Friday 14th November 2008
ON THE HUNT!
- From one weather system to another…
- Some clearly defined objectives
- Life onboard becoming more organised
- Feeling good in himself and in his boat
Bay of Biscay, Cape Finisterre, Portuguese coast… Michel Desjoyeaux on his
monohull, FONCIA, is making headway to the south, bound for the archipelagos
of Madeira, the Canaries and then Cape Verde. He is positioned 650 miles
behind his playmates who, as he keeps saying, “aren’t there to hang around
for him!” The latter are slipping along in a different weather system,
boosted by a generous and powerful ENE’ly. Indeed there is a marked
difference in the weather system adopted by the skipper of FONCIA who,
though sailing in a NE’ly air flow, still finds himself in air generated by
the Azores High… Volatile and highly capricious this anticyclone forced the
skipper of FONCIA to make a number of gybes throughout yesterday along the
Portuguese coast. Michel is concentrating on the basics such as getting the
boat making headway, organising life onboard and setting himself some
clearly defined objectives. These don’t involve building castles in the air
and there is no point taking risks as regards the material. Instead he’s
sailing cleanly and calmly, because Michel knows better than anyone else,
that his comeback will be acheived little by little, mile after mile,
opportunity after opportunity…
Focus on making headway!
“We’ve been sailing downwind since the tip of Spain. We don’t have much wind
in relation to those up front. Some of the others got away from me a little
yesterday, but nothing serious! Right now I’m catching Norbert Sedlacek who
had keel problems. We’ve all got moving again together in principal... I’m
not far off his position and then I have a few other friends in my sights a
few hundred miles ahead…” To listen to the boat, be satisfied with the wind
you’re given each day and set yourself realistic objectives: such is the
menu in the new version of the Vendée Globe which Michel and his 60 foot
monohull FONCIA have undertaken after setting off a day and a half behind
the fleet. The weather systems are very different to those encountered by
the head of the fleet and, by sticking to the direct course, Michel is
getting the most out of his steed with the little means at his disposal.
“I’m not spending much time at the computer because the weather and the
courses are fairly simple. I’m focussing more on getting the boat to make
headway and I’m not looking too much at my rivals’ grib files. The
positions? I’m looking at them from afar… They don’t have the same wind, or
the same weather sequences… At the moment I’m looking at how they got round
Madeira, to the east or west or others right out to the west. If ever I have
the same wind as them, that will provide me with information. I’m also going
to look at how they round the Canaries and Cape Verde… It’s worth pointing
out that I may not have the same wind parameters in those areas”. Serene yet
focused on his course, Michel continues: “You look at those ahead to see
their trajectories and tactics and you say to yourself, I’m going to try and
get past that one in whatever amount of time. Hmmm, that one is doing
something strange; we’ll see what happens with that. In a way it’s easier to
be the hunter rather than the hunted…”
Feeling good in himself and in his boat…
And life onboard? “All that is gradually being sorted” says Michel. “Though
I snack at night, this morning I made myself a dish of pasta for breakfast.
I’m not really a tea, coffee, croissant man normally… in any case, where I
am right now there aren’t any croissants!”. Smiles… As regards sleep: the
answer is rough and ready and was to be expected: “I helmed a fair bit last
night as the boat wanted me to take care of her. And yet I would’ve really
liked to have got some sleep in at that point… There was no chance of that
though!” The priorities centre on the helm and the manœuvres: Michel is
right back in the race now and though he has nobody within sight to compare
his speed, he is battling as if he wants an outright record. His clothing
bears witness to this… “I have worn the same thing since the start. I just
removed the jacket of my foulies yesterday…” Michel the competitor, Michel
the racer, Michel the ‘frank-speaker’, Michel is right there… in the
rear-view mirror.
Additional quotes:
Relaxation… “I’ve listened to a little music and other than that I have the
Best of Canteloup which was given to me at the start. I haven’t yet put my
headphones on but I’ve been able to listen through my Bluetooth earpiece
which enables me to move around the cockpit without tripping over any wires.
It’s not a bad way to relax…”
A look back at the Bay of Biscay… “On the approach to Cape Finisterre, it
was still slamming a lot… In fact it was like that throughout the crossing.
Even though I crossed the bay on a single tack, the seas were on the nose
and it was fairly violent. The wind had turned but not the waves. It led to
hefty wave jumping! It was high time to hang a left and bring the obstacle
course to an end…”
Onboard rhythm… “I’ve put in a fair number of gybes over the past two or
three days, especially yesterday to extract myself from the zones without
much wind, and it went quite well. The boat is fairly easy to manœuvre with
its four winches in the cockpit. Half an hour ago I put in a little counter
tack to shift a little further over where there was more wind. The ease with
which I can perform manœuvres enables me to react more quickly… And that’s
really something!”
Bound for… “I’m bending my course to pass to the east of Madeira to avoid
the wind shadow and then I’m heading to the west of the Canaries. However
there isn’t a lot of wind forecast… I’d have really liked a little more, but
that’s how it is… We’ll make do with it!”
Ranking on 14th November at 1550 hours
1- Peyron Loïck (Gitana Eighty) 22,222.8 miles from the finish
2- Le Cam Jean (VM Matériaux) 24.3 miles from the leader
3- Josse Sébastien (BT) 28.3
4- Dick Jean-Pierre (Paprec-Virbac 2) 31.3
5- Eliès Yann Generali 47.5
...
22nd - Desjoyeaux Michel (Foncia) 646.7
Translated by Kate Jennings – Expression
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