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Vendee Globe 2008/09 - Foncia/Michel Desjoyeaux/F
www.vendeeglobe.org - Übersicht
Friday 21th November 2008
Could life be better?
What a great week! 22nd last Friday and 647 miles behind the leader, Michel Desjoyeaux was positioned in 16th place this Friday 21st November and 273 miles behind leader Loïck Peyron (Gitana Eighty). 374 miles devoured in 7 days - that is over 53 miles made up each day - and this, at an average of over 10 knots of boat speed: respect... Suffice to say that the large spinnaker on the 60 foot monohull FONCIA has been put to good use and has successfully fulfilled its mission: to propel the latest generation Farr design into attacking mode at Madeira, the Canaries and Cape Verde. The monohull passed to the west of the first two and zigzagged to windward of the Cape Verde archipelago, with a shift across to the west to avoid the island of Fogo with its 2,829 metres. All of sudden FONCIA has outrun six competitors and has changed its targets. Michel is now gunning for Marc Guillemot (Safran), Dominique Wavre (Temenos), Brian Thompson (Bahrain Team Pindar) and Sam Davies (Roxy). The only glitch in his progress, the famous Doldrums which slowed the head of the fleet and is now taking shape in front of Desjoyeaux' bows in the next 24 to 48 hours.
"I've made up a small part of the deficit thanks to some nice weather, but I'm going to have to watch it once the others get going again... They weren't very lucky hitting a wide Doldrums. Meantime, I'm getting to the zone with some wind, which has enabled me to make up some of my deficit on the group in front... It's always nice to make up 300 miles on boats which have a 600 mile lead on you and know you're the fastest of the fleet at nearly every position report. Even if you know why that is and that you can't do anything about that, it's satisfying all the same..." It's clear that Michel can be happy about the past week but it's not in his nature to look backwards. "I'm still doing a lot of trimming and I've spent a lot of time under spinnaker since the tip of Spain. Under spinnaker it's in your best interests to helm...
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Fotos Yvan Zedda
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With 400 square metres up forward, you can't afford to make the slightest error. And all of a sudden, as the weather situation was fairly simple, it was worthwhile staying in the cockpit". Helming, trimming, a spell at the chart table, being careful not to damage the vast amount of sail area up forward, being careful not to damage anything for the next stage in the race, helming, trimming, gaining a few tenth's of a knot, a glimpse at the weather, getting a bit of shut-eye for a few minutes whilst stretched out in the cockpit, helming, trimming... Such has been the rhythm for the skipper of FONCIA over the past seven days. Mile by mile Michel said... Mile by mile is what FONCIA is doing.
Doldrums to the power of 2...
It's pointless going over how complicated this zone is to understand and how difficult it's been for the head of the fleet to digest as they suffered on the approach to the zone. You think you're there, you make headway. You think you've escaped it and there it is back again. As usual Michel has been watching the trajectories of his playmates. He thought Roland Jourdain (Veolia Environnement) was well positioned at one point but then he was proven wrong. He then positioned himself in line for it and began suffering a nasty sea: "That's the problem when you arrive at this zone... You're still suffering from a NE'ly tradewind swell, and even though it's not very powerful, you're already being hit by the swell from the tradewinds of the southern hemisphere (south-east) so the waves are hitting you front on almost. All of a sudden, you end up with messy seas where your boat struggles to make headway. As long as there's wind it's okay. You put up sail and you power through it... When it's light, that brakes the boat and prevents you from making use of the apparent wind and hence you're even further slowed... It's a vicious circle. For the moment though, I still have wind." Vigilance is the order of the day then. "If all that kicks in on its own then you're never going to be sailing below 10 knots, which does happen sometimes. It's unexpected but does happen..." Silence... "If the Doldrums reform as we make our approach... you may well spend more time in it." This unfortunate scenario blocked the head of the fleet on its approach, though the ensuing transition zone was very sudden after that, depriving some of the sailors of stormy showers. As a result, the next 24 to 48 hours will be essential and Michel is all too aware of this...
Whatever happens, one of the secrets to success is doubtless enjoying being on the water, Michel is a perfect example of this aboard FONCIA. "The boat's going well and I'm not annoyed about anything... We're lucky to be at sea. We're contented on the water... When you see the constraints of the job, I'm certainly happy at the office! (laughs). I said that on I-telly yesterday morning. In fact I hope that didn't shock them: we've got the finest views in the world with the sea across 360°, the sky across 180°... It makes a pleasant change to the 30 centimetre wide barred window with a view out to the back of the neighbouring building..." Michel is very happy on the water then. In fact he often alludes to the positive frame of mind of one Sam Davies (Roxy) too, who is racing just ahead of him: "One person who's sailing a great race is Sam. When you see that she is alongside Temenos and Pindar (both more recent boats than hers)... We exchanged emails the other day and she's always very enthusiastic. She's happy and is really enjoying herself... She's great." To be happy on the water and in phase with your boat: is this one of the secrets to success ? It certainly is and Michel is demonstrating that day in day out at the moment...
Ranking on 21st November at 1450 GMT
1 Peyron Loïck (Gitana Eighty) 20796.4 miles from the finish
2 Josse Sébastien (BT) 19.6 miles from the leader
3 Riou Vincent (PRB) 33.1
4 Dick Jean-Pierre (Paprec-Virbac 2) 34.6
5 Le Cléac'h Armel (Brit Air) 42.5
6 Eliès Yann (Generali) 51
16th - Desjoyeaux Michel (Foncia) 273.6 miles
© Yvan Zedda
Photos free of right for 1/2 page (20x30) - Thank you for respecting the photographer' crédit
www.teamfoncia.com http://www.teamfoncia.com
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