03.11.2006
Stubborn Automatic Pilot aboard TEMENOS
Whilst there are ideal weather conditions forecast for the multihull fleet, the
first of which may cross the finish line from next Monday onwards, the
situation for the Imoca monohulls seems to be taking a bit of a turn for the
worse. The arrival of a small depression may well influence the establishing of
the trade winds and certain skippers have already altered course to avoid this
eventuality.
Since yesterday, three options have opened up; Sill-Veolia is continuing to
position itself on a S’ly option, Brit-Air reindexs to the North of the fleet
and TEMENOS, Virbac-Paprec and VM-Matérieux are opting for a median trajectory
for the time being.
The pitfalls of the tricky and much feared Azores passage have failed to
materialize for the leaders in the Imoca fleet. Save for some inevitable
slowing on the approach to the archipelago, everyone has managed to avoid
mishap, though interestingly their trajectories have been very different.
71 miles from the leader at the 1600 hour ranking, TEMENOS is right up with the
action. Over the past 48 hours, a very satisfied Dominique has grappled back no
less than 44 miles from the head of the fleet and, as was the case this time
yesterday, the boat is the fastest of the fleet having covered 373 miles in the
past 24 hours…
After some crazy averages the day before, the fleet has been experiencing a
slight drop in speed. This reduction is relative though as, at the latest
ranking all the leaders were once again making fifteen knots of boat speed.
Contacted at 1600 hours the Swiss skipper, who had been experiencing some
problems with his automatic pilot over the past couple of hours, was revelling
in the delights of being bathed once more in sunshine; finally leaving the
greyness behind that had been an almost constant companion since the start.
"It’s a beautiful day. It’s lovely and sunny, blue sky with a few small cumulus
clouds and twenty knots of wind. The conditions are idyllic, save perhaps for
the sea. There is a good cross swell which is destabilising the trim of the
boat. It’s difficult to hold the speed. You have to stay at the helm, otherwise
you lose ground. You have to choose between sleeping and going fast! I have been
encountering a few problems with my index pilot, so I’ve switched its system over
onto the emergency pilot which appears to be working.”
Now that the Azores are in their wake, the skippers and routers will be able to
focus on which trajectory to adopt over the coming days. With three different
options and minimal separation, there is everything to play for!
At the 1600 hour ranking, TEMENOS was making 14. 9 knots of boat speed in 4th
position.
Kate Jennings
Expression.
P.O. Box 26,
Dartmouth,
DEVON.
TQ6 0YG
United Kingdom
+44 (0)7795 116699
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