To: "'trekcreative{at}yahoogroups.com'" 
From: Jason Patten 
Reply-To: trekcreative{at}yahoogroups.com

BREST, France (CNN) -- A giant squid entwined itself round the rudder of
the trimaran Geronimo, forcing an unexpected slow-down for the crew.

Geronimo is attempting to win the Jules Verne Trophy for being the fastest
non-stop yacht around the world.

Crew member Didier Ragot said the crew were prepared to fight the squid if
it had managed to climb aboard.

It appeared to be about 10 metres long with tentacles as thick as Ragot's
arms -- "plus the waterproofs," he said.

"We were all ready to do battle with boathooks and knives, but as soon
as we slowed the boat down, it obviously decided that it would be better to
let us go while it had the chance."

The squid was "jammed between the top of the rudder blade and the hull
and then it sent two of its tentacles down to the base of the rudder blade
and grasped it," Ragot said on the team's web site.

"It shook the whole boat and it was rather worrying at the time. If it
had managed to climb on board, we'd have had to offer it lunch or something
to keep it from lunching on us."

There was minimal damage to the boat but the crew lost about an hour when
they had to slow the boat down.

"We were doing 24 knots at the time, so we probably lost at least 30
miles by slowing down to just 11 knots," Ragot said.

Geronimo is into its fourth day of the attempt. The current record stands
at 64 days, 8 hours, 37 minutes and 24 seconds.

Meanwhile, British skipper Ellen MacArthur is less than 24 hours away from
officially putting her crew on standby to begin their own attempt on the
Jules Verne Trophy.

MacArthur's 14-member crew will sail Kingfisher in the bid which could
start as early as Thursday morning from France, weather permitting.

Star Trek; The E-mail Commands

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