Sunday 30th November 2008
EASTWARD BOUND
His routers announced some days ago that there was no time to lose if he
didn’t want to see the door to Saint Helena slam shut in front of him.
Fortunately the dutiful skipper of Sodeb’O has obeyed orders and allowed his
three-hulled steed to hurtle across the ocean along a circuit which has been
more reminiscent of a Paris-Dakar than a formula 1 track.
It is worth pointing out that this type of sailing represents hours and
hours of stress, wondering whether it’ll be the skipper or the boat which
will be the first to explode. You just have to read last night’s emails from
the racers in the Vendée Globe to understand what all the sailors are going
through as they tackle the section of the southern Atlantic situated off
Brazil. Belting along at over 20 knots, Thomas recounted late last night
that he couldn’t even write: “Lifted by a fresh, unsettled tradewind, the
seas are so short that the boat is constantly taking off… I can’t click on
the mouse… but I’m preventing myself from slowing up, even beam on to the
wind with the seas on the nose… with each minute that passes your mind is on
breakage… you think about it the whole time… you’re not allowed to have any
doubts… it’ll take however long it takes”.
In the warm, curled up in an armchair, you have to wonder what has pushed
these men and women to systematically pass to the west of Saint Helena for
the past twenty years or so, as it clearly greatly increases the distance
travelled and doesn’t guarantee them downwind conditions as we can see. You
have to admit that they don’t really have much choice with their competition
steeds with one or several hulls which plane so well in downwind conditions
that it would be a shame to pass further east and be faced with light winds
and a hard beat into the wind. Of course the route is shorter, over 1,000
miles, but there’s a risk that it will be so much slower that is quite
simply unthinkable. However, there are some who are luckier than others;
those who are in the right place at the right time. Indeed this is what
happened to Francis Joyon over the same period last year, when he was able
to cut the corner with disconcerting, or even annoying ease, at least for
those following in his footsteps. Francis Joyon’s express descent is
virtually unique in the history of circumnavigations of the globe and was
one of the key elements in his 57 day record as was his performance over the
first stage of the course.
After 12 days at sea and a physical and stressful descent of the southern
Atlantic, the maxi trimaran Sodeb’O has once again proven the extent of its
power and speed. After all these days of rodeo riding, the skipper has only
a broken batten to lament and since this morning, Thomas Coville has been
able to put some easting into his course. He is set to benefit from some
increasingly manageable conditions to perform a thorough check of the boat
and change this infamous nine metre long batten. At that point he will hit
the roaring forties and that is quite another story.
AUDIO, VIDEO, IMAGES AND CARTOGRAPHY ACCESSIBLE FROM THE press zone on the
site www.sodebo-voile.com
Translated by Kate Jennings – Expression
|
