Oceanracing 2004 - The Global Challenge 2004/05 - Portsmouth-Kap Hoorn-Kapstadt-Portsmouth

The Global Challenge 2004/05
Portsmouth-Kap Hoorn-Kapstadt-Portsmouth
03.10.2004 - 17.07.2005
www.globalchallenge2004.com - zur Übersicht

12.07.2005
Last day of preparation in La Rochelle
Teams making the yachts as light as possible for tight leg

The final Crew Briefing took place this morning, before the last day of preparations got underway.

The shore bags have been packed and collected and now navigators and skippers are concentrating on the weather forecast and the flexible racecourse laid out by the Race Committee. Leg 7 is designed to allow the fleet, all being well, to cross the finish line on Saturday lunchtime.

Thousands of people are expected to line the waterfront at Southsea Castle and in Gunwharf Quays so if the conditions are light, waypoints will be removed to allow a shorter course to the line. Teams will know at least one waypoint in advance so they can plan their subsequent tactics, and to ensure a level playing field.

The usual final safety and rig checks are being carried out, this time accompanied by the removal of anything from the yachts that is not considered essential. The racing is going to be so close during this relatively short leg that skippers are concentrating on reducing weight. As the conditions for the start are forecast to be reasonably light, around 6 knots from the north-northeast, teams seem to be particularly concerned about having anything unnecessary onboard.

Loz Marriott, skipper of Pindar, says he and his team will be more or less taking the clothes they are standing up in. “Very positive,” answered Loz when asked how he felt about the next leg, “the team is ready and the boat is light. The curver boxes are empty, the crew will be taking their mid-layers and foulies and the clothes they will be wearing on race re-start day.

“They’ll have Musto quick-drying shorts and a polo shirt on tomorrow morning, and the polo shirt will be replaced with a quick-drying t-shirt after the start. They’ll also have one pair of socks, a pair of sailing boots and a woolly hat incase it gets cold at night.

“I believe some of the other teams are going for fresh food on this leg,” continued Loz, “but we’ll be opting for freeze dried food. We have gone full on to lighten our boat – looking at the weather there should be some sea breezes later in the day and over the next two days but this race will be all about boat speed and keeping the pace up all the way.

“The biggest obstacle at the moment is the tide on the start line – so the concern will be to get over the line safely, making sure that we are not over early. To drop the spinnaker and get back behind the line to start again will be difficult.”

Unlike the other legs, if a yacht is early over the start line there will be no penalty turns to be made during the race. Instead they will have to sail back round behind the start line to rejoin, and Loz thinks spinnakers will be up in the conditions forecast, making the manoeuvre all the more inconvenient for the teams keen to get going.

In terms of their hopes for this leg, Loz said: “The Crew are so fired up that this leg has to be ours!” But Pindar is not the only team that’s fired up – the whole fleet seems determined to make their homecoming leg one to remember.
Dan Wedgwood