18.12.2007
A series of dismastings
Véolia Environnement’s return to the race was to be short lived. Setting out
from the Kerguelen islands less than 24 hours earlier, we learnt overnight of
the dismasting of the monohull in circumstances which were fairly similar to
those suffered by PRB and Delta Dore. This latest damage has left the fleet cold
but for the time being, with the exception of PRB, where an initial assessment
seems to be pointing to construction problems, the reasons for this series of
dismastings still reindex to be identified. This task promises to be uncertain
given that the crews have been forced to abandon their masts at sea in order to
prevent damage to the hull.
One thing for sure, the incomprehension was palpable when skipper Roland Jordain
was contacted by the race organisation this morning.
Aboard Temenos II, a better wind on the other tack and the creation of a zone of
calm below Australia have forced Michèle et Dominique to put a little southing
into their course by gybing overnight. Though the two co-skippers will be doing
everything they can to avoid sailing in strong winds so as they can preserve the
keel of their boat as best they can, getting stopped in high pressure was far
from the best solution for the duo either.
A short message was sent from onboard in the early hours by Michèle: "We’ve just
finished a gybe, the second of the night. With this cold you end up with numb
fingers every time. The quickest way I’ve found of warming your hands up is to
light the stove and pass your fingers over the flame, being careful not to get
too close to it all the same!
We have dropped down to 53° South, and have lost the few little degrees we
gained yesterday. The water, air, man, everything gets cold very quickly as soon
as you head towards the Antarctic.
On port tack, we have the damaged side of the keel exposed again. For the time
being it looks relatively stable, but it’s difficult to measure to the nearest
millimeter as there is permanent spray over that area. I'm avoiding thinking
about it too much but I must go and take a look at it about ten times a day, and
I see Dom doing the same, without referring to it any more than me…
Tonight, we learnt about the dismasting of Véolia Environnement. We feel
vulnerable but in all honesty we really are out here. Apparently it looks like
they’ll be able to assemble a jury rig, but the route will be a long one for the
injured boat and its crew. Our thoughts are with them..."
Since last night, the little front seems to have made off without Temenos II,
marooning the monohull in an easing breeze. Contacting the boat at the end of
the day, the French sailor had this to say: "The wind is dropping off, we’ve
only got 15, 20 knots, and a few little spells with 25 knots but they are
becoming increasingly rare. We’re making northing again now, but with our keel
issues we want to avoid ending up too far South during the passage of the
depression. The heading isn’t very good on this tack, so we’re certainly going
to have to gybe again. The depression is losing a little of its power as it
moves forward, the goal is therefore to try to make headway as quickly as we can
but with the wind right on our tail, we're not really managing to get free of it
very quickly.”
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