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Tea Route - Hongkong-London - GITANA 13 - Start 14.08.2008
www.gitana-team.com - Hochseerekorde
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GITANA-Fotogalerie
Press Release No.27
Thursday 14th August – 0830 UT
Tea Route (Hong Kong / London)
Gitana 13, from the Orient to the Occident
Whilst the Summer Olympics are in full swing in China, Lionel Lemonchois and
his nine crew have bid farewell to Asia. The maxi-catamaran in the colours
of the LCF Rothschild Group crossed the start line of the Tea Route – Hong
Kong / London – this Thursday 14th August at 0755’32” UT (1555’32” local
time). On this course spanning over 14,000 miles the sailors of Gitana Team
are targeting a time of around forty days to make Europe and the city of
London.
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Promenade Kowloon Hong Kong
Foto: Irvin Krumnacker-SEGEL.DE
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It is already over eight months that Lionel Lemonchois and his men have been
sailing the length and breadth of the world’s oceans aboard Gitana 13. This
morning, they cast off once again, bound for the open sea. Ahead of the 33
metre catamaran lies a seventh and final reference time to beat in order to
conclude a record campaign, which has already provided them with a wealth of
lessons and discoveries.
Following on from the Route de l’Or, for which they’ve held the new record
of 43 days 3 minutes 18 seconds since last February, the sailors from Gitana
Team are tackling another legendary course: the Tea Route. This prestigious
commercial route has seen some of the largest clippers of the XIXth century
battling across this selective course, which begins with a close-hauled
navigation across the China Sea and then the Java Sea, prior to entering the
Indian Ocean. Lionel Lemonchois’ crew will turn their back on this turbulent
ocean immediately after leaving the Cape of Good Hope (SE tip of Africa) to
starboard. From there the ten sailors will begin the long climb up the
Atlantic Ocean, it too with its own share of surprises. During their target
forty days at sea, the crew of the maxi-catamaran equipped by Baron Benjamin
de Rothschild, will have the opportunity to adopt a route which is fairly
unfamiliar to contemporary sailors. Indeed, to date, no maxi from the G
Class has ventured into these regions; the current record being the property
of the French sailor Philippe Monnet since 1990.
According to the weather forecasts, over the first days of the course Gitana
13 is set to face a medium SW’ly wind which will clock round to the W. Some
close-hauled sailing is on the menu then for the start of the course, which
will take the men of Gitana Team fairly near the Vietnamese coast prior to
closing on the shores of Malaysia and Indonesia. “The first part of the
course as far as the Indian Ocean won’t necessarily be very quick. Until we
get to the south of Vietnam, the anemometer will rarely exceed 10-15 knots,
but as the wind gradually backs we’ll be able to pick up the pace as we
approach the Java Sea. There aren’t likely to be any big surprises as far as
the weather is concerned over the initial miles but the crew will have to be
on their guard. We noticed during our previous records that our passage
across the China Sea is likely to involve a number of encounters (fishing
boats and drifting nets dotted about everywhere). In addition, throughout
our descent of the Indian Ocean, we’re going to pass strings of islands…
land will never be that far away” explained Lionel Lemonchois this morning,
just minutes before making towards the start line.
Weather analysis for the initial stage: The South China Seaa
Sylvain Mondon, forecaster for ocean safety with Météo France, will also be
part of the team. Onshore router for the Gitana 13, he describes the weather
configuration for the start of the course: “In summer, the monsoon flow
kicks in over this part of Asia. The monsoons stem from the SE’ly tradewinds
of the southern hemisphere which are created to the east of Indonesia.
Having gained sufficient speed these tradewinds manage to cross the equator
and as the Coriolis effect changes direction they are deflected towards the
right (rather than the left), later tracking round to the south and then the
south-west. These winds end their long oceanic journey at the foot of
southern China, where they fuel the pluvial storm activity with virtually
constant humidity over the Hong Kong region.
