04.03.2001
Club Med holt den Sieg in Marseille
They'd been at sea so long the salt spray had dried their throats, so on
the Canebière the entire crew were finally quenching their thirsts, some of them until the small hours.
It didn't matter what the brew was as long as they got drunk . . . and while the few were getting plastered on pastis, the many were getting high on howling winds and heaving seas. The last stretch for Innovation Explorer looks to be free of hindrance as far as Marseille, apart from a slight slackening of the pace. Team Adventure has shortened her stride and the men from the North at last can breathe again, while "Super Tony" posted the fastest speed in the fleet.
The crew is heading straight for Marseille at 17 knots, on a flat, mild Mediterranean. At the longitude of Cartagena, the boat passed the 500-mile barrier, and is now 430 miles from the finish. As far as calculating an ETA, there's nothing definite this evening because the crew expects the speed to slow down during the morning tomorrow. That's not such a happy prospect for a crew that's ready for the sailing
to be done with, but it'll take more than that to dim the morale of this squad who have only one wish from now on: to finish as soon as possible.
Some miles from there, about a hemisphere, Cam's merry crew are making gentle but steady progress toward the equator. The wind is beginning to be wanting, however, and the 15-knot average recorded over the last hour would awaken a certain nostalgia for the Southern Ocean and its wildcap surfing. At 40° South, Team Adventure is moving placidly, more so than to the tase of some on board. Her northwesterly wind of 15 knots should weaken over the next few hours.
As for the Poles, they must feel as though they're an ocean away from Cape Horn. Their memories of the Southern Ocean must torment them, because the ill-named Pacific, and for some dark days its cousin the South Atlantic, brewed for them a succession of wicked storms worthy of an initiation rite authorized by
Poseidon himself. But credit where credit's due. To our trusty Poles who have entered through the great door of the Court of the Lords of the Seas, our congratulations, gentlemen. Respite sometimes comes dear at sea, and the weather ahead, with 30 knots easing to 20 knots, must seem to these redoubtable guys, like child's play. Leaving the Falklands to port, the "little" boat and her merry crew are on a zigzag path, but making the best of it, for sure.
Magic Tony" is making the speedo smoke, and with over 20 knots on the dial recorded the best performance in the fleet. Team Legato, determined now to cross paths with large floating chunks of ice, is heading below 50° South. Sailing conditions, unusually for her, are excellent, with a steady 25-knot wind blowing from due west. Her crew, too, can breathe.
LG
Translation by JMc
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