28.02.2005
ORANGE II WILL STOP IN TWO DAYS...
Since its accidental encounter with an orca at the end of yesterday, the
maxi-catamaran Orange II is continuing its course towards the NE while awaiting
a sea and wind state that enable it to come to a standstill and make a general
inspection of the boat. The index focus of Orange II’s skipper is to send down
a diver under the hull to inspect the damaged rudder. According to Yann
Penfornis, the boat’s architect : "the impact on the port rudder has provoked
delamination across a 30cm area on the leading edge of the rudder. It is the
outer carbon skin which is peeling away, so there is no major concern for the
moment. The rudder is unlikely to split in two as it made from a single piece
of carbon. However, the second carbon skin must not then begin to delaminate.
As a result I am moderately optimistic".
Several solutions are open to Orange’s crew: Work directly on the rudder and
carry out the lamination of the zone of impact, underwater. Or remove the
rudder, lift it onboard, repair it and then put it back in place. This second
solution is not the one retained by Bruno Peyron in principle, as the skipper
is seemingly more in favour of an underwater repair. Answer in two days...
For the time being, the giant Orange II is continuing to rack up the miles with
an average of 25 knots whilst sailing on port tack, thus putting the stress on
the starboard daggerboard and rudder. The damaged rudder is not under any
stress at present as a result.
Extract from today’s radio session with Bruno Peyron and Bernard Stamm :
The impact: “There’s nothing we can do while the sea isn’t calm. The zone of
calms is forecast in two days. We really hope the rudder will hold until then.
We have noticed that the top skin has come away and that the fences have
disappeared too. We cannot see if the second layer of fibre is coming away or
not. Everyone is keeping a permanent eye on it. We have some resin that sets
in the water so we can make repairs underwater. If we decide to dismantle it,
we know how to do that too but to get it back together again it would need to
be very, very calm. In the open sea, it is never very flat. If we could avoid
this manœuvre, it would be much better. We have virtually gone round the world
on starboard tack and in two days we will need the port rudder. As a result we
are focussing our attention on an underwater solution as soon as we can bring
the boat to a stand still.”
Eight and a half day lead over Fossett : “We will certainly go slower, though
for the moment we are still going well as we are not using the damaged rudder.
We have an eight and a half day lead over Cheyenne and that should increase
further still after tomorrow. The boat is structurally intact. The crew is
well even though we are tired. Though this problem may slow us up, it won’t
prevent us from getting to the end. It’s going to take more than that to stop
us! In 1993, we hit two whales with an exploded daggerboard in the same place,
and that didn’t stop us picking up the Jules Verne!”
The injured orca: “You’ll have to tell the children that it must have a big bump
on its head ! The rudder is half out of the water the whole time and you can
clearly see the traces of it where it is deformed and the impact at the front.”
Mentally : “We’re all very well. The level of experience aboard is such that
everyone has seen other moments like this. At the time you react without
speaking, without losing time. The observation was unanimous and at the same
time. The general feeling is that it was a good thing. In the iceberg zone,
we managed to get through it intact, in the seaweed zone, we got through
unscathed too. We’ve had sail damage and now in we’ve hit something. We
consider ourselves lucky that it was an orca weighing a few tonnes and not a 30
tonne whale...You have to find the positive things in these situations!”
Fatigue : “We’ve all felt a bit tired since yesterday. We haven’t stopped since
the Horn. We’ve had 40 knots of wind and squalls of up to 50. There is an
accumulation of physical and nervous fatigue...Looking back, we see that we’ve
been flat out since the start. Normally we make long trip with transition
zone. Here though, we’ve swallowed up the transition zones without losing any
speed. It’s a different level of fatigue to when we hit the Southern Ocean.”
ETA at the equator : “In three days time, we will continue to use the lift from
the depression which is the same as we have been using since Australia. We
will continue to use it for two more days as it leads us under the horn of NW
Brazil. After that, we enter a transition zone before picking up the classical
trade winds again. We are lucky to be able to use this air flow and it will
enable us to gain an extra day over Cheyenne over the coming days. The offspin
of that is that we can give an ETA at the equator of 5 February at 2300 GMT.”
Bernard Stamm : “The index worry was knowing whether we had broken material or
not. When we can see it, we look to check if there is anything missing and if
we can feel anything different when helming. It seems fine though. We’ve
eased off the pace a little but that’s due to the sea state. We are in an area
with a lot of current and messy seas and it’s impossible to go through it at
high speed. There are a few of us aboard who know a fair bit about composites.
Personally I was a little misfortunate during the Around Alone when I hit
something that began to delaminate the hull. I think we’re just going to need
to put a new skin on top to stop it haemorrhaging with the resin which works in
the water. We can easily do it, even in the open sea or in a place where there
is less wind and we can bring the boat to a stand-still.”
Day at sea : 36th
Date : 28/02/2005
Time (GMT) : 1110
Latitude : 38 34.44' S
Longitude : 47 01.60' W
Instantaneous speed : 27.3 kts
Instantaneous heading: 16
Average speed : 27.4 kts
Speed over 24 hours : 22.6 kts
Distance over 24 hours : 543 nm
Speed since the start : 23.9 kts
Over distance : 20102 nm
Distance reindexing : 5806.90 nm
Gaps on day 35 :
- J.Verne Record : +3975 nm (ahead)
- Outright record : +2854 nm (ahead)
-------------------------------------------------------
Trotz Ruderschaden: Orange 2 Continues its Course
The maxi-catamaran Orange II is continuing its course and its round the world
Jules Verne Trophy record attempt, despite the violent impact last night with a
sea creature.
An inspection of the damage has revealed some delamination across thirty
centimetres of the leading edge of the port rudder. Orange 2 hit a sea creature
at full speed, 30 knots, shortly after 1700 GMT last night. “It was a very
violent impact, a bit like when you run up on the sand or hit a rock. We
immediately saw a fin in our wake, probably that of an orca or a whale” says
Bruno Peyron. The immediate danger is that the rudder is continuing to
deteriorate as it opens up at the front. Yves le Blevec, onboard specialist in
composite materials, is making numerous exchanges with the Multiplast yard so as
to envisage any possible repair solutions. Given his comfortable lead, Bruno
Peyron has decided to slow up the pace, while waiting for the outcome of this
exchange: “We’re not forcing the boat along anymore. We’re sailing with the
boat flat so as not to put too much stress on the damaged appendage”. The
rudder on a maxi-catamaran like Orange 2 is an enormous piece of composite
measuring over 3.50 metres, including the rudder stock. Removing it and then
replacing it after lamination in the middle of the ocean is a major operation.
“We are ready for anything” affirms the skipper. Our record attempt continues.
The key word is vigilance in order to quickly detect any increase in vibrations
at the helm. Orange 2 will try to optimise its trajectories more than ever
before, by tracking down the most favourable angles to the wind for sailing
quickly without putting too much strain on the “injured” rudder. Peyron is
waiting for the sea and wind state to calm down over the next 48 hours to
decide on a possible intervention on the damaged appendage, as the climb up
towards Ouessant and the finish line will be made predominantly on starboard
tack. Bruno Peyron: “The good news is that had we hit something harder like a
container, the damage could have been very considerable. We have suffered no
structural damage. Unfortunately the climb up the Atlantic must be made on the
damaged tack. Though we must continue to hobble along on this record attempt,
our lead is sufficiently comfortable that we don’t feel it is in danger. It’s
the sport that is in danger in the sense that we are no longer able to sail
with the intensity we would have wished.”
|
