7.Transat Quebec Saint-Malo 2008 www.quebecsaintmalo.com - Übersicht Monday, 28th July 2008 Atlantic regatta racing and oceanic tactics Mistral Loisirs – Pôle Santé Elior (Oliver Krauss) has taken the lead of the Class 40 fleet with a 20 mile lead The deficits are building 1,600 miles from the finish amongst the 40 footers Crêpes Whaou!, first multihull, positioned less than 1,100 miles from Saint Malo Following yesterday’s damage, Laiterie de Saint Malo is making towards the French coast by its own means. What a fine battle! In the North Atlantic, the fleets are in the middle of nowhere enveloped in fog and yet they’re racing as if they’re in a harbour. In steady winds in the open ocean, the 40 footers are contesting a race of rare intensity. Gefangen im St.Lorenzstrom Foto: www.quebecsaintmalo.com Right across the fleet, from front to back, the 17 crews are getting the very most out of their steeds; smoking across the water at the cost of some at times perilous surfing. Flat out under spinnaker. In the other categories, this 7th Transat Quebec Saint-Malo has also turned into a gliding session. Given the poor visibility though, vigilance is the order of the day. Still the overall leader, trimaran Crêpes Whaou! has eased off the pace slightly, a little scalded by the misfortune suffered by Laiterie de Saint-Malo, but envisaging an arrival in Saint Malo sometime between Thursday and Friday… A strange atmosphere reigns in the multihull camp. The damaged rudder suffered yesterday by Laiterie de Saint Malo (Victorien Erussard) has deprived Crêpes Whaou! of its biggest threat. Just over 1,000 miles from the finish, Franck-Yves and his crew are still keen to take victory however. Faced with the negotiation of another low, generating further downwind conditions, they hope to make the ‘pirate city’ from Thursday onwards. In the monohull category it is debatable whether the FICOs or Class 40s will be first to make the finish? After eight days of racing, seven of which have been at the mercy of capricious winds, often on the nose, to extract themselves from the Saint Lawrence, the first competitors in the 40 foot Class are still indextaining an infernal pace. The top players in the class are this Monday sailing virtually neck and neck with the leader of the FICO fleet, An Ocean of Smiles, testifying to a difficult night in 25 knots of breeze under spinnaker. Class 40s reminiscent of the America’s Cup Class … In the Class 40 camp, the Atlantic crossing continues at speed. This Monday, Mistral Loisirs (Oliver Krauss) is benefiting from his southerly separation to propel himself into the lead. At the 1300 UT ranking he had racked up a 20 miles lead over his closest pursuer Pogo Structures (Halvard Mabire). 55 miles further north, Télécom Italia (Giovanni Soldini), penalised by the loss of his medium spinnaker, has been crossing swords with Novedia Group  (Tanguy De Lamotte). These four boats are making headway within a 25 mile zone in relation to the finish. They have positioned themselves above all in view of the next developments in the weather situation. Between strategic deciphering and tactical coups, the Atlantic crossing continues to be sailed in match racing style as last night’s fogbound night-time encounter between Novedia Group and Pogo Structures bears witness. “We’re now sailing through the drizzle which is even worse than fog as it’s very wet, says skipper Halvard Mabire. It’s also drizzly on a tactical level but we’re managing okay. We’re flat out and it’s a real regatta. When we crossed tacks with Novedia last night it was reminiscent of the America’s Cup with AIS as he passed just 3 boat lengths behind. Tactics are complicated right now as there are some depressions forming which are very low and strangely configured”. 85 miles from North to South As regards the weather, pretty much everyone is announcing easing winds which will doubtless provide the crews with the opportunity to amass a little sleep in view of the next low, which is forecast over the next couple of days. Everyone is positioning themselves as regards the arrival of this new system and there is some considerable separation now in terms of latitude: 85 miles separate the ‘northerners’ Télécom Italia and Novedia Group from those right down in the south, Prévoir Vie (Benoît Parnaudeau). On a more central route, Mistral Loisirs and Pogo Structures have today gained the advantage at the expense of the Italian boat, skippered by Giovanni Soldini. “We had a crazy night and didn’t sleep. We tore the medium spinnaker yesterday so we’re not very happy about that. The little spinnaker is a bit too small right now, and the big spinnaker a bit too big! The wind has shifted round and we’re on starboard tack now. We had to decide where to gybe and some gybed earlier and some later so we’ll have to see what happens further down the track. Right now we can’t push the boat as we’d have liked so we’re hoping