06 February 2008
Temenos
Long live the high pressure!
Decidedly the tradewinds of the Northern hemisphere are finding it difficult to
get their bearings, Michele already announcing a fairly shifty air flow
yesterday. The situation has continued to worsen however over the past 24 hours.
With the wind going from 8 to 25 knots in the space of a few minutes, with 50
degrees variation, we can well imagine that aboard Temenos II now is not the
time for calming things down.
On the other hand, in contrast to the wind, the seas aren't in the slightest bit
hesitant as they hold onto their tradewind standing. High, breaking seas are
putting a lot of pressure on the boat; striking the gear a severe blow, which we
can guess after 88 days of racing, must be the object of a great deal of
attention from the crews. Dominique didn’t seem to be too worried about the boat
during today’s viseo-conference though, which he deemed to be in good shape. We
can guess that the duo won’t be unhappy to be able to escape the demanding
conditions of this upwind sailing. This opportunity is likely to arise for
Temenos II from tonight, and it is at that point that the monohull should enter
into the high pressure zone. This same zone should once again enable Mutua
Madrillena to make up ground, but it should in turn make the seas flatter and
thus provide Temenos II and its two co-skippers with some milder sailing
conditions.
“The night has been very laborious”, recounted Michèle when contacted at midday,
“we had less than 10 knots with all the sail aloft when the wind rose steeply to
26 knots. I was sleeping in the bunk. We had to move quickly as the boat was
over on its ear and we didn't know how much higher the wind could reach. I just
had time to get out from under the duvet and climb on deck without dressing, so
it was pretty full on. Barely had we begun the manœuvres when I got dumped on by
a big and very cold wave. It was a rude awakening!
Throughout the night we had some massive variations. The wind varied between 8
and 25 knots and 50° in direction. It was a real rush on deck. We passed from an
increase in wind force upwind to light airs downwind in the space of a few
minutes. We ended up having to take in a reef, shake it out, constantly
modifying the trim, the cars, the sheets, the ballast tanks, the daggerboards...
Nevertheless, the files gave us a steady wind so it must have been a local
phenomenon.
The seas are still built up, with each wave shaking the rig. Life aboard is
naturally more laborious. You have to cling on constantly and even making a
coffee gets complicated.
We should get level with the edge of the high pressure overnight. We’re
expecting the concertina effect to come into play again with Mutua Madrilena,
which will arrive with more wind behind and catch up with us, but there’s
nothing we can do. For the time being we must negotiate the passage across the
high pressure. We’re right up to date with our grib files, though we know that
in the high pressure they’re not always reliable.
On the other side of the high pressure, we should be able to catch up with the
low, but it reindexs to be seen if we'll get the right side of it and hit some
downwind conditions. Nothing could be less certain given the grib files. It's
likely to be a close call and we may end up in upwind conditions instead.
We’ll see how it develops over the coming hours. In the meantime, we're going to
try to get through this high pressure and limit the damage.”
Kate Jennings
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