10.12.2008
Ups and downs
Bernard Stamm is still 14th in the Vendée Globe and is 36 miles behind his
next target, Brian Thompson. Despite a few technical issues Cheminées
Poujoulat is continuing its fantastic comeback.
Eating and sleeping a little
Last night wasn’t pleasant for Bernard Stamm: “I had a few problems
unhooking the headsail and ended up with too small a sail up forward for
several hours. As a result I made poor speed and it clearly wasn’t the best
course. At daybreak, I was able to resolve the problem, but it’s meant that
I haven’t been able to rest and I can feel the effects of that on my
decision making. It’s a shame because the weather’s pretty good and the
night wasn’t forecast to be too bad. That’s all par for the course. Right
now I’m going to have to find some time where I can recuperate without
reducing the boat’s capacity to make headway too drastically. That’s the
scenario this morning and now I’m going to eat something, which will make
things a lot rosier”.
Encouraging figures
After setting off on 13th November at 0325 UT or three days 15 hours and 23
minutes after the ‘official’ start, Bernard Stamm crossed the Cape of Good
Hope on 7th December at 2125 UT, that is 1 day, 13 hours and 45 minutes
behind the leader at this stage, Sébastien Josse. As a result Bernard made
up over two days of his deficit during this passage to the south of Africa.
This performance betters that of Michel Desjoyeaux, who has made up 35 of
the 40 hour deficit he had accumulated when he set out from Les Sables a
second time.
Though the weather has been favourable for making up lost ground, it is
evident that Bernard has sailed a magnificent race in the descent of the
Atlantic.
Translated by Kate Jennings – Expression
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