29.01.2001 Roundup of the fourth week of The Race (January 21st-29th) Records falling like dominoes, a reduced crew for Team Adventure, third place for Roman Paszke, Loïck Peyron flirting with icebergs – and all the while poor Tony Bullimore can do nothing but gaze at his motionless speedometer. At the end of the fourth week of The Race, the Indian Ocean has lived up to its reputation, setting the leading crews a stern test. Before the relative respite of the Cook Strait looms on the horizon, let’s take a look back at a particularly eventful week in The Race. Seven days of life at the extreme. A runaway train in the night Sunday January 21st, Club Med’s lead over Innovation Explorer is now more than 700 miles and the two rivals are now affected by different weather systems. The performances of these new giants continue to astound even the most seasoned observers. The skippers choose their playing-field (or wind pattern!), and the game is then to latch on to the edge of a low and ride it for as long as they can. Just as a surfer does on a wave. Grant Dalton has demonstrated considerable talent at this exercise, while Loïck Peyron has had to come to terms with his lack of suitable headsails and has had to continue tacking. However this has not prevented the two leaders achieving very similar speeds and progress. For the men on deck too, the Southern Ocean has shown itself in all its enormity. " The blackness of the nights in the Southern Ocean can become a nightmare, with sea and sky merging into an impenetrable darkness. The helmsman then has the world to himself (…), left to his instinct and intuition", as Franck Proffit puts it. And the fun has only just begun! Cold sweat Team Adventure pays the price – Cam Lewis and his men were just astonishing us with their speed when it brought them an unexpected reversal. Their bows suddenly crashed into the bottom of a wave, there was an ominous cracking sound and two of the crew were literally thrown against the internal bulkheads. The damage was serious and they had to put in to Cape Town. The index beam was inspected while the two injured crewmen were taken into the care of Doctor Jean-Yves Chauve - there was at least three days’ work required on the giant catamaran in the South African sunshine. While this was happening, Loïck and his men were having one or two iceberg scares. "Iceberg dead ahead", screamed Roger Nilson to Jean-Philippe Saliou, helming the giant cat with visibility down to 275 yards. And there was more excitement to come as Innovation Explorer hit a peak speed of 40.4 knots as she began a turn into the wind. This was involuntary and indeed quite dangerous, with the boat becoming difficult to control. Rather more alarming than surfing a wave a little too enthusiastically! Poland on the attack Tuesday January 23rd, and daybreak brings some relief to the crew of Warta-Polpharma who have been battling hard against a violent storm. Caught in erratic but fierce winds, Roman Paszke and his men have been working without respite to continue to make progress despite conditions. As Dariusz Drapella said on the radio conference, " our strength is that we never complain and we are ready for anything ". The Polish team compels respect, particularly as it will be only a few hours before they leave Tristan da Cunha to starboard and enter the arena of the Southern Ocean. We can only guess at what they might achieve when they get there! Tony Bullimore, still parked up in the high pressure zone, can only watch as his rivals get further and further away from him. Morale aboard still seems to be high, sustained it would appear by hearty meals. Could it be that it is the weight of the food supplies that is slowing Tony down? One thing is sure, he keeps a good table. Reduced complement for Cam Lewis The announcement that Rick Deppe and Rob Myles would not continue in The Race, made the day before, hardly seems to worry Cam Lewis. Team Adventure is suddenly four crew members short, but is going to make do, and to everyone’s delight, the boat is due to leave Cape Town stronger than when she was first launched. Although this is good news, the bad news is that they will have to leave later than expected, due to headwinds and choppy seas barring the way out of the South African port. Meanwhile, the front-runners are not slowing down. Club Med continues to indextain a regular speed and to reindex perfectly placed in relation to the low pressure systems. Innovation Explorer is struggling in a small area of light air and has to dig south in search of wind. To think that Xavier Dagault had been complaining about not