision for back-up plans?
We did look at the back up plans that we could put
into practice on board before we left, obviously. Since
the boat was built, we've always had the back-up
generator in - its not there to completely replace what
the main generator does - but its been there to,
basically, tide us over and that's exactly what its
doing. It's not doing the same job - it means there is a
lot longer time spent charging - but to have that
problem and to be using it after just 2 weeks at sea, is
a bit of a knock. But at the same time there is still a
small glimmer of hope that for the last few weeks, I may
be able to use the other [main] generator running on a
different kind of oil and that's a glimmer of hope in my
own mind that once I get round Cape Horn, there is a
chance to go back to the other generator and things on
board could improve again...
Explain
the watermaker problems?
One of the watermakers has given up - yesterday I
tried to run it with the generator and there was a
strange noise coming from it, so I stopped it and then
today I tried to run it again without the generator
which means that you are using more of the boat's power
but sadly it didn't work either.
How
are serious is the situation for the record attempt?
You just have to hope that everything continues
working, just as it is working at the moment and that
its going to keep working like that for the next month
or so to get you round. But from a personal point of
view, its been unbelievable stressful coping with these
problems and sailing the boat in these conditions has
been a real handful. Today I've been trying to sort out
ventilation for the generator, trying to attach fans to
hatches, wire things up and literally getting thrown
round the boat as I've been going. So its been pretty
demoralising - every time we seem to solve a problem to
some extent, another one comes along, or something else
stops working. Its been a very, very taxing first couple
of weeks and its not really an ideal situation to be
going into the Southern Ocean being tired and exhausted
from the problems you have had already. But on the other
hand, we've managed to combat most things - there is
nothing that is a massive worry apart from the
watermaker and the fumes and heat. We just have to see
how we can do in the Southern Ocean and once we are
going downwind [which might help the ventilation
problem]...
PARTNER OF THE DAY : BRITTANY FERRIES
Official Cross Channel Travel Partner to Ellen and the
Offshore Challenges Sailing Team
Telegraph* MacArthur
buoyant as B & Q recovers - 25
hrs ago
Daily
Mail 'Determined'
Ellen battles against the odds - 63
hrs ago
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LINKS
TO OTHER SITES ON THIS STORY:
Vendee
Globe: Jourdain Reaches Hobart; Leaders Take on the
Pacific
Ellen
MacArthur Sets Solo Record To Cape of Good Hope
Vendee
Globe: Roland Jourdain Devastated by Keel Damage
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ELLEN MACARTHUR -
SOLO NAVIGATION RECORD ATTEMPT
