Figaro Solo Transatlantic race 2005 18.04.2005 DAY 16 : SKANDIA IN 3RD WITH 1500NM TO GO... Skandia is a leading provider of long-term savings and pioneer of the highly successful multi-manager investment approach. IN BRIEF: * SKANDIA IN 3RD, 49NM BEHIND LEADER - LESS THAN 1500NM TO FINISH... * REPAIRED ASYMMETRIC SPINNAKER NOT YET TESTED... * SAM HAS FIRST SHOWER SINCE THE START, "I TREATED MYSELF TO 1 LITRE OF FRESH WATER TO RINSE!..." * DOWNLOAD PHOTO SAM SENT BACK THIS MORNING OF SKANDIA AT SUNSET... IN DETAIL: With less than 1500 miles to the finish, SKANDIA holds 3rd place, 49nm behind the leader. The fleet are heading down towards the Bahamas passage under genoa in a varying southerly wind between 7 and 20 knots, averaging speeds of 7-8 knots. Eric Drouglazet (CREDIT MARITIME-ZEROTWO) is still leading, 22nm ahead of BOSTIK in 2nd. Sam has increased her lead over 4th place Gildas Morvan (CERCLE VERT) to 20nm. David Raison (COUTOT ROEHRIG) moved up to 5th place overnight, now 94nm behind leader. SKANDIA spent the majority of yesterday under autopilot allowing Sam to spend some valuable time studying the weather and to decide on a strategy for the next few days, and for the next waypoint - a passage though the Turks islands of the Bahamas. She also took advantage of the stable conditions and managed to re-connect one of her solar panels, tidy up a few things, catch up on some sleep and have her first shower since the start two weeks ago! "The "shower" consists of throwing buckets of sea over my head! The sea is pleasantly warm (I didn't scream - that is normally how I judge the temperature). It was SO GOOD to wash my hair. John Frieda shampoo and conditioner - luxury. At the end, I treated myself to 1 litre of fresh water to rinse! Then I spent the rest of the day being really careful to not get a splash of salt water on my clean body!" After spending two hours repairing the asymmetric spinnaker in the early hours of yesterday morning, Sam has not yet had the opportunity to test it out. The fleet should pass through a cold front sometime later this evening, and after a few more hours on the breeze the wind should move more North - allowing Sam to test her sail repairs. However if the breeze shifts further, and more quickly after exiting the front it's more likely that she will set one of her two big spinnakers. The two leading boats now only have 1 of their 2 spinnakers after damaging them earlier on, "I’ve got two proper, nearly untouched, big spinnakers so I’m happy about that! I heard that Droug (Eric Drouglazet) and Charles (Caudrelier) have exploded one of their big spinnakers which is nice to know! We’re allowed to take two big spinnakers on this race so they will still have one but if you know you’ve only got one left then you probably won’t sail as fast as you would if you had two. It’s a psychological game…!” The cold front should pass over the fleet tonight/tomorrow morning bringing less wind, but Sam thinks she may have a small corridor with more wind, "It looks tricky for tonight but after the front, my path should "sneak" through and avoid the big patches of light air to the north and south of me. This could all change by tomorrow, so it is a lot about keeping fingers crossed too." The current ETA for the first boats to arrive in Cuba is the afternoon of April 26th, well ahead of pre-race expectations. CLICK HERE to download photo Sam sent back this morning of SKANDIA at sunset (all images can be viewed in the Gallery on http://www.samdavies.com/skandia). EMAIL FROM SAM (0400HRS) Hello Today was a nice break, but at the same time frustrating, as I know that the boats to the north would have had more wind than me and made gains (nothing I could do) We have been genoa reaching all day (I still haven't tried out my repair on the spinnaker) and at this angle, it is the pilot who steers best as he steers a very straight line (without getting bored or distracted!) So, I had the chance to use my time to do other things. I re-did one of my solar panel connections, I cleaned up inside (after last night's repairs) and I had a "shower"! The "shower" consists of throwing buckets of sea over my head! The sea is pleasantly warm (I didn't scream - that is normally how I judge the temperature). This was the first shower in 2 weeks (since the start!) and it was SO GOOD to wash my hair. John Frieda shampoo and conditioner - luxury (it works with salt water, contrary to rumours, just doesn't lather as much.) At the end, I treated myself to 1 litre of fresh water to rinse! Then I spent the rest of the day being really careful to not get a splash of salt water on my clean body! I also got some rest, because with the sail-making action of last night, I was lacking some sleep. These races are run on "almost empty" in the sleep department - you get just the bare minimum - so when you have a "crisis" that involves missing sleep, you are very quickly "in the red". Today