15.11.2008
Temenos II gains two places
Whilst Loick Peyron has managed to keep control of the fleet for the past
three days, Dominique has been battling his way up the rankings. Aboard
Temenos II, the first positions of the day arrived in the boat via SAT C at
0600 hours and gave the skipper some comfort. The monohull's great
performance as she made gains on the rest of the fleet throughout the course
of yesterday (nearly 35 miles made up on the leader, and the greatest
distance covered over the past 24 hours), continued into part of the night;
pushing the monohull up into 14th position.
Yesterday bore fruit for Dominique. With a W'ly separation, Temenos II made
up two places to the detriment of Safran and Aviva, both of which fell into
traps created by the Canaries' wind shadow. "On the whole I'm happy with my
W'ly trajectory. I accepted that I'd have to lose a bit of ground in order
to get some separation but I have no regrets about this strategy. It enabled
me to get well clear of the wind shadow created by the islands."
Right to the end the skipper managed to benefit from the tradewinds to
lengthen his stride, prior to falling into a zone of lighter breeze like
those at the front of the fleet. These calm conditions should accompany him
as far as the Cape Verde archipelago.
Aboard the boats, it's no secret that the skippers' morale is often linked
to their progress. "When you make ground on those in front of you it means
that things are going well" Dominique admitted when questioned this
afternoon. "Temenos II has made solid headway and it's good for morale to
make up some miles on my friends. The first part of the night was fairly
nice. There was a good 20 knots of wind with some light breeze boosting it
to 25 knots along with a few squalls. Overnight the boat bore away sharply
whilst I was resting. The alarm on my automatic pilot rang out down below so
I dashed up on deck where the boat was going into a broach. There was a
shower of water on deck so I got completely dumped on. It gave me a good
dose of adrenalin though, which gave me an even more effective wake-up call
than a coffee. I had a lot of sail up and there were very big beam seas. In
conditions like these, one big wave can be enough to unbalance the boat and
turn it beam onto the wind. At that point the stresses on the pilots are
huge and can cause them to fail."
The good peaks of speed attained on the reach only lasted a short time
though. Right in the middle of the night, the powerful NE'ly air flow
gradually disappeared leaving the way clear for a timid tradewind. "The wind
eased overnight from 0300 hours and right now I only have around ten knots
of breeze. The tradewinds have broken down and we've got at least two days
of light airs in store."
However, despite the calmer conditions and the flatter seas, Dominique will
have to reindex on the alert on the deck of his Temenos II. "The boat won't
sail itself. It's still a bit rough, the waves carrying her a little bit to
the left and right with a shifty wind. It is better to stay at the helm and
be on top of the trimming to really get her making good headway. That
requires concentration and a fair amount of coffee, but it's not unpleasant"
confided Dominique.
Like all the skippers questioned at today's radio session, Dominique fully
intends to benefit from the warmer temperatures. "The weather's really good
and the conditions are very pleasant. I opened the front of the boat to get
a bit of air through her and dry out the interior a little. It's a
refreshing change."
However, above all else, the skipper will have to make the most of the calm
conditions to make a thorough list of all the things which still need to be
done aboard the boat. Though Temenos II came through the gale unscathed, the
skipper knows that the material has a memory and that the light wind, which
is set to accompany the fleet as far as the islands of Cape Verde, will
provide the skippers with the perfect opportunity to perform a meticulous
inspection of their boats. Doubtless the toolbox and suncream were out today
aboard the Imoca 60s.
Translated by Kate Jennings - Expression
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