Transat Jaques Vabre 2007 von Le Havre nach Bahia - Start 3. November 2007 www.jacques-vabre.com - www.transatbtob.com - Übersicht 12.11.2007 PRESS RELEASE OF THE Nov. 12 07 The Cape Verde Islands could change everything in the next 48 hours The weather simply can’t make its mind up, and the advertised wind just isn’t there. The result is that the payoffs of the various options open to the fleet are less clear now than they were. To the east of the open ocean, just a few cables behind Foncia, Groupe Bel and Gitana Eighty, Cheminées Poujoulat is betting on the easterly track. Ecover and Safran are leading in the centre, whilst VM Matériaux has struck west… The situation is as complex as it is enthralling. The organisers of this year’s Transat Jacques Vabre could hardly have dreamed of a scenario as tightly contested as this. As the fleet approaches the Cape Verde Islands, the status quo is once again in the balance, and the cards are due to be reshuffled for a totally new hand. In the centre of the leading group, Mike Golding and Bruno Dubois on Ecover have snatched control from Marc Guillemot and Charles Caudrelier on Safran. Kito de Pavant and Sébastien Col on Groupe Bel, in company with Loïck Peyron and Jean-Baptiste Levaillant on Gitana Eighty, have put some east into their southerly track to pursue Michel Desjoyeaux and Manu Le Borgne on Foncia, who are trying their luck closer to the coast of Mauritania. ATAO 40 Foto: Mochet Marcel/AFP Safran Foto: Mochet Marcel/AFP At the other extreme, 250 miles further west, Jean la Cam and Gildas Morvan on VM Matériaux are putting their money on the open ocean option. Bernard Stamm and Tanguy Cariou on Cheminées Poujoulat are slightly behind the leaders, and have also been tempted to try an easterly attack. The weather bulletins suggested more wind nearer the African coast, but the reality is not as forecast. The expected northerlies simply haven’t materialised, and the windward members of the fleet have found at least as much air as those who have opted for the east. Running downwind under around ten knots of breeze, Bernard Stamm is wondering what to do next. "We expected a lot more wind off the Mauritanian coast, so these light airs are a bit of a surprise. We haven’t had the wind strength we’d have liked, but the angles aren’t bad, so the outcome is OK. The weather we’ve had all the way from the start is very different to what we should have found at this time of year". The result is a lot of trimming and helming onboard Cheminées Poujoulat. Bernard and Tanguy are swapping duties very frequently to avoid over-exhaustion. And this state of affairs is likely to last for at least another 48 hours. "I don’t think there’ll be any great change in the order of the field by the time we arrive at Cape Verde. For now, it’s really a case of turn and turnabout at the front. If the wind changes, it will benefit one or other of the extremes. If it doesn’t, those in the centre will do better". The Cap Verde group, which could prove to be the pivotal point in this eighth Transat Jacques Vabre, should be reached by the leaders within the next few hours. In the same way as the Canaries, the relief of the islands will favour some boats and impede others… Copyright © 1996-2016 - SEGEL.DE