Figaro Solo Transatlantic race 2005 17.04.2005 DAY 15 : SKANDIA IN 3RD AFTER REPAIRS ON SPINNAKER... Skandia is a leading provider of long-term savings and pioneer of the highly successful multi-manager investment approach. IN BRIEF: * SKANDIA SLOWS UP OVERNIGHT AFTER DAMAGING ASYMMETRIC SPINNAKER... * "I WOKE UP AND LOOKED OUT OF THE WINDOW I COULD SEE THE SPINNAKER FLAPPING AROUND..." * "IT COULD HAVE BEEN A LOT WORSE, PERHAPS IT WAS A GOOD WARNING SIGN...” * DOWNLOAD PHOTOS SENT BACK FROM SAM THIS MORNING OF SPINNAKER DAMAGE AND REPAIR... Spischaden weckte Sam Foto:Benoit Stichelbaut IN DETAIL: SKANDIA slowed up overnight and is back in 3rd position, after damaging the asymmetric spinnaker forcing a slow down due to not having the correct sails set. The webbing on the tack ring had completely ripped through, breaking the spinnaker away from the tack ring. This occurred in the early hours of this morning just as Sam had settled down to sleep, "It was really frustrating, it was the first time there were light airs and this was a great opportunity to sleep. It had taken me ages to go to sleep because I wasn’t used to the boat being so still and calm and I was worried I’d need to go and trim, or change something. I woke up and the boat was really sloppy...when I looked out of the window I could see the spinnaker flapping around!" Click here to see photo of the damage to the spinnaker. "After reflecting on various ways to repair the tack, I decided that the only way to pierce it with a needle in order to sew it back on was to use a hot needle. I made all my holes and then I sewed the webbing on. Then I made some bigger holes with a screwdriver and used some spectra to make a lacing as well to reinforce it. Two and a half hours later, I had finished. I don’t know if I’ve got enough stitching because making holes like that is quite time consuming. I wasn’t sure how many to do and I don’t know if I’ve done enough but we’ll see...” Click here to download photo of Sam and her repair (all images can be viewed in GALLERY on website). It's difficult to say how many miles Sam lost while sailing only with her indexsail and while she carried out the repair. At the 0300hrs positions Sam was 33nm behind leader Eric Drouglazet (CREDIT MARITIME-ZEROTWO). At 1000hrs his lead increased to 41nm but bearing in mind what had happened in those 7 hours, the 8 miles lost were minimal and Sam counts herself lucky. “I was thinking about that this morning and I was really cross. This is the first time I’ve been in a race when I’ve really felt like I can win. Things change when you get into the lead and you get greedy - you stop thinking reality and you start dreaming. It was a good reality check. It could have been a lot worse. It will make me take a lot more care between now and the finish. Perhaps it was a good warning sign...” SKANDIA has got her speed back now and is sailing along at 8knots. SKANDIA is currently 13nm behind BOSTIK and now 15nm ahead of Gildas Morvan (CERCLE VERT) in 4th. The conditions over the next few days are still looking unstable as the cold front passes over the fleet. The forecasts are inconsistent and finding the best route through is proving to be very difficult. EMAIL FROM SAM (0200HRS) BEFORE REPAIR Pants! I was sleeping - and it had been difficult to sleep because we were slower than the last few days and it took a while getting used to. Anyway, I woke up because the motion was different... I could see straight away that the spinnaker was not in its normal position. It was flapping around behind the boom, the tack point not any more attached. I immediately assumed that the sparcraft had popped open so I ran up to bring back the guy and re-connect it. When I got forward, I saw the problem: the sparcraft was still attached - to the tack ring, and the webbing had completely ripped through, to break the spinnaker away from the ring! This is a particularly annoying part of the spinnaker to break because it is practically impossible to repair effectively. This part of my spinnaker is so hard that I cannot get a needle through it. So, after many days work, the asymmetric finally came down and has been put to bed, and I am a bit disappointed (understatement) because it was a great sail - fast, easy for the pilot and easy for me! Luckily, tomorrow should show the wind head us more and more and it won't be long until we need to be under genoa, so I shouldn't loose out