was a perfect opportunity to top up my sleep bank. (I also managed to get a good few chapters of Robbie Williams in!) The rest of the day was spent studying the weather (over and over again) to work out how to get through the cold front, and watch the models evolve (the closer we get, the more accurate) to find the good passage through. Obviously, I placed myself south several days ago, so I need to try to make the most of this. At the moment, it looks tricky for tonight (less wind) but after the front, my path should "sneak" through and avoid the big patches of light air to the north and south of me. (This could all change by tomorrow, so it is a lot about keeping fingers crossed too.) I'm off to check the sail trim, rescue the flying fish that has just landed in the cockpit, and then get some sleep... Speak tomorrow... S x TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO WITH SAM How are you getting on? “Still on course, still reaching at the moment for another 6-8hours, black rain clouds coming through with some big wind shifts inside them, so that will be interesting. Actually I just did a high resolution model and worked out that in 9 hours time I will tack.” What do you expect to happen weather-wise today? “The way I’m looking at it – there’s a really small corridor of more wind, and I’m going to hopefully pass right through it which will be good. I lost a bit last night because I had less wind than the others and if I’m lucky I’ll have a bit more wind than the others passing through the front." What are the conditions like at the moment? “I have 20 knots of wind but it’s varying from 7 knots to just over 20 knots and there is some really big black rain squalls. They don‘t have lots and lots of wind inside them they’ve just got wind shifts and if anything less wind which is really disrupting to your sleep pattern, as I discovered all night! Every time I decided to lie down for half an hour, about 10 minutes later the boat came upright and I had to go up and trim everything and the last few as well it‘s been pouring with rain so you can’t just nip outside. You have to put all your kit on ‘cause I can’t stand being wet! I made a big error yesterday - I opened the side hatch next to the bunk where I’d been lying down yesterday afternoon. The breeze increased and I filled up the ballast tank. When you fill the ballast you keep it going so it flows out, so all the air comes out. So obviously that runs out straight down the deck, over the combing and straight through the window and in to my bunk, which incidentally also has my clothes bag underneath it, which was open! so double horror! Luckily I managed to get by, I’ve still got dry clothes so I’m ok!” Gildas (CERCLE VERT) is now heading up northwest, what do you think about his positioning? “Where he is the front is a lot less sharp and so he has to go round a big curve. Where it passes over us, it’s going to do a really big wind shift really quickly so we shouldn’t be deviating from our direct route very much. Maybe he’ s got more wind but I think he’s got to also cover more miles. Afterwards we’ll be at a better angle for the first downwind bit and he’ll be with the wind right up his bum and we’ll be more reaching.” How is it looking for the next few days? “It looks like there’s quite a lot of wind downwind so it will be very nice – more trade wind style sailing rather than tight reaching how we’ve been recently. I’ve got two proper nearly untouched big spinnakers so I’m happy about that cause I heard that Droug (Eric Drouglazet) and Charles (Caudrelier) have exploded one of their big spinnakers which is nice to know! We’re allowed to take two big spinnakers on this race, one extra than normal Figaro rules because it’s such a long distance, to allow for breakages. The extra one has to be a second hand one - it can’t be a brand new spinnaker so it depends which one they’ve broken. They will still have one but if you know you’ve only got one left then you probably won’t sail as fast as you would if you know you have two. It’s a psychological game…!” Listen to the full audio from Sam at Audio/Video section of website. Communications thanks to BT Broadband LATEST POSITIONS 1000 BST 18/4/05 (boat name / average boat speed /distance to leader) 1. CREDIT MARITIME - ZEROTWO / 7.9kts /1406.0nm to finish 2. BOSTIK / 7.9kts / +22.3nm 3. SKANDIA / 7.7kts / +49.9nm 4. CERCLE VERT / 6.6kts / +79.5nm 5. COUTOT ROEHRIG / 8.1kts / +94.1nm 6. BANQUE POPULAIRE / 8.1kts / +105.3nm 7. AQUARELLE.COM / 8.3kts / +128.7nm 8. GEDIMAT / 7.8kts / +128.7m 9. TOTAL / 8.5kts / +168.3nm 10. ATAO AUDIO SYSTEM / 8.5kts / +197.9nm 11. ENTREPRENDRE AU PAYS DE LORIENT / 7.9kts / 216.9nm 12. LITTLE BLACK SHARK / 7.3kts / +278.1nm 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 : SEEDA / COWES WATERFRONT Offshore Challenges Sailing Team UK Base http://www.samdavies.com/seeda 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