07.01.2008
Temenos II awaiting the front
Contacted by telephone this morning, Michèle confirmed to us what we had
glimpsed in the day's first rankings. Temenos II has finally hit some wind, and
despite there still being a fairly substantial swell, which is knocking the boat
around a great deal, the monohull is managing to power along under large
gennaker. The NW orientation of the wind is at last enabling the two co-skippers
to gain southing, which they have been trying in vain to achieve since leaving
Wellington.
The first to have hit the front, Mutua Madrilena had reduced its deficit to a
little more than 100 miles, a gap which Dominique was anticipating when
questioned about this matter a couple of days ago. This trend should be reversed
as the front progresses eastwards.
Aboard Temenos II, the crew were impatiently watching for the arrival of this
front forecast during the course of the day. And it was in foulies, ready to be
called up on deck to go and lend a hand with the manœuvres, that Michèle was
preparing to get into her bunk.
“We’ve finally hit a little air. We have 17 knots, but this is set to strengthen
over the coming hours. The skies began to cloud over just before nightfall, and
the barometer is starting to drop. The past 3 days have been very tough due to
the lack of wind as well as the big swell, which has really been manhandling us,
the waves sending the boat over on its ear. The boat is canted over with a
tendency to round up. We spend our watches at the helm as the automatic pilot is
having difficulty getting the boat to follow the right trajectory. The swell
hasn’t calmed down yet. It should end up getting more organised with the arrival
of the front. We’re expecting around thirty knots of wind in the next few hours.
The boat is verging on having too much sail aloft, but we’re waiting for the
wind to fill in a little before reducing it. We're on the look-out, ready to
manœuvre.”
Kate Jennings
Expression.
P.O. Box 26,
Dartmouth,
DEVON.
TQ6 0YG
United Kingdom
+44 (0)7795 116699
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