Figaro Solo Transatlantic race 2005 14.04.2005 DAY 12 : SKANDIA MOVES UP TO 4TH AFTER GAINING 27NM OVERNIGHT... Skandia is a leading provider of long-term savings and pioneer of the highly successful multi-manager investment approach. IN BRIEF: * SAM GAINS 27NM ON LEADER, CHARLES CAUDRELIER (BOSTIK) AND MOVES UP TO 4TH POSITION... * SKANDIA 17.4NM BEHIND CREDIT MARITIME-ZEROTWO IN 3RD, AND 22NM Ahead OF AQUARELLE.COM IN 4TH... * "I’M NEARLY HOOKED IN TO THE TRADE WINDS WHICH ARE STRONGER SO I HAVE A BETTER ANGLE OF THE WIND AND GREATER STRENGTH..." * SAM HAS CLOSE ENCOUNTER WITH LARGE OIL TANKER... IN DETAIL: SKANDIA has moved up to 4th place overnight after gaining an impressive 27nm on leader BOSTIK. Sam was also the fastest boat in the fleet yesterday, winning the "Top Chrono" (fastest 24 hour record of the day) with 238.7nm. There is a possibility that we will see further gains for SKANDIA today as the wind lightens for the leading boats to the north. “At the moment, there’s the Azores high pressure which we’re running away from as it spreads out, so we’re not in any risk of being in no wind. We’re right on the big curve of the high pressure - because I’m nearer the south I’m nearly hooked in to the trade winds which are stronger and more east [in direction]. So I have a better angle to the wind and greater strength. BOSTIK and CREDIT MARITIME-ZEROTWO are nearly there but they are just right in the curve, the isobars are further apart where they are and they’ve just got lighter winds for the moment.” Sam is now 17.4nm behind CREDIT MARITIME-ZEROTWO in 3rd, and 22nm ahead of AQUARELLE.COM in 4th. BOSTIK is now just 15nm in front of CERCLE VERT in 2nd. The fleet are not as divided as they were a few days ago, the northern and southern fleets are coming closer together. SKANDIA reindexs almost exactly mid-way between the most northern boat, and the most southern boat. Eight of the 12 boats are now south of the Rhum Line (direct course between St.Nazaire & Cuba). CERCLE VERT in 2nd is one of the only leading boats in the north, while BOSTIK, CREDIT MARITIME-ZEROTWO & SKANDIA are each about 50miles apart forming a line advancing towards Cuba. Everything is well onboard SKANDIA with "fantastic" sailing conditions under asymmetric spinnaker which is newly allowed under the class rules for this race! Although SKANDIA had an uncomfortably close encounter with an large oil tanker yesterday afternoon, "I was surprised because it was fairly close and my "Sea Me" had not begun to beep. The ship got closer and closer and still no signal. In the end, when the ship was on my beam I called him up and asked if he could see me on his radar, they replied, "You'll have to wait three minutes - I'll just ask them to turn the radars on and they need time to warm up...!!!" Read Sam's full story below... Current weather still looks to favour SKANDIA - but with CREDIT MARITIME-ZEROTWO and BOSTIK taking miles south where possible, the advantage that Sam holds weather-wise, is likely to be reduced. As the boats get into the established trade winds keeping the boat sailing at optimum pace will become very important, any downtime due to skipper fatigue, or gear failure will quickly transfer to miles added to the leader board and a slip down the rankings. EMAIL LOG FROM SAM Hello I am sitting at the chart table and we are trundling along, tight spinnaker reaching (8-9 knots boatspeed). We had a light patch earlier on in the afternoon, but not too light and now, I hope we will have the wind increase some more. This will be good, because I know that the boats to my north slowed down more than this. I can hear my "Sea Me" alarm beeping away regularly, as the radar of a nearby ship activates it. It is comforting to know that the ship is there, so I can go and keep a visual watch of it's position, but also, the alarm tells me that my radar transponder is sending a magnified echo back to their radar, so hopefully they are more likely to see me. Unfortunately, this afternoon, I discovered that it doesn't work like that all the time out here.... I was at the chart table, when I saw a large oil tanker on the horizon heading in my direction (as a wave picked up the transom and I had a clear view out of the hatch.) I was surprised, because it was fairly close and my "Sea Me" had not begun to "beep" - I thought that maybe the "Sea Me" was playing up, but it was bizarre because normally it works all the time. The ship got closer and closer and still no signal. In the end, when the ship was on my beam I called him up and asked if he could see me on his radar: "You'll have to wait three minutes - I'll just ask them to turn the radars on and they need time to warm up..." !!! OK, so that explains my "faulty" radar transponder! Sure enough, three minutes later, I could clearly detect their TWO radars functioning. When I asked if they could see me on their screen, the answer was (a disappointing) negative - I was lost in the wave clutter......... However, if they never use their radar, I wouldn't be surprised if they just had the settings wrong! I had done the same test with my parents and they had managed to spot me. (albeit just) I am surprised that ships like this turn their radar off. I wonder why? Are they trying to conserve energy? I can't imagine a radar would make a difference.... I don't know the laws for shipping, but I would be happier if I knew that radar was compulsory, then cruisers and short-handed racers in small boats (without radar) can be safer with their radar transponders. If there is a risk we can be lost in clutter on their screen, at least it is better for us to have the alarm function to warn us there is a ship in the area and enable us to avoid getting into a dangerous situation. And now SKANDIA and I are getting used to the more normal pace of this race after yesterdays "Top Chrono" day of high-speed sailing! We were very happy to hear that we were the fastest boat of the fleet yesterday - very cool. It was fun sailing, and surprisingly easy (thanks to North Sails France's super asymmetric spinnaker)! I had better go, and check where that ship got to........... A deindex... Sam x TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO WITH SAM Why do you think you’ve been doing better overnight than the boats in the north? “Where I am is, there’s the Azores high pressure which is spreading out from the Azores, and we’re basically running away from the high pressure as it spreads out, so we’re not in any risk of being in no wind. We’re right on the big curve of the high pressure, the curve as the wind turns from the easterly trade winds to the southerly winds that are associated with the next low that’s coming along. Basically because I’m nearer the south I’m nearly hooked in to the trade winds which are stronger and more east[in their direction]. So I have a better angle of the wind and greater strength. BOSTIK and CREDIT MARITIME-ZEROTWO are nearly there but they are just right in the curve so the isobars are further apart where they are and they’ve just got lighter winds for the moment.” How long do you think you'll have the advantage for? “It’s difficult to tell, it’s stayed in my advantage for a while as far as I can see it. Maybe I have a biast opinion but it seems to me that the further south boats will do better because the further north you are the more you have the wind forward of the beam. CERCLE VERT will almost certainly be in the genoa when I will be in the spinnaker which can only be a good thing for me! The winds are going to be a little bit stronger if I’m further south...until we get to this cold front which is going to pass in 3 days time and then that’s going to be interesting. Every model I get shows a different thing happening on the cold front so it will be really close to the time to try and pick the passage through keeping the most wind. Then the guys in the north could come out with the luck of the draw." You seem to be having the best sailing conditions so far in this race… “It’s fantastic, we’re so lucky! It’s brilliant and fast with spinnaker up! Thank goodness for the decision of the class Bénéteau Figaro (which I was actually a bit against) to allow an asymmetric spinnaker. Basically since 3 days out from St.Nazaire I’ve been under asymmetric sail all the time. And the sail I have which is made by North Sails France, was designed with our consultation (me and Gildas Morvan (CERCLE VERT) who is also with North Sails). We told them we wanted a spinnaker that we could use for when we’re in our bunk and it’s just that. Even when I did my 24 hour average of 10 knots, 4 hours of that I was actually in my bunk properly with the blanket over. Not 4 hours a once but in