21 January 2008
Please find the latest release from Temenos below. In addition please note that
Groupama III is now on Code Yellow and still due to set off on the crewed Jules
Verne Trophy attempt in the early hours of 24th Jan UTC.
A tactical climb
For the past 3 days since Temenos II’s return to the Atlantic, the sun has been
continuing to pierce through the clouds. At 51°S, living conditions aboard are
far from tropical and Dominique recognized a certain impatience at the idea of
‘being able to remove a few layers of clothing’ during today's viseoconference
(see link below).
The battle with Mutua Madrilena continues, the two boats heading towards the
high pressure, which is barring the route off the coast of Uruguay, by adopting
different strategies and thus adding to the suspense of the race. Though Temenos
II is continuing to shift eastwards, the Spanish boat is now luffing and closing
on the direct course. The consequence on the ranking is that Temenos II, by
distancing itself from this route has conceded a few miles to its pursuer, but
for the time being the speeds of the two boats and the number of miles covered
are fairly similar. Whatever the strategy adopted, the two monohulls should be
severely slowed by this high pressure in around 3 days time, so the focus will
be on trying to be less affected than ones neighbour…
“It is still chilly” said Michèle earlier “the water is still cold. It fell
below 6° overnight, which must explain why the albatross are alongside us. The
seas aren‘t very big so sailing conditions are fine. There aren’t many changes.
We’re still close reaching in a wind that comes and goes. It is easing. We have
between 15 and 20 knots and we're trimming a huge amount in order to follow the
wind. We're not being worked too hard on the helm as the automatic pilot does
very well in these conditions and leaves us time to do the weather analysis.
There is a tricky zone off Uruguay with 5 knots of wind, if there's any at all.
This high pressure is on our course. We're hoping to have the benefit of the
wind being on the right to be able to cross the light zone at a point where it
won't be so wide. All this is a more or less long term forecast, so it’s not
always very reliable. We’re keeping a very close eye on the evolution of the
grib files, as when you see what lays in store for us further down the track,
you really feel the need to keep the pressure on.”
Kate Jennings
Expression.
P.O. Box 26,
Dartmouth,
DEVON.
TQ6 0YG
United Kingdom
+44 (0)7795 116699
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