02.12.2008
Southern airs!
On this twenty-third day of racing, the atmosphere is still one of close
contact sparring in the Vendée Globe 2008-2009, even though the leading
group is now sailing in the forties, which is a zone famed for being the
windiest on the globe due to the lack of landforms. Relatively spoilt by the
weather over the past few hours, the solo sailors are heading towards the
Atlantic ice gate, which the frontrunners are set to reach in 36 hours time.
Aboard Gitana Eighty, Captain Peyron’s birthday feast is but a distant
memory and last night’s forced ‘gennaker fishing’ certainly wasn’t an ideal
gift…
Although Sébastien Josse is still leading the way around the world, behind
him there has been an upset in the hierarchy overnight, with Yann Eliès
slipping by into second place which had been held up till then by the
monohull equipped by Baron Benjamin de Rothschild. Hard to contact
yesterday, this Tuesday proved more favourable for a conversation between
Loïck Peyron and Paris Race HQ, and enabled an explanation about nocturnal
events at the top of the ranking: “All’s well aboard. It’s a little like the
south… I had a slight issue with my gennaker which got wrapped around the
keel last night. It took me a few hours to get myself out of the situation.
My sail is intact but I’m going to have to climb to the masthead to change
the halyard”. So there we have the reason behind this slight loss of ground;
a halyard which is hard to operate and a 300 m² sail, which had to be hauled
onto the deck of Gitana Eighty by sheer brute force… All that took a fair
old while and zapped the energy so it was only natural, a few hours after
this exploit, that the fatigue of the skipper of the monohull in the colours
of the LCF Rothschild Group was evident: “I’ve been in my bunk for a few
hours because I really need to rest”. At the same time yesterday, it was the
leader Sébastien Josse who admitted to a need to ease off the pace. It has
to be said that pole position is certainly an onerous task when the
competition is breathing down your neck. Added to that is the impressive
series of gybes – seven in 8 hours on Sunday – which can sometimes cause a
sailor as talented and honed as he is, to drop off the pace slightly. In
conditions like these though, experience is the best guide and should enable
Loïck Peyron to regain the energy which very quickly characterises him.
As regards the weather, the leading group is continuing to make headway at
the leading edge of a cold front and is reaping the benefits of some
downwind conditions of between 20 and 25 knots. Since their entry into the
antechamber of the roaring forties and the Deep South itself, the solo
sailors have had to make a series of gybes, occasionally going in search of
more speed to the south or favouring the direct route in a bid to gain some
E’ly separation. It’s a change of format today for the skipper of Gitana
Eighty as well as his rivals, as they will be able to leave the manœuvres to
one side and stick on port tack as far as the Atlantic ice gate. This
relatively comfortable digression will enable them to find their marks for
Deep South mode: “I’ve lost a bit of time on the technical details so I’m
gradually going to have to get into the southern groove. The crunch is going
to be knowing which is the right conduct to adopt as the Vendée Globe is
very different to the one I encountered during my previous participation!”
Suffice to say straightaway that the technical details Loïck Peyron was
alluding to in the daily radio session certainly won’t terrify the
competition, as these are all part and parcel of daily life for the sailors
of these prototypes. Indeed, these latest generation 60 footers are pure
technological concentrates.
As a result, the coming hours will be filled by a few slots of rest aboard
the monohull in the colours of the LCF Rothschild Group, so as to ensure the
skipper is in great shape to tackle the first safety gate. Beyond that the
sailors will be on their guard at all moments, the organisation having
warned competitors of the presence of icebergs around 500 kilometres after
this safety barrier. There is no doubt then… we have reached the south!
At the 1600 hour ranking, Sébastien Josse was still comfortably settled in
pole position, though Yann Eliès had clawed back a few miles on him. As for
third place, that had gone to Jean-Pierre Dick after he managed to pip Loïck
Peyron to the post, the latter now around ten miles astern.
Ranking on 2nd December – 1600 hours (French time)
1. BT (Sébastien Josse) 18,577 miles from the finish
2. Generali (Yann Eliès) 37.7 miles from the leader
3. Paprec Virbac (Jean-Pierre Dick) 56.4 miles
4. Gitana Eighty (Loïck Peyron) 64 miles
5. Veolia Environnement (Roland Jourdain) 65.2 miles
6.PRB (Vincent Riou) 72 miles
(…)
Translated by Kate Jennings – Expression
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