25 January 2008
Day 76: Voices of the high seas
Day 76 of the Barcelona World Race... 76 days at sea, and 48th day of Paprec-Virbac 2's reign! Nothing stops the Franco-Irish team who, as underlined by Loïck Peyron - special guest during today's video conference - has "sailed remarkably well and displayed a very sharp sense of tactics." Loïck was joined on the phone by Roland Jourdain, back in Brittany after having had to pull out of the race when his Veolia Environnement dismasted. The two French skippers animated today's conference with the boats, while in Barcelona 26 school children invaded the race HQ and asked their questions directly to the Spanish entrants. Great atmosphere indeed on the air!
Jean-Pierre getting some well-deserved rest!
© Paprec-Virbac 2 http://media.barcelonaworldrace.com
"Oh Loïck, it's great to talk to you!", said a surprised Jean-Pierre Dick realizing who was on the phone today... It didn't take long for Paprec-Virbac 2's skipper to recognize the voice greeting him on the other end of the line - the two men won the Transat Jacques Vabre together in 2005, and Loïck Peyron has been part of the Design Team working on Paprec-Virbac 2's concept - his own monohull, Gitana Eighty, is in fact the sister ship of the boat currently leading the Barcelona Word Race. Asked if he had a plan regarding the Doldrums passage, Jean-Pierre replied "We're going to tackle the area in the west. The situation is a bit complex because there's a low pressure system building up there, but for now we're making good progress." Hugo Boss, who lost another 50 miles in 24 hours, is now lying some 869 miles behind, and Jean-Pierre spoke with confidence, envisaging a victory which would be "well deserved", according to Loïck, who stressed that Dick and Foxall had been in front since the start, sailing a flawless race.
Image
Roland Jourdain
© Vincent Curutchet/DPPI http://www.dppi.net
Joining the video conference in progress, a busy Roland Jourdain commented on what had happened for the team after his monohull was loaded onto a cargo ship in Australia. "There's a lot of work to do, we're concentrating on the new mast and on the list of improvements we put together while at sea. It's been very valuable, but of course I'd rather still be racing, and to be honest it's a bit painful for me to follow the race closely, I naturally regret to be out... But I know what's going on, and Im happy for the guys out there!" Talking with Dominique Wavre, Loick and Bilou reflected of the speed potential of modern monohulls, considering the recent developments in the duel between Temenos II and Mutua Madrileña (Dominique and Michèle managed to increase their lead by some 50 mies since yesterday). "It's amazing to see big gaps appear and disappear very quickly", said Loïck, "it says a lot about the potential of these boats". "They're close to what the multihulls could do a while back", added Bilou - and indeed, the raw power the IMOCA boats display allow for some very exciting racing, which is obvious in the match race between Temenos II and Mutua Madrileña. "It's a nice close fight", said Loïck to Dominique, "So much for finishing the race like a nice quiet honeymoon", joked the Breton skipper.
Great spirits onboard Educacion Sin Fronteras too, and Albert Bargués was very happy to speak with his good old friend Bilou... Albert having been Veolia Environnement's project manager. "Everything is great for us, there's nothing to worry about, we'll finish the race alright, we have plenty of food left: I'm sailing with a little bird, Servane hardly eats!" The little bird in question had nevertheless previously admitted she was starting to miss "cigarettes and a nice cool beer", among other pleasures, and was visibly very happy to speak with Loïck and Bilou, who definitely count as France's most respected sailors, and who probably have been her role-models when she was a child dreaming about long journeys at sea. "I don't know how you guys do it", she laughed, "I feel like I'm becoming a nun!" But the young sailor sounded positively thrilled, and one could easily read between the lines - no frustration at all in her tone, just the sheer joy of chatting with friends, whilst enjoying every minute of this first circumnavigation... Somehow, one had the sense, listening to Servane, that it definitely wouldn't be the last.
In Quotes
Domonique Wavre, Temenos II
"To be honest, I feel I'm more tired in this double handed race than during a singlehanded Vendée Globe. Two people on board is not some kind of enhanced solo sailing, it's closer to a downsized crew, we really push the boat like a crew would (...) We have a steady 12, 13 knots, but the wind is still shifty in direction so we're on the helm the whole time. It's a little tougher with the heat; we're getting fried by the sun. The pair of us are not far off consuming 10 litres every day and a half. We have air though and we're making headway so we can't really complain."
Day 76 - January 25, 16:00 GMT - Position report with distance to leader
1. PAPREC-VIRBAC 2 - Jean Pierre DICK / Damian FOXALL - 3096 to finish
2. HUGO BOSS - Alex THOMSON / Andrew CAPE - 869
3. TEMENOS II - Dominique Wavre / Michele PARET- 1874
4. MUTUA MADRILENA - Javier SANSO / Pachi RIVERO - 1985
5. EDUCACION SIN FRONTERAS - Servane ESCOFFIER / Albert BARGUES - 3192
Abandoned - VEOLIA ENVIRONNEMENT - Roland JOURDAIN / Jean Luc NELIAS
Abandoned - ESTRELLA DAMM - Guillermo ALTADILL / Jonathan MCKEE
Abandoned - DELTA DORE - Jérémie BEYOU / Sidney GAVIGNET
Abandoned - PRB - Vincent Riou / Sebastien JOSSE
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Watch 'The Barcelona World Race' online
The thrilling six-episode series, 'The Barcelona World Race', is now available online. Produced for television by leading production company Sunset+Vine-APP, the series is being shown by over 20 leading broadcasters around the world (for TV listing details, please see story in Featured News). A new episode of the six-part series will be available each Friday at www.barcelonaworldrace.org. beginning on 25th January. Don't miss it!
See the multimedia section at www.barcelonaworldrace.org www.barcelonaworldrace.orgfor all the latest photos, videos and audio clips from the race course.
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Lou Newlands
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