09.04.2008
A few hours from the goal
The low has been true to form and the men aboard Gitana 13 have experienced
one of the most lively days so far on this their tenth day at sea. They've
had to deal with the most violent of winds, massive seas and impressive
storms, racking up the miles no matter what was thrown at them; such was the
setting off the coast of East Japan for Lionel Lemonchois and his ten crew.
174.60 miles from Yokohama at 1230 UT and boosted by a lead of over 948.1
miles on the reference time, they should conclude their North Pacific
crossing during the course of the night (UT). In the meantime however, some
difficult hours still lay ahead of the eleven sailors.
“It’s a bit full on!" We’ve had it all: gusts at over 58 knots, storms
accompanied by lightning and heavy with rain. Right now the wind has calmed
down a little and we've only got 25 knots. We're currently sailing under
staysail with two reefs in the indexsail. We’re a little under-canvassed but
the sea state is forcing us to sail in this configuration" explained Lionel
Lemonchois yesterday evening prior to 2300 hours. Indeed, with average waves
of 8 metres, reaching as high as 10 metres at times, the handling of the 33
metres maxi-catamaran has been acrobatic to say the least: “We’re surfing at
30 knots with virtually nothing aloft. It’s impressive and above all very
demanding for the helmsmen. The past few hours have been stressful for
everyone.” In these conditions, it is difficult, even impossible to get any
sleep. Despite all this, the crew has reindexed in watch configuration;
although given the vast amount of trimming to be done, the crew normally on
standby were on deck with those on watch.
Benefiting from their proximity to the depression centre, synonymous with
light winds, the crew of Gitana 13 performed another gybe last night. Since
then, the maxi-catamaran has switched to a heading of 290°to extract itself
from the centre and hunt down the surrounding low. “They’re going to
accompany the wind rotation, which will back from the south-east to the east
and then the north-east, prior to fixing themselves in the north within the
system. The seas won’t be so big but they will be shorter. Indeed, it is in
this zone that the Kuro-Shivo reigns – a SE'ly current equivalent to the
Gulf Stream along the East American seaboard” detailed Sylvain Mondon from
Météo France.
“We are on the home straight and there’s no way we can rush things. We
making headway with care, trying to prevent too much pressure on the gear as
much as we can” detailed the skipper of Gitana 13, reindexing loyal to his
philosophy.
Positioned 174.6 miles from the finish at 1230 UT, the maxi-catamaran in the
colours of LCF Rothschild Group is expected into Yokohama during the course
of the night this Wednesday (UT). However, for Lionel Lemonchois and his ten
crew, everything will depend on the negotiation of the final miles prior to
Cape Nojima, which marks the entrance into Tokyo Bay. A 30 mile beat will
then be the order of the day in order to make the finish line, situated at
the far end of the bay off Yokohama (between the lighthouse at the entrance
to Hakkeijima Marina and the white lighthouse to the south of the passage
towards Hakkeijama, as stipulated in the WSSRC texts)._
Translated by Kate Jennings – Expression
|