too much. I will also contemplate means of repair....... Apart from that, not much news, as we continue through the trade winds! It is getting hotter (I am boiling at the moment, having just run around doing spinnaker dances!) Things are looking really tricky ahead, as this low pressure / cold front will pass us. Each forecast shows something different and it is really hard to work out how to get through. (My "virtual races" with my Maxsea routing software produce a different winner each time!) I have to continue to study the grib files and the weatherfaxes to try to get a clear picture in my head. And finally, yes - I am really happy to see that Skandia got into second position today. It's going to be hard to hold onto I think! See you tomorrow........ Sam xx EMAIL FROM SAM (0700HRS) AFTER REPAIR OK, so it probably isn't a perfect job, but it is better than not having an asymmetric! After reflecting on various ways to repair the tack, I decided that the only way was to pierce it with a needle in order to sew it back on was to use a hot needle. So, 1 hour of slaving over the cooker and heating the needle for each hole (sometimes twice per hole) I had enough holes to sew the webbing back on. I also made some bigger holes with a screwdriver (hot too!) to make a spectra "lacing" as a safety...Two and a half hours later, I had finished. Then I went to put it up and the wind went forward! So it is genoa! But I am sure this windshift will not last and I will be able to try my repair shortly! Sam x TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO WITH SAM What did you first think when you saw the spinnaker? "It was just really frustrating ‘cause I had just gone to sleep. It was the first time it was light air and this was a great opportunity to sleep. I was lying there and it had taken me ages to go to sleep because I wasn’t used to the boat being so still and calm. I was worried I’d need to go and trim, or go and change something. Then I woke up and the boat was really sloppy and I thought ‘oh my god it’s really light now, well just try and sleep’…. Then I was thinking ‘no there really is something wrong you need to look’ and when I looked out of the window I could see the spinnaker flapping around and I just thought to myself, ‘how long has it been like that for’ because I had been asleep for about 40 minutes by then. It could well have been like that for 40minutes for all I knew, which is the worst thing. I hope that I woke up just after it happened with the change of motion but I don’t know. I couldn’t really see my track on Maxsea to see what I’d lost but I think I lost some miles then by just sailing along with indexsail up. I was really gutted because it was such a cool spinnaker, then I was cross! Something I hadn’t noticed before is that it looked so underdone there with only 3 pieces of webbing on a tack that takes loads of force. So I was thinking to myself, ‘why didn’t I notice it before and make it stronger? and why didn’t I asked North Sails to make it stronger?’. Then I just thought I’m never going to repair this, so I dropped it and put the big spinnaker up. The big spinnaker was just hopeless. So I realised I had to repair the asymmetric whether it was possible or not. I was working how to do it and not very hopeful, so I got my toolbox out. It’s really solid where the tack is, so to be able to get a needle through that is almost impossible. I was trying to think of ways to make some holes and I didn’t have a drill with me, so I couldn’t drill any holes. I looked in my tools to see if there was anything to make holes. Then I thought about finding the biggest needle, heating it up and putting a hot needle through – so I did that for every single hole. I heated the needle up until it was red and then put it through to make the hole. I made all my holes and then I sewed the webbing on. Then I made some bigger holes with a screwdriver and used some spectra to make a lacing as well to reinforce it. I don’t know if I’ve got enough stitching because making holes like that is quite time consuming. I wasn’t sure how many to do and I don’t know if I’ve done enough but we’ll see...” Your objective before the start of this race was to finish the race with SKANDIA in one piece. Has this changed slightly since you have been in the leading pack? “I was thinking about that this morning and I was really cross. This is the first time I’ve been in a race when I’ve