| ||||||||||||
|
BT GLOBAL CHALLENGE - MOTOROLA SPEEDS TOWARDS BOSTON WEDDING BELLS Southampton (UK), Tuesday May 27th 1997 The fleet of the BT Global Challenge continues to make its way west towards Boston, with fleet positions today unchanged from those of yesterday. Group 4 continues to lead, Time and Tide is still the backmarker, and the twelve other yachts are still battling between these two points. Some are fighting for leg honours; both Global Teamwork and Concert desperately want a leg win, and at 08.04 hrs GMT this morning Concert was only eight miles ahead, having lost three miles to Global Teamwork overnight. In the middle of the fleet, Toshiba Wave Warrior and Commercial Union are separated by just one mile, while seventh-placed Motorola logged the day's best 24-hour run, managing to cover 245 miles. Sailing on board Motorola is new recruit Lucy Fleming, who joined the race in Cape Town. She reports : "to the novice, possibly green, crew member, the last few days since we crossed the equator and carved out our passage north towards Cape Cod has provided a different sailing experience. We are now beating, close on the wind in decent speeds of 20 knots. Life on board takes on a new angle : the deck can become a ski slope, littered with hard, sharp obstacles, to be negotiated at one's peril... the sailing though is excellent, and we are recording excellent daily runs." Skippering Motorola is 32-year-old Mark Lodge, who has his own reasons for wanting to reach Boston with all possible speed. Wedding bells will be chiming for Mark and his fiancee Michelle Lane; after dating for seven years they have finally decided to tie the knot during the race's Boston stopover, sharing their joy with all the friends and fellow competitors that they have met during the race. The couple got engaged in January this year during the race stopover in Wellington (New Zealand), where Mark had just finished the second leg of the BT Global Challenge, sailing round Cape Horn and some scary weather conditions. Michelle has got used to following her fiancee around the world; Mark sailed as a crew member in the previous Challenge race, the British Steel Challenge of 92/93, and now Michelle is cheering him on through his second world circumnavigation, visiting Mark during each stopover. So far she has been to Rio de Janeiro, Wellington, Sydney, Cape Town, and Boston will be the last stopover before the race ends in Southampton in July and Mark comes home for good. While Mark is busy pushing his yacht and thirteen-strong crew, Michelle has been preparing for their wedding; she bought her wedding dress in Australia, and the couple chose their rings together in South Africa in April. The fastest yachts are expected to arrive in Boston on or around June 12th, and Mark and Michelle have planned their wedding for June 19th, when Michelle will be given away by race mastermind and world-famous yachtsman Chay Blyth in a small private ceremony, followed by celebrations with all their BT Global Challenge friends, sponsors and supporters. Schools and other youth organisations can experience the excitement of the race via the BT Global Challenge Club, which they can join through the BT Global Challenge web site at http://www.btchallenge.com For updated information on the BT Global Challenge : Internet site : http//www.btchallenge.com Fax database : 0990 321123 (+44 990 321123 from outside UK) Recorded telephone information line : 0891 505550 (UK only) Public enquiry bureau : 01703 212124 (+44 1703 212124 from outside UK) Ceefax page 388 (UK only) |
 bt.com |
 |
Copyright British Telecommunications plc 1996.
Notices| (i) | Copyright British Telecommunications plc 1996. |
| (ii) | Access to this information/data or any part of this page via the World Wide Web must only be by linking to the relevant page on the BT Global Challenge Web Site. (http://www.btchallenge.com/results/latest/latest.htm) |
| (iii) | This information/data was originally produced by "BT's Race Information System". BT shall not be liable for use of any part of it. Subject to (ii), you may use the information/data alone provided this notice is included. |
| (iv) | You may copy and use any part of this page, other than on the World Wide Web, provided you include all of these notices. You must not charge for public use and before such use you must inform BT by facsimile to 0171 777 7444 or email to h.brierley@btinternet.com stating the intended use. |
| (v) | Inform BT (as in notice (iv)) if your platform is not world wide web. |
| (vi) | Map data was produced using MundoCart/CD (a digital product of Petroconsultants Group). BT shall not be liable for use of any part of it. |