seeing any icebergs! Making 25 knots, Warta-Polpharma has taken off and now begins to eye third place, realising that Team Adventure is unlikely to put back to sea for another 48 hours. The Polish crew put on a fine performance, showing an impressive mastery of their fine vessel. An average of 18 knots from Barcelona They have covered more than 10 500 miles in 24 days at an average speed of 18.05 knots. Grant Dalton and Franck Proffit are indextaining their lead with disconcerting ease, and they are already beginning to look towards Cape Leeuwin and the shallower waters around Tasmania. The two co-skippers also know that they are 2 600 miles ahead of Team Adventure - Cam Lewis announced he would be leaving Cape Town Friday morning. Loïck was preparing to pass " Kerguelen to the south ", a route which would be slightly shorter and which would see the crew encountering their first iceberg. Unfortunately, Xavier Dagault missed this event because he was fast asleep. Aboard Warta-Polpharma, things are hotting up – the speedo is nudging 30 knots, and the possibility of achieving a personal best is on the horizon. Roman Paszke’s men have never managed more than 495 miles in 24 hours, a tally that now seems within their grasp. Could the Jules Verne Trophy change hands? The next day, it’s in the bag. The Poles are delighted with their 24-hour total of 504 miles. In general, the 26th day of The Race sees an impressive crop of statistics, except for poor Tony Bullimore who seems to have been left on the shelf, averaging a mere 3.2 knots over 24 hours, which must be very hard on morale! And to think that his Team Legato held the Jules Verne Trophy for three years (when she was called Enza). But let’s take another look at the "leader board", starting with Innovation Explorer, who has taken 110 miles out of Club Med’s lead in 24 hours, sailing fast while still digging south. However Grant Dalton has not been hanging about these last few days either, and we learn that he has covered the equivalent of a British Transat in 5 days and 22 hours. This represents some 3300 miles! But the most interesting statistic is how far ahead of Jules Verne Trophy record schedule Grant Dalton thinks he is – possibly as much as two days! Many records could easily fall, but the watchword is prudence, as Franck Proffit explains, "You cannot kick too hard. The seas in the Indian Ocean are not the right place for breaking records". A pit stop in Wellington? The Indian Ocean is living up to its lethal reputation, wreaking its share of havoc. On Saturday morning, at the end of his watch, Skip Novak noticed with consternation fresh tears in Innovation Explorer’s large Gennaker. The question now arises - to stop or not to stop? What we do know is that a new canvas has been made at sailmakers Incidences in Brittany. It has to be decided whether to put in to Wellington to take it on board. " The decision lies in my hands. It’s a big decision for such little hands!", quipped Loïck Peyron on the radio. It’s quite a dilemma because of course they would have to sit out the mandatory 48-hour penalty. Roman Paszke’s " Baltic Magic " team are savouring their third place and the plaudits they are receiving from all quarters - the valiant crew of Warta-Polpharma is certainly the focus of attention on Saturday January 27th. Club Med also has cause to celebrate, as Grant Dalton beats the record between The Cape of Good Hope and Cape Leeuwin, in 7 days and 18 hours (Olivier de Kersauzon did it in 8 days and 23 hours). The Race is certainly on! And what of the coming week? At the beginning of the week, all the challengers can expect to suffer a fall in wind strength, which will bring down average speeds. On Sunday evening, Loïck was already experiencing a drop off in the pace and you could be sure that Grant was studying the weather charts intently. He too will be facing calmer seas, but Roman and Cam will not escape either. At The Race HQ, Sandy Fesq explained to us that once through the Cook Strait, the boats should again be able to show their true paces, as they enter a rolling sea ideal for fast sailing. Much lower risk of crashing violently into the ends of waves, providing the opportunity for much more active helming. Sandy even allowed himself to predict that " the 700 miles in 24 hour barrier is likely to be breached". So we can look forward to a gripping contest, great action and amazing figures. However they still have to negotiate the Strait, a passage that native boy Grant says he can’t wait to reach - passing his homeland in the lead is an enviable position to be in. JB Translation by LMQV