the wind will ease a little. There’s a tricky passage ahead but hopefully we’ll head off again with the next low.” The time is ripe for thought and big strategic choices according to the different understandings of the grib files. However, crews will also take into account the strengths and weaknesses of each person and the different route. A regatta style race on an oceanic scale! Quotes from the Boats: Tanguy De Lamotte (Novedia Group): “Over the past 24 hours we’ve put in 3 gybes. After the first we passed just a boat length behind Halvard (Mabire) in the middle of the night, which was nice. We were on port so we had to luff to pass behind which was the highlight of the evening! We regybed to get back to the same kind of position as before as the wind was better angled there and then we gybed again about an hour ago to get further north. Oliver Krauss continued on his southern tack and has ended up further south than the rest of us which has given him the lead for now, adding a bit of spice to the ranking. We’re not far off the front and have formed part of a foursome jockeying for pole position. You really had to be responsive on the helm last night with the spinnaker up in low visibility. It’s really tight and very intense, the four of us constantly altering the sails, hoisting them, putting in a reef, shaking it out… We’re sailing with a knife between our teeth! We’re putting everything we can on the heater; socks, duvets, gloves. We’re cold and soaked to the skin but have managed to get some vitamins from a bit of sleep. The software which displays the boat’s performance is telling us that we’re at 98%, and that’s been the case since the start. We’ve had only 200 m of visibility of late and right now we’re waiting for a breeze to kick in to port and we feel we’re well positioned to try and catch onto the right low with what we hope will be the forecast 30 knots of breeze. Right now it’s a bit calm with just 15 knots but later it’ll be intense downwind sailing for at least 24 hours.” Boris Herrmann (Beluga Racer): “All’s well aboard. We’ve just gybed and it’s begun to rain very heavily. The wind is picking up. We’ve been sailing under small spinnaker and 2 reefs in the indexsail. We’ve had a maximum of 24 knots of boat speed. It’s extraordinary sailing in the fog at night and we’re really enjoying it. We haven’t broken anything. We’re a bit tired and very wet with the fog and rain and we’ve got a lot of water washing across the deck. Time to rest a little!” Franck Yves Escoffier (Crêpes Whaou!): “Victorien called me to tell me what had happened (Laiterie de Saint Malo lost its only rudder yesterday). It really bugs me as they’re a great team, it’s a fast boat and they were sailing well with some good speed. In addition they’re a group of young sailors and it was great to have them in the competition along with us old sea dogs. Added to that one of them is my son! They asked my views on what to do and I suggested they continue, especially as it’s downwind to Saint Malo. They’re strong so they’ll get there. There will be other transatlantic races and all this is just part of racing. It would be idiotic for us not to sail a bit ‘cooler’ now. We’re under 2 reefs and solent with the wind on the aft quarter. We have 25 knots of breeze on the tail and a big swell and we’re making 22-24 knots of boat speed. As regards the seemingly increasing problem with growlers and whales, I think both are linked to the difference in temperature now. My personal view is that we should equip our boats with devices that emit waves to deter animals. Aeroplanes seem to have ways of deterring birds so why can’t we have something similar in sailing? For the next Quebec Saint Malo I envisage 4 or 5 boats like ours as well as a host of revamped older generation fifty footers. Victorien Erussard (Laiterie de Saint Malo): “It’s quite hard going right now as we were racing flat out. It hurts! This was our index objective of the year and we were right in the thick of the action. The boat was so good downwind that we thought we might be able to give Crêpes Whaou! a run for their money for once with our great average speeds. We’ve got 40 l of diesel, 40 l of water and 5 days of food. The Canadian and French authorities are aware of our predicament. Franck-Yves advised that our best option was to continue sailing downwind using the headsails to steer so we’re concentrating on making easting. The boat is in perfect condition other than the rudder but sadly the emergency rudder we installed yesterday simply isn’t suitable. Our ‘thinker’ Loic (Escoffier) reckons he can construct a replacement from the stuff we have onboard so we may try that tomorrow once the front has passed through. If a passing cargo ship can give us fresh supplies whilst we’re doing that then that would be great. We’ve covered about 130 miles to the east since the incident yesterday, even with two drogues, one on each float.”