Thursday 13th December 2007
Dear all,
Please find below the latest from Temenos as it approaches the Kerguelen Islands
of the deep south as well as the latest from the Transat Ecover BtoB.
Loick
Peyron looks set to win the race tonight from midnight UTC after a fantastic
performance. The interview of the top trio will be live on the site at 0930 UTC
all being well.... sadly the podium is likely to be 100 % French unless
something goes very badly awry ...which means it'll all be in French, but I
shall make a concerted effort to transcribe the press conference and provide the
translation on the English section of the website as soon as I can afterwards...
assuming the radio session link works!
Kind regards, Kate
A welcome wind shift
The past few hours of racing have been very changeable aboard Temenos II, author
of some great averages for the first half of the night, the second being much
calmer. Evolving beyond the 53rd degree South, in seas of 2°C, the risk of ice
from the 52nd degree omnipresent. Benefiting from a N’ly wind rotation early
this morning, Michèle and Dominique were able to gybe and are currently making
northing. The wind shift was forecast in the grib files and fell at a given
point, preventing the boat from continuing this dangerous plunge South.
As Michèle recalled at yesterday's radio session “there’s a point where you have
to know when to be reasonable”. Some would ask if it’s reasonable to take part
in such a race aboard these ultra-powerful machines. Indeed, it is for this very
reason that the risks are limited and virtual lines known as ice gates have been
established by the organisers of this course. The latter, which the competitors
have to leave to starboard, are aimed at preventing the duos from getting into
too much danger by adopting overly ‘austral’ routes.
Contacted at the start of the afternoon, Dominique who had just come back down
below after hoisting some sails, recounted the stresses of the past night. “It
gusted up to 40 knots in the first half of the night, the boat speeding along at
over 20 knots in the pitch black, and you have to put the risk of ice to the
very back of your mind."
We can nevertheless guess that such a fear must be very hard for the skippers to
forget when sailing along blindly in the black night, aboard a boat which is
pelting along. Though aboard everyone has a radar, which is a precious
surveillance aid, the visual watch reindexs an essential part of this lookout
process, especially when you know that the radars aren't able to detect half
submerged growlers.
“We check the radar every 10 minutes and we set the alarm to ring so as our
watches are very regular and we can scan the horizon, 6 and 12 miles ahead of
the boat.
The 2nd part of the night was a lot quieter. From midnight, dawn began to break
and a little later the wind began to drop off to 20 knots before shifting round
to the North. This rotation was forecast and that’s why we persisted with our
southing. That has enabled us to gain some ground and perform a fine operation.
We’ve gybed and we're making a bit of northing now as we have a better angle on
a port tack at the moment. The seas are still a little messy. There is a very
long W’ly swell which is fabulous, with some parasitic waves coming in from the
South. The boat is slamming a lot in the surf and it's hard to find a balance in
this sea so we end up on our side from time to time.”
This N’ly tack which is distancing the boats from the ice zone presents other
dangers as Dominique explained to us. Though the skipper’s short term strategy
already seems defined, the scenario at the approach of the Kerguelen islands
still harbours a few unknown quantities.
“We’re kind of getting to the end of the very regular air flow which we’ve had
until now, and the files are saying that we’re likely to have a few little light
patches over the next two days.
By making northing we’re closing on the high pressure zone and we’ll have to
gybe again before we fall into the calms, then again a second time to head
either to the South or North of the Kerguelen islands. All that reindexs to be
seen and after the Kerguelen islands things aren't very clear as there are
different files each day.”
Nocturnal Arrival
Loïck Peyron is expected to win the Transat Ecover BtoB tonight, probably after
midnight UTC. The victory of the skipper of Gitana Eighty no longer seems to be
in any doubt, but Kito de Pavant and Michel Desjoyeaux will finish very close
together, second place still up for grabs...
The three leaders are just hours from the finish line now off Beg Meil, NW
France: difficult to image a change in the situation at the head of the fleet
since Loïck Peyron still holds a 40 mile lead over his two closest rivals and
with around 20 knots of SE'ly in the Bay of Biscay, there isn't likely to be a
drop in the pace or any tactical options. Solely the last few miles between
Penmarc'h and Port la Forêt are likely to be a little slower with a 12 knot
E’ly. Not enough then to revolutionize the hierarchy which has been in place
since the doldrums! The scenario for second place is less obvious however: as
the miles have gone by, Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) has made up a few metres and
the ‘event local' is now just ten miles behind Kito de Pavant (Groupe Bel).
Whatever the outcome of this final sprint, the two solo sailors have a great
duel on their hands with their arrival planned for around daybreak on Friday...
Behind this triumvirate, the sailors aren't all celebrating as a result of
multiple technical problems, which are handicapping their progress. This was the
case for Yann Eliès (Generali) who is still without his large headsails for
crossing the Bay of Biscay: "Yesterday we were slipping along, today we're
freezing! Conditions are a bit like they were in the tradewinds, reaching with
20 knots of established breeze, but it’s much colder now of course! Yesterday
and last night were difficult because I could see the calm zone ahead at Cape
Finisterre so I was stressed all night. I think Marco even got a bit stuck
behind me. Right now I'm working my way across a line of cargo ships and looking
out for debris in the water. I've already hit something with the leeward rudder
3 hours ago so things are still pretty tense!!"... It was a similar picture for
Marc Guillemot (Safran) who is having to make headway with his keel locked along
its axis: "It’s okay: I’ve hit some new wind and I’m making for Port la Forêt
but there was a light patch off Spain. There was an option to make northing but
as I can’t move my keel and it meant ending upwind, I opted to cross this zone
of light winds: I’m not doing too bad... Safran is a great boat and this problem
with the keel will have to be looked into properly. I intend to share the
results with the other competitors for safety reasons prior to the Vendée Globe.
