KEY DATA DAY 30 0710 GMT: 1 day 14 hours 15 minutes ahead of Joyon
OMEGA: Official timekeeper for Ellen MacArthur

Lat/Long: 47 16 S / 118 50 E (790 miles SSE Cape Leeuwin / 1185 miles W Tasmania) Average Boat speed: 19.38 knots (heading ESE) True Wind speed: 25.1 knots (direction NNE) Sea temperature: 10.3 degrees C Distance sailed so far: 12,334 miles at an average speed of 17.2 knots
(data communicated by Thrane MiniC via BT Business Broadband)

Update based on data recorded 0710 GMT...check http://www.teamellen.com for the latest data updated hourly

IN BRIEF:

ELLEN MACARTHUR SETS NEW SOLO TIME TO CAPE LEEUWIN... After 31 days at sea on her solo round the world record attempt, <<B&Q>> crossed the longitude of Cape Leeuwin at 22:15:45 GMT last night to set a new solo time of 29 days, 14 hours and 5 minutes taking 17 hours and 24 minutes off Joyon's existing time of 30 days, 7 hours and 29 minutes. This is Ellen's third new solo time of her record attempt, having set new solo times to the Equator and the Cape of Good Hope off South Africa. Cape Leeuwin is on the south-western-most point of Australia on the longitude of 115 08 degrees East. Interestingly in comparison, Steve Fossett and his crew on board the 125-ft catamaran 'Cheyenne' took 25 days, 14 hours and 8 minutes from Ushant to Cape Leeuwin and 9 days, 20 hours and 29 minutes to cover the distance between Cape of Good Hope and Cape Leeuwin. This same passage has taken Ellen, on the 75-foot multihull <<B&Q>>, 10 days and 4 hours - only 7.5 hours longer. OMEGA: Official timekeeper for Ellen MacArthur

<<B&Q>> BUILDS BIGGEST ADVANTAGE OVER RECORD SINCE THE START AND FAST APPROACHING HALFWAY MARK... Ellen continues to make ground on the record pace, now over 34 hours ahead of Joyon's time. Consistent 25-30 knot northerly winds had <<B&Q>> averaging around 18 knots of boat speed through the night. The 24-hour runs are consistently around the 450 mile mark, 30-odd miles short of the current best of 481.6 miles that Ellen clocked up on 15th December as she raced towards South Africa. <<B&Q>> has covered 12,334 miles at an average speed of 17.2 knots and is just over 1000 miles away from the halfway mark of a typical round the world course. The halfway point will bring <<B&Q>> under Tasmania that is 1185 miles to her east and with the current forecast, Ellen should be passing under Tasmania on Thursday night and into Friday. Ellen's big gains on Joyon are down to the fact that Joyon was unable to get south to the shorter course because of intense low pressure systems pinning him to the north - in the same way <<B&Q>> was forced to take a more north-easterly course on Christmas Eve, when her advance on the record slipped to less than 2 hours. At one stage, Joyon was struggling to get under Tasmania but finally got the break he needed to get south. <<B&Q>> is currently 460 miles south of Joyon's track although the latest weather routing suggests their tracks are set to converge again south of New Zealand.

FAST CONDITIONS FOR ANOTHER 48 HOURS... Commanders' Weather expect the northerly breeze to carry on between 30-40 knots bringing rough sea conditions for another 24 hours. The stronger winds may shift a little more to the right, going north to north-east at times, and Ellen will have to head on a more south-easterly course. But as the low shifts further south, the winds will go back into the north and north-west tomorrow and Thursday, that will allow <<B&Q>> to head east once again, staying in favourable conditions until Friday. A ridge of high pressure may slow up <<B&Q>> on New Year's Day...

ELLEN'S OC SAILING TEAM MATE UPDATE: day 52 for Nick Moloney on Skandia, 7th place in the Vendee Globe, south of New Zealand approaching the 'ice zone' where numerous icebergs have been reported. http://www.nickmoloney.com

New solo times for Ellen MacArthur, B&Q trimaran:
Ushant-Equator 8d 18h 20m (7.12.04 0230GMT)
Ushant-Cape of Good Hope 19d 9h 46m (17.12.04 1756 GMT)
Ushant-Cape Leeuwin 29d 14h 5m (27.12.04 2215GMT)

Time to beat: 72 days, 22 hours, 54 minutes and 22 seconds set by Francis Joyon on board his 90-foot multihull IDECin February 2004. B&Q must cross the finish line by 07:04:06 GMT on 9th February 2005 to beat Joyon's time.

PARTNER OF THE DAY : UKSA
The Official Watersports Training Facility for Ellen and the Offshore Challenges Sailing Team

Click here for further information on Sailing Speed Records http://www.sailspeedrecords.com and here for information on Ellen's campaign http://www.teamellen.com

For further information, please contact Offshore Challenges:
Lou Newlands or Lucy Harwood
T: +44 (0)870 063 0210
E: lou@offshorechallenges.com or lucy@offshorechallenges.com

Article added 21/10/04.