14.11.2008
The tradewinds at last!
Aboard Temenos II the scene has finally changed, and even though the wind
continued to blow stronger at the front of the fleet for part of the day,
Dominique is enjoying feeling his boat accelerate.
There was nothing that could be done to avoid the loss of ground suffered
yesterday by the chasing pack. At sea the weather can dish out conditions
that no strategy can outsmart. The tradewinds which the head of the fleet
are enjoying have been something those in hot pursuit had to wait their turn
for. It proved to be a long transition period and we can well imagine how
hard it has been on their nerves. This wait is ancient history now though
and since this morning the NE'ly tradewind has been filling the sails of
Temenos II.
Questioned at midday by the race organisation, Dominique recounted these
past few hours aboard Temenos II: "There is between 15 and 20 knots of
breeze and the boat is going fine. It's a bit tiring as I'm spending a lot
of time at the helm but I've still got pleasant conditions."
When the skippers entrust the helm of their steed to the automatic pilot
it's something they sometimes do despite themselves, especially when you
have more than 450 square metres of sail aloft. "You're always a little wary
of using the automatic pilot a little in these types of conditions"
explained Dominique, "last night, I rounded up two or three times behind
Madeira under pilot. Added to that, in these types of conditions the boat
goes a little quicker when you take the helm."
The skipper looked back to yesterday's action as well as the Azores High
which cost him some precious miles: "I lost some time yesterday. I'm trying
to get back with the leading group but it's a difficult task at the moment.
There's still more air at the front but I'm not giving up hope of getting
there. I'd really like Temenos II to demonstrate her abilities and get back
with those who are leading the way."
You can see that despite the 248 miles separating him from the leader, Loick
Peyron, Dominique keeps reiterating his desire to do battle and his
determination to give it his all to get back in contact with the leading
group. And though he's currently in 16th place in the ranking, we can guess
that he is doing everything in his power to continue in this vain. In the
past 24 hours Temenos II has respectively snatched back 11 and 35 miles from
Roxy and Aviva, whose 31 mile lead is now in Dominique's sights.
Contacted later this afternoon, the skipper was just about to attack his
packet of freeze-dried food and planned to go back up on deck without delay:
"The wind has filled in a little more again. For the time being it's not too
wet on deck and the good news is that I've been able to get the shorts out!
There are some squalls on the horizon so I'm going to have to keep on the
alert. The tradewinds are still irregular but it should become more
established the further south we get. This time I'm definitely following the
right vein of wind."
This scenario was confirmed at the 1600 hour ranking, since Temenos II was
positioned making 15.3 knots in the last hour of racing, and is finally
racking up the same speeds as those of the leading group.
Translated by Kate Jennings - Expression
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