29.11.2008
Who will Helena smile on?
The big upsets we were expecting are now par for the course, but even though
the sailors closer to the direct route on an E’ly option have managed to
monopolize the top spots in the ranking, until the zone of high pressure is
in the fleet’s wake, it is impossible to say which of the strategies is the
right one. The weather isn’t an exact science so it’s not surprising to see
the skippers in the leading group explore various routes in their bid to
traverse the high pressure of Saint Helena.
As we wait to draw our conclusions, currently forecast for around 24 hours’
time, aboard the boats the skippers have prepared themselves for a short
period of calm conditions and are yearning to get back into some favourable
downwind conditions. Long sessions slipping along with the boats surfing as
they’re pushed by the waves is an image all the skippers must be dreaming of
after over a week spent sailing close-hauled into often chaotic seas. And it
isn’t this final, particularly testing night that is going to cheer up what
has been a decidedly laborious descent of the southern Atlantic. According
to all the skippers questioned at today’s radio session, the sea state was
really manhandling the boats once more. It was the same scenario for
Dominique, contacted this afternoon. “Last night we had 28 knots and above
all a very difficult sea. There were lots of waves smashing against the bow
and the boat was slamming a huge amount. It felt like she was suffering and
you really get the sensation that things can break in these types of
conditions.”
With daybreak, calm was restored aboard Temenos II and even though the
clouds were still hanging around over the unsettled area of wind, the boat
was making good headway. “Right now I have a really favourable breeze and
I’m making 14 knots of boat speed in a fairly variable medium wind. The seas
are still big and are preventing the boat from planing. I’ve just passed
beneath a cloud, which began with a drop in pace and now there’s some
acceleration. There are some clouds still knocking about in this area, which
are creating small unsettled patches. There is a uniformly grey sky forming
a lid over the high pressure and in fact there are some unmistakable signs
of this with the barometer reading 1031.”
Dominique expected to suffer a reduction in pace at the approach to the zone
of high pressure but the skipper was focussing on his W’ly separation to
limit the extent of this influence. “The wind I have at the moment is only
temporary. It will become increasingly erratic and we’ll have to mirror the
shifts with the sheet trimming. The American and European files are fairly
similar. The zone of high pressure is shifting eastwards and nobody is
likely to come to a standstill for a long period of time. The frontrunners
should be slowed a little more than us, but things aren’t likely to come to
a complete halt. With my slight W’ly separation I hope I’m not going to lose
too much time. It’ll all depend on how the zone of high pressure moves, so
naturally there is a slightly random aspect to proceedings.”
With the passage through the high pressure and the entry into a downwind
system, Dominique is expecting a marked change of pace from tomorrow
onwards. “It isn’t overly rough today. I’ve got between 12 and 18 knots and
if it didn’t keep switching direction it’d be perfect. I’m anticipating that
I’ll be treated very differently tomorrow. There will be some work on deck
with a fair amount of manœuvres and sail hoisting; the large gennaker will
be back in action, accompanied by trimming, stacking…”
At the 1600 hour ranking, Temenos II was still in 12th position but was
reducing her deficit on the leader BT, now just 185 miles ahead.
Translated by Kate Jennings – Expression
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