15.11.2007
A brain racking gymkhana ...
Some wind at last for Delta Dore. Zigzagging progressively towards Gibraltar.
In fourth position, 26 miles from the first competitor yesterday morning, on Wednesday, the green monohull was relegated to the 7th place with 92 miles separating them from the leaders 24 hours. As you can imagine the skipper of DELTA DORE was in a bad mood this Thursday morning on the phone ... Since the start of the race in Barcelona, DELTA DORE hasn't had an easy task. After having chosen to sail along the coast during the first night Jeremie Beyou and Sidney Gavignet stayed glued to it, unable to release themselves they seemed to be held back by a magnetic force. And yet, they put all their energy and tactical knowledge into breaking away towards the high seas. The windless areas that hinder their course were not mentioned on the weather charts whilst other competitors sailed on finding small windy places in zones in which the weather forecasters had announced no wind... It is impossible to understand and drives you crazy.
Jeremie and Sidney are giving it all they have got : taking turns at the wheel to make the most of each little breeze, concentrating on getting the sails right, the two men on board DELTA DORE aren't hiding their disappointment to see so much effort getting little awards.
Just like the others, they admit that this first part of the course is very complicated to negotiate with its' irregular winds.
Hopefully after passing the first gateway of the course, the Straight of Gibraltar, this afternoon on the 4th day of the race will give them something to smile about and bring back better moods!
Jeremy Beyou, on the phone at 12 h : « We have just found some wind at last. We tried to reach the middle of the straight but never made it although it was the only real way to get back into the wind. We had to keep what we could get in the way of wind and that was small gushes like the ones we had yesterday evening that enabled us to get some progress with the wind behind us. But this morning, there was no air what so ever; we had entered the intermediary zone whilst the others sailed on the wind. By the way Hugo Boss is still in it (n: they were sailing at 2 knots when they gave their position at 10h GMT). When we left Barcelona, we chose to sail along the coast; it was a choice now it's compulsory! We went to where the wind was. We fought all night to stay in the wind, gybe after gybe, keeping the wind astern although the waves were coming straight at us in a real boat breaking sea. Now we are sailing on the wind, but according to the weather charts the windless gaps should catch up with us... These gaps are moving around and are unpredictable and it doesn't look any easier in between Gibraltar and the Canary Islands. »
Classification on the 15th November 2007 at 6.00 PM GMT
Rk Boat Dist to Finish Dist to lead Vmg Lat Long Inst Speed Speed Dist24HRap
1 PRB23971,20,07,635 18.93' N7 41.99' W6,67,7183,8
2 PAPREC-VIRBAC 223971,50,38,335 33.53' N8 01.68' W8,17,6182,8
3 ESTRELLA DAMM24033,562,21,235 52.91' N6 34.93' W2,05,9142,6
4 TEMENOS 224044,673,43,135 55.14' N6 18.26' W4,35,5133,1
5 VEOLIA ENVIRONNEMENT24060,489,23,135 50.58' N5 47.67' W2,96,0143,9
6 MUTUA MADRILENA24062,190,91,335 51.32' N5 45.75' W1,96,6157,5
7 DELTA DORE24067,296,04,435 56.55' N5 41.88' W3,44,7113,7
8 HUGO BOSS24076,6105,46,636 00.25' N5 31.14' W7,54,7113,5
9 EDUCACION SIN FRONTERAS24158,7187,42,936 20.77' N3 51.90' W3,36,9164,6
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