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Syndikate Vendee Globe 2008/09 - BT OPEN 60//SEB JOSSE
www.btsebjosse.com - www.vendeeglobe.org - Übersicht
1 December 2008
Day 23: BT in the roaring 40s
In Brief:
. BT, leading the 2008 Vendée Globe, hits the roaring 40s
. The great gybing battle
. On the map: Tristan da Cunha. Click here http://www.btsebjosse.com/feature-articles.asp?sid=18743 to discover this remote archipelago.
In Detail:
Unquestionably, the best wind pressure is in the South, yet that starboard tack takes the boats away from the direct route. The compromise is a subtle one, a tricky balancing act between speed and gains made on the route, and it's no surprise to see the frontrunners engaged in a furious gybing battle.
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Tristan Da Cunha mit 300 Seelen
Foto: Thierry Martinez/ SeaCo/ BT Seb Josse (12) ChrisSteve (3)
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Credited with almost 17 knots of speed over the previous hour at the 10:00 GMT position report, Sébastien Josse aboard BT was notably faster than his two pursuers: Loïck Peyron, on the same south-east heading as Seb albeit further north, was 2,5 knots slower while Yann Eliès, on port tack (ie heading east / north east) was only sailing at 13.1 knots.
The fight is very close - for a change ! - and if gybing is a tiring manoeuvre, at least the skippers are happy to be sailing downwind after days of feeling the boats suffer when slamming against waves upwind. Yet even if speed is back on the menu, the race reindexs quite tactical at that stage, with the first ice gate lying some 600 miles away, and the still menacing light airs in the north, tempting the skippers to dive to the south to benefit from more pressure.
"I'm pretty tired because I manoeuvred a lot in the last hours. I gybed at night, and took the gennaker down this morning: it was getting a bit tricky given the wind conditions. I have 23 to 28 knots of breeze, and big downwind sails are difficult to handle over long periods when it blows hard. I now have one reef in the index and the Solent jib, it's still fast but much more stable - it will allow me to get some rest, and that's exactly what I'll do after I hang up!"
On the map: Tristan da Cunha
Sailing some 200 miles south of the Tristan da Cunha archipelago, Sébastien will not catch sight of this remote British territory where a community of almost 300 souls live all year long, far away from everything! Read our feature here http://www.btsebjosse.com/feature-articles.asp?sid=18743
High-resolution images of the BT Open 60 are now available for download via the media website http://www.btsebjosse.com.
Don't forget to sign up for press updates, with images, video and audio files available to download.
Follow all the action and find out more about the team at the new website http://www.btsebjosse.com
For further information on the BT Team Ellen contact:
Julie Royer
BT Team Ellen Communications Manager
Email: julie.royer@ocgroup.com
Tel: +44 7501 723 121
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