Life aboard has been good since the wind has kicked back: solent and one reef in
the indexsail, ballast tanks filled, chili con carne! We’re making headway... "
Though the frontrunners are keen to finish after fourteen days at sea, at least
those in the chasing pack have a battle on their hands, including British sailor
Samantha Davies (Roxy) and Yannick Bestaven (Cervin EnR) who are just a few
miles apart, the former having opted for a slightly more N’ly course now for
strategic reasons: "I'm having a great battle with Yannick Bestaven and I'd
really like to beat him. We haven't been on the same course since yesterday. I
opted to distance myself from the direct route in favour of what looks like more
wind to the North and sacrifice a bit of ground to Yannick. It was down to 50/50
feeling and there just happened to be an opportunity to gybe with a 20% wind
shift after the position black-out last night. With all this going on this was
the first day I’ve had problems finding time to eat. I'll have lunch in a minute
but I'm certainly not going to eat Godfrey (a flying fish that has been helping
Sam out in the cockpit for the past few days). He smells a bit ripe to say the
least! Right now conditions are perfect. 17/20 knots of wind, the boat surfing,
full index, big gennaker and staysail hoisted, blue skies, hot and sunny and I'm
still in shorts."... Echoing Sam’s thoughts, the Arcachon sailor (SW France)
confirmed how good their battle was for the motivation: “Sam and I have had a
superb fight on our hands since the doldrums. She had a 60 mile lead over me at
the time and I've managed to make up the deficit three times and then there's
always something that goes wrong, either weather related or mechanical. This
time is was my spinnaker halyard. 400m2 ended up in the water. I managed to get
it aboard and then I spent about two hours up the mast fixing the halyard, which
has left my body racked with cramps. I lost 30 miles but I hoisted the big
gennaker and am surprised to see that I’m back on her tail again. I’m really
happy and this all augurs well for the next stage. In fact the longer I am at
sea the longer I want to stay here!"
During the radio session for the public, organised at Port la Forêt between 1400
and 1500 UTC, the group in the middle of the fleet voiced a few personal and
technical concerns. Suffering numerous sail issues Jean-Baptiste Dejeanty
(Maisonneuve) indicated that he’d had to call upon the services of the race
doctor, Dr Chauve, following an infection of his wrist a week ago that has
caused his hand to swell up. Arnaud Boissières (Akena Vérandas) was more
affected by technical issues with the ‘plumbing’ aboard his 60 footer. At the
tail of the fleet, Derek Hatfield (Spirit of Canada), Dee Caffari (Aviva) and
Rich Wilson (Great American III) are all astounded by the light winds enveloping
them mid Atlantic, Rich referring to 1.2 knots of breeze at lunchtime, Derek
becalmed and Dee even afraid they were lost in the 'Azores Triangle' earlier
today. Thankfully the build of the brand new Owen Clarke designed Aviva has just
been completed in New Zealand today, which will doubtless boost the spirits of
the British heroine as she trucks gently homewards with her Canadian and
American chaperones, a likely finish on around Tuesday evening at the earliest.
Finally, Mike Golding (Ecover) is now just 50 miles from Tenerife and should
receive a tow in a few hours time to a port in the Canaries. The British legend
has been suffering from a total engine breakdown and thus no electricity for
nearly a week now...
An alert will be placed online this Thursday at 2100 hours UTC in order to give
a more precise ETA for the likely winner, Loïck Peyron. A press conference will
be organized in the presence of the three winners at 0930 UTC on Friday, live on
the internet, a translation of which will appear on the English site shortly
afterwards.
Quotes from the Boats
Dee Caffari (Aviva): “I’m lost for words, devoid of emotion and hang my head in
utter disbelief that this area of the Atlantic can be so calm. The infamous
smile was gone and replaced with tears of despair today. The sun shone, the sea
was blue and like a mirror. Not even a zephyr to be seen on the surface and
Aviva floated going nowhere all day and now, all night. I am without boat speed,
without wind, without forward momentum and without steerage. I haven’t got any
new ideas on how to make us move and am coming close to being losing my
personality. When everyone is in the same conditions you can deal with it better
as you know you are not alone, but I cannot believe that the others are
suffering like this tonight and I am now dreading the deficit in miles that will
be shown in the morning’s polling. Things can only get better for Aviva and me.”
Derek Hatfield (Spirit of Canada): "Hello from Spirit of Canada. Becalmed. Not
much else to say, catching up on indextenance, sleep and housekeeping.”
Rich Wilson (Great American III): “Becalmed again. 1.2 knots SOG. Venus
beautiful yet again in mirror calm.”
Kate Jennings
Expression.
P.O. Box 26,
Dartmouth,
DEVON.
TQ6 0YG
United Kingdom
+44 (0)7795 116699
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