It is this headwind that Gitana 13 is likely to have to tackle on starboard
tack initially, followed by further close-hauled sailing on port tack as
they approach the Sunda Strait which marks the entrance into the Indian
Ocean.”
A brief history about the Tea Route
Until 1849, the East India Company had the monopoly on the maritime
transport of tea. Following this time however, the abrogation of the
Navigation laws came about, which protected the trade and opened it up to
the American clippers, normally dedicated to cotton. These faster vessels
were to impose double tariffs and in order to reindex in the race British
shippers had to launch themselves into the construction of new yachts: the
clippers. Around the middle of the XIXth century, the annual race of the
“Tea-Clippers” from China was a real obsession for sailors. The first vessel
to reach London with its precious cargo pocketed colossal sums and not
inconsiderable prestige. Setting out from London in the winter, the clippers
began their outbound voyages carrying various loads towards whatever
destination they fancied in the Orient or even Australia. Next, at the
height of the summer, the vessels sailed for China where they headed towards
the index tea ports, prepared to embark the very first new tea.
Gitana 13 crew
Lionel Lemonchois (Skipper)
Dominic Vittet (navigator) / Ludovic Aglaor / Pascal Blouin / David Boileau/
Léopold Lucet / Ronan Le Goff / Olivier Wroczynski / Ronan Guérin / Laurent
Mermod
Gitana 13’s records
Route de l’Or (New York – San Francisco, via Cape Horn): in 43 days 3
minutes 18 seconds (February 2008)
North Pacific Crossing (San Francisco – Yokohama): in 11 days 12 minutes 55
seconds (April 2008)
Yokohama – Dalian: 3 days 20 hours 19 minutes and 11 seconds
Dalian – Qingdao: 23 hours 50 minutes and 20 seconds
Qingdao – Taiwan: 3 days 52 minutes and 15 seconds
Taipei – Hong-Kong: 1 day 58 minutes 27 seconds
Gitana, a passion for sailing
Spurred on by Baron Benjamin de Rothschild, the Gitana story opened towards
multihulls in 2000 with Gitana IX. An ‘armada’ followed with Gitana X in
2002, Gitana 11 (Ex-Belgacom) in 2004, then Gitana 12 (Ex-Bonduelle) in 2006
to replace Gitana X. In 2007, a year after the arrival of Loïck Peyron at
the head of the Gitana Team, the fleet diversified: Gitana 11, the 60 foot
Orma multihull and outright winner of the Route du Rhum 2006, was then
accompanied by Gitana Eighty, a 60 foot Imoca monohull, and Gitana 13, a 33
metre maxi-catamaran was devoted to discovery. Crewed records for Gitana 13
and solo races for Gitana Eighty: this new season already promises to etch
some fine lines in the histories of the Gitana boats…
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
Photo credits: Yvan Zedda / Gitana SA
Written by Kate Jennings – Expression
26.09.2008 - Tea Race for Gitana 13
25.09.2008 - A stunning conclusion for Gitana 13
24.09.2008 - The end of the voyage
23.09.2008 - Gitana 13 two days from the goal
22.09.2008 - Gitana 13 back in familiar waters
18.09.2008 - A relentless North Atlantic for Gitana 13
11.09.2008 - Gitana 13 back in the northern hemisphere
04.09.2008 - Gitana 13 rounds the Cape of Good Hope
29.08.2008 - Good Hope bars the way to Gitana 13
26.08.2008 - The Indian fires its first arrow
23.08.2008 - Gitana 13 on the shipping lanes
21.08.2008 - Gitana 13 aboard the Indian Ocean Express
20.08.2008 - Comments onboard - 14.-20.08.2008
18.08.2008 - Borneo bound
16.08.2008 - Weaving through the summer monsoon
14.08.2008 - Gitana 13, from the Orient to the Occident
13.08.2008 - A window opens for Gitana 13
25.02.2008 - A question of time
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