Tuesday 11th december
Gliding Breeze
There has been a change in tempo at the head of the race with the passage of an Azores front propelling the leaders at over fifteen knots towards the goal.... The boats will be able to slip along in a good breeze for today and tomorrow with biting cold and headwinds scheduled over the last few miles. The setting for the chasing pack is rather different to say the least!
The vast majority of our fifteen solo sailors that set out from Salvador de Bahia twelve days ago have suffered various damage, which is proving more or less penalizing, spirits are still high though and not so far off satisfaction... This is mirrored by leader Loïck Peyron (Gitana Eighty) who has found the time to read whilst sailing downwind at high speed, bound for the finish: "We've had wind since yesterday evening but the night was pretty hectic with some squalls. I am downwind making good speed of between 15 and 17 knots. I’ve just opened my fourth book and I’m still barefoot down below on Gitana Eighty. It’s gradually getting colder but slipping along like we are now is always very pleasant... "
And for the fourth placed sailor in this Transat Ecover-BtoB, which is sailing its first race in solo configuration and is also discovering downwind sailing conditions with breeze on a 60 foot monohull, the pleasure of being at sea was palpable during the 1400 UTC radio session. Yann Eliès (Generali): "We’re slipping along and it’s really nice! I’m under gennaker and indexsail but I’m going a tad slower than the leaders, which is a bit annoying... They’re taking risks! The end of the course promises to be less pleasant but I love upwind sailing… Generally, there is always something that goes wrong at the end! As a result, it wouldn’t be surprising if we took longer to finish… We’ll only take fifteen days, which is already pretty exceptional. It’s a very rich learning experience too, whether knowing when to ease off the pace or validating the material. Other than the two headsails, which I know why they blew, Generali is in great shape. I have been prudent like all the shore crew and the architects and that is finally bearing fruit as the other boats may have been made too light. They will now be beefing their structures up a bit and making them heavier whilst we will be trying to save weight where it’s too heavy! In any case, I’m beginning to find the right trim for downwind sailing: it's the first time I've sailed in solo configuration under spinnaker. I’m confident in my machine... "
The big news today though concerns Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) who has experienced some troubles at the start to this week: "The worries are behind me as it all happened yesterday afternoon. After Santa Maria, I hoisted the gennaker in 15 knots of wind and as I went to check the trim to leeward, there was a loud noise and the bobstay had broken. I gathered up the pieces and managed to furl in the sail relatively well: I have no more bowsprit, so no gennaker or spinnaker to hoist. It's a very enriching qualifier for everyone and the return to the yard will enable us to extend the jobs' list... This race is proof it need be that qualifiers are important. There are various and varied problems but given the competition, you have to push the boat. And when you no longer have something, you learn to make do without it! "
In short, with the exception of Samantha Davies (Roxy) who has no sign of damage aboard her monohull, not a single solo sailor has been spared by this technical ‘illness’. Even Kito de Pavant (Groupe Bel) who had managed to contain the haemorrhage of his worries until now, has also been hit by the lack of a mast wand: "There is a bit of work on deck but I spent a quiet night without hoisting the gennaker and though I lost some ground, it’s not serious. I have no wand either... This morning, it was beginning to get pretty dicey at 22-23 knots and I am now down to one reef and solent but I’m going to hoist my staysail. The wind is gradually clocking round so we’ll end up sailing upwind in Brittany. I’ve got my mittens and scarf ready! I’ve more or less sorted out my technical woes but there are still a few left: the wand and automatic pilot are no longer coupled together. "
Logically the deficits will stabilize between the top five players, but they will have to manage a transition zone off Cape Finisterre which may change the tone, at least between the three leaders. For the chasing pack it's a slightly different picture: though the head of the fleet is surfing and slipping along as the pace picks up, those on their tails are labouring off Madeira and the Canaries. Solely Samantha Davies and Yannick Bestaven (Cervin EnR) are managing to make northing, the only way out of this high pressure quagmire to the South of them... They should benefit from the arrival of a new depression, which will pass over the Azores on Wednesday afternoon and in this way be able to make a direct course towards Port la Forêt at high speed: surfing at last!
For the rest of the fleet however, as much for Arnaud Boissières (Akena Vérandas) and Jean-Baptiste Dejeanty (Maisonneuve) as for Dee Caffari (Aviva), Derek Hatfield (Spirit of Canada) and Rich Wilson (Great American III), the wind is proving to be rather timid and if it deigns to show its face at all it’s not always in the right direction... This is particularly true for those with technical issues like Derek Hatfield: "Clearly I’ve had some trouble with the boat upwind. Today things are good though and the boat is doing fine. I have no use of my genoa or my forestay however and I've also got some issues with my automatic pilot. It’s a steep learning curve as it’s my first race on this boat, but I get stronger with each day that passes. It's a sunny day today, blue sky, 10 knots of E'ly breeze which is set to become N'ly soon and I’m making 7 to 8 knots of boatspeed. I'm trying to go as fast as I can and I'm on deck most of time, even taking my naps in the cockpit ready to react to the variations in the wind. Conditions are more comfortable now and my reasons for doing the race where to learn lots and get to the other side so this is all valuable. I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me and lots of new ideas on how to improve on things. I think it'll be quite slow for 24 hours unfortunately. "
Finally a little word from our two solo sailors who have sadly been forced to retire: Armel Le Cléac'h (Brit Air) is still labouring under jury rig to the Cape Verde islands, still over 300 miles away, whilst Mike Golding (Ecover), suffering from mechanical and electrical failure, is progressing slowing towards the Canaries. The arrival of the frontrunners at Port la Forêt is now forecast for midday on Friday, with a trio that may well have a few surprises up their sleeves to provide a close finish as they are but forty miles apart... For the time being they are slipping along happily in the breeze, enjoying their time on the water prior to the arrival of a cold E'ly programmed for the Bay of Biscay...
