08.12.2008
The calm, a racer's nightmare
As forecast, since yesterday the ridge of high pressure has put in an
appearance on the racetrack again, but this high pressure isn't likely to
affect all the boats in the same way. For today, the advantage has clearly
gone to the head of the race. As it gains easting, the zone of high pressure
is becoming less active, and although the first boats won't escape
completely scot-free, they should be able to 'limit the damage'. Aboard
Temenos II, the results of the past 24 hours have been particularly hard to
bear, which isn't surprising given that she was clocked as making just 2
knots at the first ranking of the day, whilst those at the head of the race
were racking up in excess of 18 knots. It doesn't come as a shock then to
see that the monohull has lost 124 miles in a day on leader Paprec Virbac.
Even though Dominique was prepared for this particularly calm night, you
could imagine from the skipper's words when contacted midway through the
afternoon, that there were easier pills to swallow.
"I came to a standstill for 5 hours solid, my sails flogging. The core of
the zone of high pressure passed over the top of me. I found myself in no
wind at all, rolling from left to right, trying to get the most out of the
slightest zephyr in a bid to make headway. It feels as if the fact that I
was managing to make headway at 1 knot had little to do with all my efforts,
but rather the residual swell and the surface current. I've really slept
very little, and when I do try to rest for a few minutes, your mind doesn't
switch off. It's a lot easier to fall asleep in 40 knots."
In these types of conditions nobody's spared and paradoxically the gear is
under as much pressure as the skipper. "The indexsail flogs endlessly, which
is very bad for the battens and the material. The headsail rubs against the
stays and the spreaders and you really feel as if the gear is being
massively fatigued with no gains at the end of it."
Nevertheless, after these hours of flat calm which have been particularly
wearing on the body as much as the nerves, and what may well be the "worse
thing for a racer" according to Dominique, the skipper of Temenos II wasn't
going to let frustration get the upper hand. In place of bitterness
Dominique preferred fighting spirits, accompanied as per usual by a good cup
of coffee.
"This type of situation is always hard on the nerves. You think about the
others who are in the process of making good their escape at high speed,
which is even more trying than the fatigue. In this case you make yourself a
coffee, you tell yourself there's still a long way to go, and you get back
to work on deck. Fortunately, if you can use such a word in this situation,
at times like these, there is always a lot of work required to get the boat
making headway. That stops any negative thoughts creeping in and when the
wind kicks back in again, you are fiercely determined to try to make up your
deficit."
Earlier Dominique was striving to get the very most out of the gentle
fifteen knots or so of wind he'd finally located. The particularly lively,
cross seas were thwarting any vague desires by the monohull to get going
again and required increased monitoring from the skipper as regards the
trimming. Not the most relaxing atmosphere for the skipper then who, despite
lack of sleep was doing fine. "I've eaten well, I feel good. In the early
morning, the wind kicked back in to 13 or 14 knots. The sea is still
knocking us about all over the place so the boat is rolling and pitching.
That requires you to be on deck pretty much all the time to balance it. If
you're not there you quickly drop below 10 knots of boat speed with seas
like this. The wind is set to fill in gradually though and tonight I should
have between 20 and 25 knots of wind."
As a result the future promises to be rosier for Dominique and even though
he didn't think there was much chance of making up the lost miles very
quickly, the effort the skipper was putting into making 14 knots at the last
ranking, has prevented any further loss in ground over the past 24 hours.
Translated by Kate Jennings - Expression
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