25.11.2007
‘Hypnotic' sessions on the helm
Leader of the fleet, Paprec-Virbac was the first today to penetrate the inter-tropical convergence zone, as confirmed by the 1300 hour ranking. Normally a zone feared by sailors, there nevertheless seems to be a certain feeling of relief amongst the skippers in the Barcelona World Race at the idea of bringing these long, demanding sessions at the helm to a close. Questioned at midday at the point of attacking the umpteenth watch rooted to the helm, Michèle joked: “we’re certainly going to get a certain pleasure from putting the spinnaker back in its bag!”
Still under spinnaker in steady tradewinds, Temenos II and its skippers continue to be put through the mill. In already testing conditions, the heat fortunately doesn’t seem to be affecting Michèle and Dominique. “We have a permanent salt water atomizer on deck, and with the wind the heat is bearable.
Everything’s fine aboard, Temenos II is in good shape. We have performed a few little indextenance jobs, a small hydraulics leak, lashing adjustments to the transmission cable, nothing serious, which is fortunate as with the amount of time that we spend at the helm, the navigation and the weather to take care of, we don’t have much time for anything else.
We’re even avoiding making proper meals to prevent the person on the helm from spending to long on watch.”
The hours pass by but the rhythm aboard Temenos II hasn't changed a jot. “Coming off watch, we end up with the black from the neoprene on the helm incrusted in the lines on our hands" joked Michèle. The skippers are constantly on the helm and the weariness generated by these innumerable repetitions, has now given rise to the fatigue engendered by a heightened state of concentration and vigilance. “It requires a huge amount of attention. We luff and we haul on the sails as much as possible in order to go as fast as we can. In fact, it’s just before you're about to go over on your ear that you have the most speed. There is no margin for error, a wave on the beam can be enough to send you into a broach. When you come off watch it's like you're hypnotised. You go to sleep on your bunk and your brain has been stretched so much that you can't get off to sleep straightaway. You keep saying to yourself, I must sleep, I must sleep, but you can’t switch off for 20 minutes.
We’re in
a kind of secondary robotic state. Sometimes Dom and I cross paths without saying a word but our look says it all!”
The tandem is likely to have to endure these sessions at the helm for another few hours, prior to reaching the Doldrums. It will then be time to face up to the lines of squalls and flat calm, nothing very joyful on paper, but at least it will bring an end to this relentless routine.
|