really felt like I can win. I was concentrating so much on winning and being in front and I had stopped thinking about the fact that it isn’t just a race across the channel, to win you actually have to get there – in one piece. Things change when you get into the lead and you get greedy - you stop thinking reality and you start dreaming. It was a good reality check. It could have been a lot worse – it could have been the head of the sail blowing up and I would have to climb the mast to get it as well as fixing it. It was good and it will make me take a lot more care between now and the finish. So perhaps it was a good warning sign.” “It’s a really hard balance, especially with this fleet because everyone is so competitive. All the boats are identical so it’s really difficult to get any kind of advantage so to be conservative is almost giving you a disadvantage straight away. You have to sail in your rhythm. Earlier on in the race, the other guys were really, really tired - they pushed too hard and they were in front of me at the time. Maybe they pushed too hard because of that and I was in a better shape and managed to get around them and make better decisions. It’s a balance about your boat but also about you – keeping your head sane, not tired and stupid!” Listen to the full audio from Sam at Audio/Video section of website. Communications thanks to BT Broadband LATEST POSITIONS 1000 BST 17/4/05 (boat name / average boat speed /distance to leader) 1. CREDIT MARITIME - ZEROTWO / 9.5kts /1586.8nm to finish 2. BOSTIK / 8.3kts / +28.1nm 3. SKANDIA / 8.1kts / +41.5nm 4. CERCLE VERT / 8.8kts / +56.9nm 5. BANQUE POPULAIRE / 8.0kts / +105.5nm 6. COUTOT ROEHRIG / 9.0kts / +107.4nm 7. GEDIMAT / 7.6kts / +132.9m 8. AQUARELLE.COM / 8.4kts / +140.1nm 9. TOTAL / 8.2kts / +178.7nm 10. ATAO AUDIO SYSTEM / 78.0kts / +206.0nm 11. ENTREPRENDRE AU PAYS DE LORIENT / 9.3kts / 227.4nm 12. LITTLE BLACK SHARK / 8.3kts / +272.4nm 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 BANK OF SCOTLAND Official Business Partner to Sam and the Offshore Challenges Sailing Team http://www.samdavies.com/rbs 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 NOTES TO EDITORS * Skandia Set Sail aims to offer people more opportunities to participate in the sport on a broader level. Its objectives are to make sailing more accessible, grow the sport’s reach and enrich peoples’ lives through the sport. * Skandia's Set Sail portfolio is divided into three groups: events; teams and athletes. * Events include: the title sponsorships of Skandia Cowes Week, the world’s oldest and largest regatta on the Isle of Wight, UK (title sponsors for 10 years in 2004); Skandia Geelong Week in Victoria, Australia – now twinned with Skandia Cowes Week; the Skandia Brown Cup (the Scottish Schools Sailing Championship) and Skandia Cowes Youth Week, a leading international match racing championship. * Teams include: the Skandia Maxi, Australia’s biggest ocean racing yacht and line-honours winner of the 2003 Sydney-Hobart Race. * Athletes include: Star class yachtsmen Iain Percy and Steve Mitchell and Sam Davies, the up and coming single-handed yachtswoman and her Figaro campaign. * Sail 4 Cancer is the official charity of the Skandia Set Sail programme www.sail4cancer.org * For further information contact www.skandiasetsail.com * Skandia in the UK launched in 1979 and is now one of the UK’s leading financial services groups providing pensions, investment and protection products through intermediaries in the UK and overseas. Creators of the multimanager approach, Skandia has teamed up with the world’s top fund managers to create a range of funds tailored for investors’ individual needs. * Parent company, Skandia Insurance Company Limited, is one of Europe’s oldest insurance companies. It has developed and evolved constantly over the years to reach its present position as one of the world's leading long-term saving companies with operations in over 20 countries and assets under management exceeding £56 billion (as at 31.12.04). For more information on Skandia Insurance Company Limited visit www.skandia.com * For more information on Skandia in the UK visit www.skandia.co.uk Issued by Skandia Life Assurance Company Limited. Registered Number: 1363932 England. Registered Office: Skandia House, Portland Terrace, Southampton, SO14 7EJ Authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. Copyright © 1996-2016 - SEGEL.DE