Press release No.32
Thursday 11th September – 1630 hrs
Tea Route (Hong Kong / London)
Gitana 13 back in the northern hemisphere
Early this morning, 0146 UT, the maxi-catamaran in the colours of the LCF
Rothschild Group crossed the equator and thus passed back into the northern
hemisphere and the North Atlantic. This was a zone that Lionel Lemonchois
and his men left in their wake on 23rd January 2008 during the Route de
l’Or. After four weeks at sea, the crew of Gitana 13 is no longer very far
from the goal – 3,200 miles at 1330 UT –, but the ten days or so that reindex
promise to be tricky to negotiate. We’ll have to wait and see if the North
Atlantic will reveal itself to be cooperative with the sailors of Gitana
Team. For now nothing could be less certain!
The most important thing first of all is to explain once again what exactly
the air flow from the African monsoon is: in a standard situation, the
Doldrums – a zone of light, shifty winds caused by the opposition of the
tradewinds in the northern hemisphere (NE sector) and those of the southern
hemisphere (SE sector) – stretch further eastwards. As a result, sailors
rarely attempt to pass close to the African coast. However during certain
years, a monsoon air flow, which generates SW’ly winds along the African
coast between the Gulf of Guinea and Senegal, upsets the original scenario.
You can observe this phenomenon when the African continent warms up
sufficiently to create a thermal low that diverts the SE’ly tradewinds from
the southern hemisphere. Gitana 13 is today benefiting from this situation
to shorten the distance to the goal.
“We sneaked across the equator right in the middle of the night; the fourth
time for Gitana 13 since the start of the year! We’re now attacking the
complicated section of this climb with a great deal of uncertainty. From one
grib file to another it’s a very different story!” explained Dominic Vittet.
This was a sentiment shared by Lionel Lemonchois: “We’re afraid that a low,
which was over the African continent but has now shifted over to the
Atlantic, won’t weaken the effect of the monsoon. As a result we’re crossing
our fingers that the SW’ly wind will nevertheless be steady enough to enable
us to climb as far as 8° North, where the meteorological equator (Doldrums)
is currently located.”
“We’re attempting an option… A few days ago we opted to tackle the Doldrums
via the eastern route. It’s a risky gamble but it’s worth it because if it
works we’ll have gained a significant amount of time.” Indeed, if the
monsoon airflow hadn’t settled on zone, the maxi-catamaran would have had to
shift across over 500 miles further to the west to stand a chance of an
efficient passage through the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone.
Now forced to make northing no matter what, Lionel Lemonchois and his nine
man crew are revealing themselves to be opportunistic. The reasons for this
are that after the passage of the Doldrums, forecast this weekend, they’ll
have to negotiate their transition into the NE’ly tradewind set to blow on
their exit, which is already promising some upwind sailing.
For Lionel Lemonchois and his four loyal supporters – Zolive, Léo, Ludo and
David -, they have been living this adventure for over ten months and their
return to the northern hemisphere reminds them that it will soon be coming
to a close. However, aboard Gitana 13, the time is ripe for savouring their
final days at sea rather than letting themselves be carried away by the
nostalgia of the moment. This is particularly true given that the North
Atlantic again looks set to have some surprises in store for our ten
sailors. Energy and lucidity will be paramount when they make their entrance
into the River Thames.
Weather analysis by Sylvain Mondon (Météo France)
The router for Gitana Team once again shows us the current weather situation
as well as the likely scenario over the coming days: “Gitana 13 has been
sailing since last night in the airflow from an African monsoon. Indeed,
early last night, the wind began to drop off slowly (going from 17/19 knots
to 12/14 knots), as it gradually veered (from ESE to SSE) even before they
crossed the equator. This evolution will continue over the course of the day
and will become more accentuated with the northward progress of the
maxi-catamaran under the growing influence of the Coriolis force. In this
way, the tradewinds initially orientated to the SE will be diverted to the
south at the tail end of the day, enabling Lionel Lemonchois and his crew,
once they’ve gybed, to make an almost parallel course to the African coast
on port tack in fairly light (5 to 10 knots) but well orientated winds. On
Friday, the winds will continue to clock round to the SW, accompanying
Gitana 13 towards the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone at around 8°North,
which she’ll cross this weekend. An entirely different form of navigation
will then begin along the southern edge of the Azores High, close-hauled in
some established NE’ly tradewinds. The crossing of this new obstacle will
mobilize the crew for a major part of next week.
Today’s figures
Departure from Hong Kong: Thursday 14th August at 07h55’32’’ (UT)
Thursday 11th September at 1330 (UT)
Latitude: 2°53.08 N – Longitude : 14°23.04 W
Distance left to go: 3,200 miles
Find all the latest about the Gitana Team at www.gitana-team.com
Rights free photos and images for press use are available on request
Press contact: Zephyr Communication
Tiphaine Combot-Seta
+ 33 6 85 58 53 00 or tiphaine@zephyrcom.com
Photo credits: Billy Black / Gitana SA
Translated by Kate Jennings – Expression
|
