08.11.2005
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DAY 4: CHARGING SOUTH AFTER SURVIVNG SECOND MAJOR STORM….
IN BRIEF:
Open 60 Sill et Veolia skippers, Roland Jourdain and Ellen MacArthur ride out the storm but slip into second place behind Virbac
Open 60 front-runners now charging south at 16 knots of speed – surfing at 25knots!
Serious damage amongst the multihull fleets as storm-force conditions wreak havoc resulting in four official retirements – all crew safe
In the same weather depression, the trimaran <> on her delivery trip from New York saw 69 knots of breeze yesterday, her ETA is late afternoon tomorrow
“FULL ON SAILING IN A DIFFICULT AND AGGRESSIVE FRONT”
IN DETAIL:
Ellen MacArthur and Sill et Veolia skipper, Roland Jourdain, slipped into second place in the Open 60 monohull class at the 1100 GMT position reports losing the lead to French skippers Jean-Pierre Dick and racing legend Loik Peyron on board Virbac-Paprec. Losing the lead was only a minor implication to the storms that have lashed the 34-boat Transat Jacques Vabre fleet with devastating effect especially in the ORMA 60 multihull class. MacArthur described the ‘sea state as horrible’ with squalls of up to 44 knots. In conditions like these, it is a matter of survival and even the most simple of tasks can become a mammoth feat. Living inside a washing machine would be an apt description compounded with howling winds that makes communication between the sailors almost impossible. But spirits onboard Sill et Veolia reindex upbeat as the Open 60 front-runners with only a few miles of separation, charge south at speeds of 16 knots – surfing at 25 - battling to regain the lead as the hard upwind slog changes to fast-paced broad reaching. At 1500 GMT this afternoon Sill et Veolia is nearly level with Vigo, approximately 100 miles off the Spanish coast. The 20-25 knots of north-westerly breeze will continue rotating into the north as the day goes on due to the Azores high located in the west, and by tomorrow MacArthur and Jourdain will be experiencing the more comfortable and fast conditions of the north-easterly Trade Winds off the Portuguese coast - it is now a case of holding their nerve in the fast downwind conditions to see who can gain the edge. And with only 14 miles separting Mike Golding’s Ecover in third, Sill et Veolia 4.5 miles behind Virbac-Paprec no one is going to give an inch.
Four ORMA 60 multihulls (Sodebo, Foncia and Orange Project and Brossard) have officially retired from the 2005 Transat Jacques Vabre race after suffering serious damage. An extremely rough and short sea state caused by the high winds combined with the sudden depth change of the Continental Shelf west of Ushant produced up to 7-metre waves that saw Sodebo lose her port hull and dismast and both Foncia and Orange Project capsize. All crew are now safe on board rescue ships. Other damage reported included 50ft multihulls Victronix and Branec, and the Open 60 Galileo with a broken boom.
For latest information, please go to http://www.jacques-vabre.com
Coming in the opposite direction to the Transat Jacques Vabre fleet, the 75ft trimaran <> is nearing the end of her delivery trip from New York and yesterday, boat captain, Loik Gallon reported to the short team that they had seen 69 knots of breeze from the same depression that swept over the Transat Jacques Vabre boats. <> is expected to arrive back in her home port of Cowes, Isle of Wight, late tomorrow afternoon and Gallon and his three crew will be very relieved to arrive after a full-on delivery across the North Atlantic.
Latest news on http://www.teamellen.com
EMAIL FROM ELLEN (1200 GMT, 08.11.05)
Well, Bilou (aka Roland Jourdain) and I are pretty tired and wet, after a night with winds to 50 knots. We were quite shocked to hear of the multihulls this morning and I hope that everyone is safe and gets in ok. The front was very aggressive and difficult to predict last night. This morning when we thought we were through the worst of it, we had a squall of over 44 knots, our boat speed was fairly high at that stage and the sea state was horrible. Once again, we have slept on the floor and now the NW wind is in the air is much colder. We can't have had more than a couple of hours of sleep between us last night, but the ambience on board is great which is massively uplifting! Both this morning and last night we had very funny moments. Last night, during our tack in 35 knots of wind, we were up in the forward sail locker which is like a big cavern with sails up to two or three times my size! The seas were big and confused, and there was a moment when Bilou flew from one side of the locker to the other then back again - I swear he had no control over his movements! I had just woken from a doze, and it was so comical I thought I should have been hallucinating!
Also, this morning when we were surfing in a squall, I'd just managed to make us a cup of tea and a honey crepe each (which was quite a challenge as I had to hold the kettle on the cooker!). There were several moments with so much spray that Bilou had to hide his crepe under the cuddy - Bilou then said that we were surfing at about 25.5 knots, he then calmly added that we must have some current under us! I laughed so much at his unexpected comment that I spat out my tea everywhere! Luckily, in a cockpit with waves flooding over it every few minutes it didn't need much clearing up! There are many black based high cumulous clouds around, and we are still experiencing winds over 35 knots. It's pretty full on sailing.
Signing off from E and B.
OPEN 60 RANKINGS 1500 GMT:
1. VIRBAC-PAPREC / DISTANCE TO FINISH MILES 3699.6
2. SILL ET VEOLIA / + 6.2 MILES
3. ECOVER / + 15 MILES
4 SKANDIA / + 32.6 MILES
5. BONDUELLE / + 38.4 MILES
FOR LATEST POSITIONS CLICK HERE
PARTNER OF THE DAY: MARLOW ROPES
Official Rope Supplier to Ellen and the Offshore Challenges Sailing Team
http://www.teamellen.com/marlow
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION LOG ONTO: http://www.jacques-vabre.com
For further information, please contact Offshore Challenges Sailing Team:
Lou Newlands or Lucy Harwood
T: +44 (0)870 063 0210
E: lou.newland@ocgroup.com or lucy.harwood@ocgroup.com
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