Press release 74
Sunday 4th January 2009
A finish likely to come down to a matter of hours!
After an incredible week sprinting along the coast of Argentina and Uruguay,
during which Thomas Coville was bordering exhaustion, exploiting every
stormy squall to ultimately make up over four days on the record time, the
Maxi trimaran Sodeb'O is today making headway close on the wind in very,
very uncomfortable conditions.
The N’ly wind - force 6 to 7 with 25 to 33 knots of breeze – is picking up a
short sea on the nose, which is causing both the sailor and the boat to
suffer. Thomas Coville is currently etching out a ‘seagull wing’ shape wake
as he has been making easting since yesterday in order to line himself up
favourably in relation to the tradewind. Midway through the course of
tonight the skipper is likely to change tack and adopt a N’ly course, which
may well enable him to begin clawing back more miles on the record holder.
It should be pointed out that on rounding Cape Horn last Sunday Sodeb'O had
a deficit of nearly five days on Francis Joyon. Opportunists, Thomas and his
routing unit didn’t waver on rounding the last cape in this solo
circumnavigation of the globe aboard a multihull. Indeed, they actually took
the inside track by daring to go through Le Maire Strait “which has enabled
us to envisage a shorter course to the west. As such we were also able to
benefit from two weather systems which took us to the Rio gateway on a
virtual single tack, the main bonus of which was the high speed” highlighted
Richard Silvani from Météo France this morning. “Right now all that’s needed
is to reposition ourselves to the East in order to hunt down the famous
tradewind”.
Climbing due North from tomorrow, Thomas is likely to accelerate
progressively and make up even more miles. He will be able to ease his
sheets slightly and get onto a more comfortable point of sail, which will be
gentler for the sailor and the boat alike. Yesterday evening the skipper had
to carry out repairs on a stubborn engine which was refusing to start. He
spent the majority of the night upside down getting his hands dirty in some
rather unenviable conditions.
The weather forecasts for the coming week will carry the Maxi Sodeb'O along
at good speed as far as the equator, which she is set to reach on Wednesday
7th January. As for the Doldrums, situated at 6 or 7 degrees North, these
don’t appear today to be very active. This may change however! Of note is
the fact that there is still some uncertainty between the American and
European models as regards the Azores High, which is the last strategic
transition in this express round the world. It is worth pointing out that in
order to beat the record set by Francis Joyon last year, the Maxi Sodeb'O
will have to cross the finish line in Brest prior to 15th January,
03h27'20'' UTC.
AUDIO, VIDEO, IMAGES AND CARTOGRAPHY ACCESSIBLE FROM THE press zone on the
site www.sodebo-voile.com
Translated by Kate Jennings – Expression
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