various spots. The sail in so much more stable than a normal spinnaker.” Usually in a Figaro race you spend most the time at the helm? How are you managing in this race? “I have been steering a lot because I love it - it’s such fun. As soon as I get off the phone in a minute I’ll be out on the helm because it’s just great, hooning along and surfing down the waves. Also with the big waves you can get a bit more speed because you don’t collapse the spinnaker so much. Sleep and being able to make good decisions is so important though. I think if you are well rested and you have a sensible head on rather than a tired head on, it‘s a lot easier to see situations clearer and to make decisions. Some decisions you have make from quite a long way out, so I’ve decided to take the strategy to push the autopilot a little bit more than pushing me on the helming. Having said that, I’m not helming too much right now…I’ve helmed so much because it‘s so much fun, but it’s all been on port gybe and now my right wrist is in absolute agony! If I helm for any length of time then it hurts too much. I’m not very good at helming left-handed on port gybe, I can do it but it’s not the same. So I’m trying to restrict my self a little bit to try and make my hand better so I don’t end up with only one usable arm at the finish!” How many hours a day are you steering for? “I try and steer for as many of the daylight hours as possible because it’s obviously easier steering in the day, than in the night so the I can do things at night in the dark. I don’t know really, because in the day we have to do our vacation radio, get the weather forecast and eat but I would have thought a good 6-8hours.” This is quite a long race, having already sailed just over 2000nm you have another 2250nm to go. How are you enjoying this compared to other Figaro races? “It’s completing different but I am enjoying it, I kind of thought I would but I wasn’t sure because it’s been ages since I’ve done a long solo race. I’m almost enjoying it a lot more than I expected. I’ve fully got in to the rhythm. I thought I’d be a lot more stressed than I am. The AG2R (double-handed transatlantic race last year with Jeanne Gregoire) was a really stressful race and I think it was because we were in the lead right at the beginning and there was a lot of pressure on us all the time. This race I’ve been mid-fleet and it feels like there’s less pressure, well I’ve put less pressure on myself anyway.” Do you think that having done a Mini-Transat and the Transat Jacques Vabre you may have a better handle on the kind of pace a race like this needs, compared to the skippers? “I kind of hoped I would but these guys are pretty experienced anyway. They’ve done double-handed long races but never single-handed long races so after the Azores there were a lot of people very tired and not being able to make decisions because they were too tired and confused. I had one morning when I felt like that but that was quite along time before the Azores but apart from that I’ve really felt on top of it!” What kind of weather are you expecting in the next few days? “Now I’ve benefited from the south it’s going to be a bit more complicated. There’s a depression coming across and it has a few funny little depressions off the end of it’s cold front, so we’ll have to see what happens and might have to work out how to positions ourselves for that in 3 days time.” Listen to the full audio from Sam at Audio/Video section of website Communications thanks to BT Broadband LATEST POSITIONS 1000 BST 14/4/05 (boat name / average boat speed /distance to leader) 1. BOSTIK / 6.8kts / 2209.1nm to finish 2. CERCLE VERT / 7.4kts / +12.1nm 3. CREDIT MARITIME - ZEROTWO / 6.8kts / +22.3nm 4. SKANDIA / 8.7kts / +39.7nm 5. AQUARELLE.COM / 1.0kts / +62.3nm 6. TOTAL / 5.8kts / +69.8nm 7. BANQUE POPULAIRE / 7.4kts / +76.6nm 8. COUTOT ROEHRIG / 7.7kts / +90.9nm 9. GEDIMAT / 8.9kts / +119.4m 10. ENTREPRENDRE AU PAYS DE LORIENT / 8.7kts / 182.6nm 11. ATAO AUDIO SYSTEM / 10.1kts / +185.0nm 12. LITTLE BLACK SHARK / 6.4kts / +197.3nm 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 : THRANE & THRANE Official Supplier of Satellite Transmission Equipment to Sam and the Offshore Challenges Sailing Team http://www.samdavies.com/tandt 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 Copyright © 1996-2016 - SEGEL.DE