12.11.2007
You had to have nerves of steel
to attend the launch of this first edition of
the Barcelona World Race and above all really keep your cool to take the start!
In the minds of the skippers questioned today though, all still visibly caught
up in the intensity of these first hours of racing, the send-off was well worth
all the effort.
For Michèle contacted early this afternoon, “the start was superb, it was a
magnificent sight! We really enjoyed setting off on a race in this manner.”
By all accounts, if you go by the vast number of spectator boats out on the
water, this young race, for which this is the first edition, already has an
appreciative following. The nine participating monohulls set out through a
veritable forest of masts and hundreds of spectator craft, which they had to
weave their way through with great dexterity as they proceeded with the little 2
mile coastal section, against the imposing backdrop of the city of Barcelona.
As forecast, the sun was shining and a light S’ly breeze not exceeding 10 knots,
waited until the race kick-off at 1300 hours to fill in. Perfect timing!
Aboard Temenos II, Michèle was concentrated on the helm in order to make the
monohull slip along nicely, despite the large amount of chop kicked up by this
unusual concentration of craft. The only little shadow over the proceedings came
with the 0500 hour contact with Dominique this morning who spoke of "several
issues with filling the ballast tanks" as they made for the Sitges mark. The few
minutes lost here were enough to irritate the tandem, but it was quite a
trifling issue on the scale of a round the world race.
From the Sitges mark, two options clearly emerged within the fleet, leaving the
islands of Majorca and Ibiza to port by hugging the Spanish coast, or skirting
around the outside. The latter option proved to be the favourite for the
majority of skippers, including Michèle and Dominique.
Although the supporters of this last option seem to be benefiting from the best
conditions right now, we’ll have to be wait a while to see how things pan out.
Light conditions are definitely settling in on zone in accordance with the
previous day's forecast. Michèle confirmed “there is a large area of high
pressure without wind ahead and it’s very difficult to work out which way it is
going as the grib files don't all agree with each other. What is certain is that
we’re in a system where the winds are easing, but we don’t really know with
which sauce we're going to be swallowed up!”
The 18 skippers will have to deal with these baffling conditions for a few more
days yet. Some boats are making the most of this though and saying that the
Mediterranean sun will make up for it!
.
At the 1500 hour ranking local time, Temenos II was in 5th position, 10.9 miles
from the leader PRB.
Kate Jennings
Expression.
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