13.11.2008
Marc Guillemot: “I’m in the groove”
Offshore of the Moroccan coast, the first move in the Vendée Globe chess
game is being played as the head of the fleet round Madeira and then the
Canaries. Safran – positioned in 9th position at 1100 hours (French time) –
looks set to take the inside lane around the first archipelago.
“Clearly I’d have preferred to be in the top three, but I’m not doing too
badly all the same! Fifty or seventy miles isn’t much when you take into
account that the Doldrums is still 1,600 miles away”. Aboard Safran this
Thursday, Marc Guillemot had the clear voice of a sailor who is powering
downwind. “All’s well aboard, I’m being accompanied by an ENE’ly breeze and
the boat is making 16, 17 knots”. The big question today is the rounding of
the archipelago of Madeira, which is something the skipper from La Trinité
sur Mer in SW Brittany already seems to have tied up: the trajectory he has
selected means that he is inclined towards slipping along between Madeira
and the African continent. “I’m probably going to pass upwind of Madeira,
explains Marc Guillemot, the idea is that these islands are relatively high
and I want to avoid their wind shadow”.
On the attack
For Marc Guillemot, it is still too early to refer to the Doldrums “which
we’ll only reach early next week. For the time being, we’re anticipating the
passage around Madeira and then the Canaries, in 400 miles time, where there
may well be further strategic options in play. We may not necessarily leave
all the islands to starboard, we’ll see…”
The race has reasserted itself amongst the Vendée Globe fleet and aboard
Safran. “I’m in the groove now and everything’s going a lot better, assures
Marc Guillemot, I’m now completely in phase with the boat, I’ve managed to
rest and recuperate well…, I’m on the attack!” At the 1100 hour position
report, Safran was in 9th place, 73 miles behind the leader Loïck Peyron,
and between Yann Eliès and Jérémie Beyou. Safran was then sailing at 34°40 N
and 15°33 W. One shouldn’t read too much into these rankings however, given
the positioning game prior to Madeira, where certain boats will distance
themselves from the direct course whilst other will close on it.
Justice of the Peace
In fact, the next Justice of the Peace at the start of the Vendée Globe will
probably be the Doldrums, the inter-tropical convergence zone into which the
fleet are set to enter early next week.
At the rear, Michel Desjoyeaux is over 520 miles from the head of the race
and Bernard Stamm set out again from Les Sables d’Olonne in the middle of
the night with over 950 miles to make up.
Translated by Kate Jennings – Expression
|
