28.11.2008
The next 48 hours will be decisive
With every hour that passes, the head of the group is closing on the high
pressure of Saint Helena and, as forecast, the deficits are being reduced in
favour of the chasing pack. Whilst the top 9 boats were bunched within 61
miles yesterday, a rare event after nearly 3 weeks racing, what can be said
of the lowly 40 miles separating them today? And though we can guess that
some of the frontrunners must greet this regrouping of the fleet with a
certain annoyance, the barrier created by Saint Helena is working wonders in
terms of increasing the suspense of the race. Over the past 24 hours,
Temenos II has made up around thirty miles on the new leader BT.
Since the fleet entered the southern hemisphere, the sun has been rather
discrete, so the descent of the southern Atlantic has been predominantly
grey, which is certainly one of the reasons that Dominique has been pushed
into savouring the present moment, as he explained at the midday link-up.
"It’s a fantastic spectacle: a deep blue sea, a pale blue sky and a few
little white clouds. It’s like a Magritte painting! Over previous days with
stormy lows which hang around in this area, the sky was very overcast at
times with quite a lot of rain. Since yesterday the weather has cleared up
and you really get the sensation that you’re entering into a different air
mass. Indeed it’s a lot colder so we’re beginning to put on layers of
clothing and fleeces now and the boots are out again.”
Although there are changes as regards the sky, things are pretty much the
same on Temenos II, with life on a tilt since the Doldrums. “We’re sailing
close-hauled and the boat is heeled over well, as usual. The seas are still
a bit messy. I still have wind for the time being and it’s just about
steady. I’m making eleven knots and the only problem is the slightly odd
angle.”
As Dominique announced yesterday, the strategy over the next two days will
be decisive and in order to spice up the ‘daggers drawn racing’, various
options are emerging in the heart of the fleet. For the time being solely
Jean Le Cam is taking the risk of cutting the corner, as such agreeing to
close, perhaps dangerously, on the centre of the anticyclone. In contrast,
with her western separation, Temenos II is continuing to drop southwards,
along with Safran and Bahrain Team Pindar. Close-hauled, being headed by a
S’ly breeze, these three boats aren’t managing to bend their trajectories
towards South Africa for the time being. As for the rest of the leading
group, they have opted for a central trajectory and only time will tell
which is the right option. For all these boats, this zone of transition
prior to the downwind conditions of the Roaring Forties will be tricky and
all of them are set to experience a reduction in pace, though it reindexs to
be seen how marked this will be…
The Swiss skipper is rewarded
During the Sailing Night première organised on 22nd November 2008 by Swiss
Sailing, the Swiss Cruising Club and Skipper magazine, Dominique was awarded
the title of sailor of the year.
A much awaited event, the soirée was held in front of nearly 600 sailing
enthusiasts. Contacted at sea for the occasion, Dominique admitted he was
extremely honoured to receive this award and expressed a desire to share
this distinction with all his shore crew. Nathalie Brugger was elected
female sailor of the year for her fantastic 6th place at the Peking Games.
Translated by Kate Jennings – Expression
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