Figaro Solo Transatlantic race 2005 12.04.2005 DAY 10 : SKANDIA MOVES UP TO 5TH AND SAM HAS A VISITOR.... Skandia is a leading provider of long-term savings and pioneer of the highly successful multi-manager investment approach. IN BRIEF: * SKANDIA IN 5TH AND FASTEST BOAT IN FLEET OVERNIGHT... * "THERE WAS THIS THING SITTING IN MY SPINNAKER BAG STARING AT ME! IT WAS JUST THE PERFECT SQUID!..." * SAM GIVES A LESSON ON "WAVE TYPES"... * "I'VE TAKEN A LAYER OFF - I MIGHT EVEN TRY AND WASH TODAY - AND MAYBE CHANGES MY CLOTHES!..." IN DETAIL: After spending from midday yesterday until sunset on the helm, sending SKANDIA surfing down the waves, Sam continued sailing at a high speed during the night with the boat on autopilot, "It was quite weird because it the first time last night where I got in to my bunk with the pilot steering, with the boat doing 14 to 15 knots under spinnaker!" SKANDIA was the fastest boat in the fleet overnight until 0400hrs this morning, averaging 10 knots. This morning speaking to Sam at 1000hrs, she was indextaining good boat speed sailing at 12.4knots, in an easterly wind of 18 knots with occasional gusts up to 26knots. SKANDIA is currently at the edge of the pressure that creates the trade winds...every mile south is a mile closer to the trades. "I think I’m sailing a bit higher than some people. My objective is to go high and fast at the moment because I don't want to get trapped in the high pressure so I'm going a bit further south" Sam had an unexpected but welcome visitor onboard SKANDIA this morning, "I went up on deck just as it got light and there was this thing sitting in my spinnaker bag staring at me! It was just the perfect squid - it was so cool! Unfortunately it wasn't alive and I haven't got a frying pan so I couldn't do Calarami!" Other skippers have been having a tough time and experiencing problems. Dominic Vittet onboard ATAO AUDIO SYSTEM is still suffering after his accident 5 days ago when he was thrown across the boat, and fears he may have a few broken ribs. Every movement is causing him pain. Marc Emig (TOTAL) has had a few technical problems onboard and has been up the mast to investigate a problem he had with a shroud. Eric Drouglazet (CREDIT MARITIME-ZEROTWO) who is currently in 3rd, announced the yesterday that he no longer had the use of his iridium phone as the charger was out of service. This morning, he called in for his compulsory safety vacation after managing to fix the problem over night. This is the only contact the skippers have with land so it is a huge relief for everyone that he is now contactable. After a few places changes overnight, the fleet reindex in 3 groups. The boats in the north and in the middle are still fairly close together but the boats taking the southerly route are more spread out now. The majority of the fleet are sailing in a South-East wind of 10-20 knots, because of the divide in the fleet this can be up to 25 knots for the boats that have gone farthest south. The group of boats in the north, are being forced to sail a lot closer to the wind, in order to get South - as a high pressure threatens to envelop them. EMAIL LOG FROM SAM (0800HRS) Hello, good morning! FINALLY - the sun came out! (I had actually checked on a satellite image that I received by fax from Boston to see when the cloud ended!) I was a bit too chicken to take off my boots though, because there were still waves coming over the deck (we're just going too fast, you know!) However, the sun was warm, and everything began to dry. I spent the morning tidying up a bit, looking for the next couple of days food (food bag happens to be at bottom of stacking pile!) etc etc... Obviously, when I am not steering, I am trimming the sails and the pilot controls (settings, damping, gain etc) so that we are going just as fast as if I was steering (sometimes faster!) So, doing anything takes a while, because it is constantly interrupted with trips on deck. Luckily, I have a couple of instrument displays down below, so I can keep an eye and "feel" how SKANDIA is sailing without going on deck. I consciously tried to rest some more today, as I feel I am still tired. It is good to try to take your mind off everything for a little while too, so I have my book for that. I limit myself to only a short period per day, but I find it is the best way to clear my head. The book for this race is "Feel" - the biography of Robbie Williams. I am only on page 12, but I think it is going to be good. Then, by midday, I could resist the conditions no longer and I helmed until sunset, "sending it" as fast as I could get SKANDIA to hurtle down the waves - What fun!! There were times when there were the "on top of the world" kind of waves - where you get lifted up SO high on the crest that it is like you have a birds view of the ocean below, then you go hooning down the front for what seems like ever, going so fast that you match the speed of the wind and the sails collapse as there is no longer any pressure in them...... Other times the waves were less co-operative. I have named a few "wave types" because they fall into certain categories: 1. On top of the world (see above) 2. Boat wash - as the name describes, this one comes on board at the front and rushes down the decks, clearing all debris in its path. Not good if you have your cup of tea placed on the deck. Also advisable to remove all unattached items from cockpit floor. 3. Wildlife delivery - this comes in several physical forms, but does what it says, and delivers very surprised live wildlife specimens to your doorstep. Often in the form of a wriggling whitebait or baby Portuguese man of war, but other items have been shellfish (?) seaweed, pipefish. The best kind is when the wave takes the specimen right through the boat and over the other side (or the back) otherwise a rescue mission is required. The worst kind is the nighttime wildlife delivery that is not discovered until two hot, sunny days later! 