Quotes from the Boats
Sam Davies (Roxy): “Good morning from ROXY! The first half of the night was beautiful sailing, the wind was relatively stable and Roxy trickle along nicely, with only a couple of calm patches. Now it is a different matter, as the wind is decreasing and we are slipping along much slower. Looking at my track on Maxsea, we have just written an almost perfect "S"!!! Quite proud of my achievement on writing the first letter of my name, it is a little disconcerting however and I would prefer not to do any more letters!! The reason for the zig-zag is that what little wind there is, is very shifty and I have to choose the best course for each moment, trying to get the best VMG North as possible (as our "exit" from the calms is to the North.) This is painstaking work and I am on my toes to tack, change sail, keel, stacking.... whatever necessary to keep going forward! Luckily I managed an accumulation of nearly 5 hours sleep at the beginning of the night (a whopper!!!) so I am not too knackered, but if it continues like this all day it's going to be hard. On a slightly different subject, my flying fish mascot is still with me. "Godfrey" is the big fish with the very surprised expression that landed a few days ago on ROXY (I sent a photo.) For some reason, I couldn't throw him overboard and he has been keeping watch in the cockpit for me, with his big mouth, and one wing outstretched as ever! I have now become a bit attached to Godfrey and it's going to be hard to get rid of him! Happy Tuesday!”
Dee Caffari (Aviva): "2314hrs UT; Aviva GBR 111 ; Position 27 07.5N 27 05.1W; COG 349 SOG 5.2
An unbelievable day! Absolute rubbish! I spent most of the day going nowhere and it has been extremely frustrating. Twice I have got moving, a brief spell at lunchtime and then this is as fast as it gets at the moment. The top wind sped have seen in 8 knots and it flashed once, most of the time the instruments have read 1 and 2 knots of wind. I got to the point today where I no longer cared in what direction I was moving so long as I moved. A long and tiring day that looks set to continue throughout tonight as well. I shall have to go back on deck and do my wind dance again."
Rich Wilson (Great American III): "Yesterday was Doldrums revisited, little or no wind, shifty, rain from time to time. I even had a brief little northwesterly which contradicted the grib file precisely. In gathering wx data, I take the grib files, quikscat plus a host of static wxfax files, north atlantic surface analysis, 48 hour forecast analysis, 96 hour surface analysis, plus a 48 hour wind/wave forecast. Out of all this yesterday, there seemed a glimmer of hope that if I could get to the north, or actually NNW, and cross a challenging area between the abutting ends of two high pressure ridges, where there was likely no wind, and do it in time, I might catch the tail of the cold front of the huge low to the north. But crossing these types of zones is more up to getting luck and getting wind, than any skill. Anyway, off we went, the routing program agreed with the logic, and we'll see how it turns out. It's good to have a goal that you might actually be able to accomplish. The stars last night were spectacular, took your breath away how sharp and clear they were. And today, in the rainshowers, several full, end -to end rainbows, brilliant spectra of color."
Transat ECOVER B to B Ranking 18:00 (French time)
1 Gitana Eighty at 674.00 miles from the finish
2 Foncia at 45.10 miles behind
3 Groupe Bel at 57.50 miles behind
4 Generali at 136.60 miles behind
5 Safran at 161.60 miles behind
6 Cheminées Poujoulat at 305.50 miles behind
7 Roxy at 620.10 miles behind
8 Cervin EnR at 634.30 miles behind
9 Maisonneuve at 780.50 miles behind
10 Aviva at 887.90 miles behind
11 Great American III at 986.00 miles behind
NL Spirit of Canada
NL Akena Vérandas
Donwloads
Ranking details 11/12/07
on www.transatecoverbtob.com http://www.transatecoverbtob.com/
RADIO SESSIONS
As from November 30th and until the race’s arrival, radio sessions with the competitors will take place, daily, at 3:00 pm (french time).
These radio sessions will be broadcasted, live, on the race’s website every day a 3:00. www.transatecoverbtob.com
Rights free photos for non commercial and press use only - 10x15 cm max. Compulsory Copyright : V.Curutchet / DPPI
Kate Jennings
E-mail : katejennings@free.fr
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