4. Lap dancer - this wave is the kind that you see coming, with your name on it, and there is nothing you can do. It slaps the aft quarter, and jumps over the lifelines and lands directly in the helmsman’s lap. The rest of the boat stays bone dry. Normally seen just after removing spray top. 5. Hurler - this is the kind of wave that you don't want to get onto because it is too big and going in the wrong direction. Also, it is normally the wave you can't avoid. It starts with a battle, that has the boat on her ear, straining to get off, then finally you take off with the wave and rocket off down the front at 40 degrees to your route at about 20 knots. You can't get off til the end, then it is messy. Either ending up by a wet faceplant into the wave in front (can be expensive) or just with the boat doing only 2 knots in the wrong direction. Anyway, there are more, but I can get carried away. I will leave it to your imagination...The wind is shifting aft and I need to go and change spinnakers... Speak later Sam xx TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO WITH SAM So tell us about your encounter with Sid the squid?! "It was really funny because I wrote about things arriving on the deck and I went up on deck just as it got light and there was this thing sitting in my spinnaker bag staring at me! It was just the perfect squid - it was so cool! I was like YES, quick, take a photo! Unfortunately it wasn't alive and I haven't got a frying pan so I couldn't do Calarami! It was lucky though because I wasn't sure which spinnaker to set up and I waited just until it was light enough. I'm sure if I had changed it in the dark I would have put my hand straight on it. I was quite glad!” Last night until 04000hrs this morning you were the fastest boat in the fleet... "I think I’m sailing a bit higher than some people. My objective is to go high and fast at the moment because I don't want to get trapped in the high pressure so I'm going a bit further south. It was quite weird because it the first time last night where I got in to my bunk with the pilot steering, with the boat doing 14 to 15 knots under spinnaker!" Now you've done that, are you feeling more confident with the pilot? "It depends on the waves really and sail balance. I trust the pilot but sometimes I sit on deck just before I'm going to go down below, with the pilot steering so I can watch how it's steering and see if it's struggling - then I try easing a bit of sheet but if you ease too much then you surf down a wave and the kite collapses every time. When it's blowing 25 knots and it refills there a really big shock on the rig, it's trying to get that balance. If you manage to do that and you watch that it can steer fine for 15 minutes, and you’re happy, when you go down below you know you're confident. You know even when the boats heels over on it's ear, that the pilot can manage to bare it away to get back down the wave. It's funny because I've never needed to sleep like that before but in this race it's really important to sleep. Normally in conditions like that, I'd just sleep on my beanbag, fully kitted up and ready to go deck but this could go on for quite a few days so you can't do that."st Are you starting to find it hard to make yourself sleep? "Not really at the moment - just because I'm so tired so it's easy to sleep - and also I'm not stressed. When we did the AG2R [transatlantic race last year with Jeanne Gregoire] I was really, really stressed the whole time about the tactics and our position in the fleet. This race is a lot more about me getting there to the finish myself. It feels completely different in this race" What is your plan for today? "It's difficult because I had the asymmetric up and the wind has gone just aft of it and I'm not sure which is better - asymmetric or symmetric - the symmetric spinnaker is just a little bit bigger. So I changed up to the big spinnaker and I'm going to go out and play with that and see how fast I can get going. I'm going to have a look at the weather in a minute and make sure I'm happy with the route I'm taking. I've taken a layer off - I might even try and wash and maybe changes clothes! That's my plan for the day!" Listen to the full audio from Sam at Audio/Video section of website Communications thanks to BT Broadband LATEST POSITIONS 1000 BST 12/4/05 (boat name / average boat speed /distance to leader) 1. BOSTIK / 9.3kts / 2588.1nm to finish 2. CERCLE VERT / 10.9kts / +17.5nm 3. CREDIT MARITIME - ZEROTWO / 9.1kts / +22.7nm 4. AQUARELLE.COM / 9.7kts / +36.1nm 5. SKANDIA / 9.6kts / +87.1nm 6. TOTAL / 8.3kts / +91.0nm 7. BANQUE POPULAIRE / 10.2kts / +92.0nm 8. COUTOT ROEHRIG / 8.5kts / +93.6nm 9. GEDIMAT / 10.8kts / +155.5m 10. LITTLE BLACK SHARK / 9.1kts / +172.0nm 11. ENTREPRENDRE AU PAYS DE LORIENT / 9.0kts / 194.7nm 12. ATAO AUDIO SYSTEM / 10.6kts / +208.0nm Click here for full positions report Official race website: http://www.trophee-bpe2005.com (French only) 2005 FIGARO PROGRAMME 3 April: Trophée BPE 2005 (St.Nazaire – Cienfuegos, Cuba) 6-25 June: La Generali Solo 2005 1-28 August: La Solitaire Afflelou Le Figaro 2005 PARTNER OF THE DAY : ROYAL NAVY Associate Partner to Sam and the Offshore Challenges Sailing Team http://www.samdavies.com/royalnavy Email powered by Active 24 For more information visit http://www.samdavies.com/skandia or contact : Josie Robinson (English) josie@offshorechallenges.com T: +44(0) 870 063 0210 Caroline Muller (Francais) bienvenue@welcomeonboard.fr T: +33 (0)6 80 40 00 24 Other information sources online: Finistère Course au Large Classe Figaro Bénéteau If you would like to unsubscribe or change your frequency, please go to http://www.samdavies.com/updates Copyright © 1996-2016 - SEGEL.DE