10.12.2008
"Shaken but not stirred"
It’s a classic situation in the deep south as the deficits increase and
decrease in line with the passage of fronts associated with the lows and the
zones of high pressure. On the other hand what is most surprising is to find
that after a month of racing and a third of the distance covered, the top 9
boats are grouped within 100 miles.
Over 400 miles had been covered in 24 hours aboard Temenos II at the midday
ranking. The average speeds are picking up and some believe the pace is
beyond reasonable. What should the set pace be? It’s a nagging question at
the heart of the fleet and at times the skippers are divided on this issue.
Managing the gear is a dominating factor over a 3 month race, and Vincent
Riou, winner of the 2004-2005 edition, wondered at what speed you had to
drive the boats at. He reckons that we won’t have the answer to that until
the finish in Les Sables.
Sadly, Loick Peyron, won’t experience the joy of crossing the finish line.
After emphasising the importance of finishing a race like the Vendée Globe a
few days ago, he informed the race management that his boat had suffered a
dismasting this afternoon. The furious pace of the boats, structural faults…
the reasons for this damage reindex unknown, but we hope that it will
encourage the skippers to ease off the pace for a while at least.
At the 1600 hour ranking, the head of the race, who watched nervously as the
chasing pack gained on them yesterday, have themselves hit the winds related
to the front now and have been able to shift up a gear. Aboard Temenos II a
steady wind was continuing to blow but the sea state was hampering the
boat’s progress.
Contacted this afternoon, prior to learning of Gitana Eighty’s dismasting,
Dominique had this to say: “I have a very favourable wind which is enabling
me to get in some southing. It had dropped to 18 knots this morning but now
it’s been boosted to 22, 23 knots. There are messy cross seas and the swell
is beam on and the boat’s struggling to get into the groove. It’s often
halted by a wave the minute it launches into a surf. The speeds are quite
varied and Temenos II is making headway in fits and starts. It requires a
great deal of work as regards the sail trimming, which isn’t always easy.”
In this furious quest for performance, the sea state is a deciding factor,
and it’s the waves rather than the wind which dictate the speeds of the
monohulls. It’s impossible to indextain an 18 knot average without putting
the gear under pressure unless you’re in a conciliatory sea at the very
least. “When the sea state is good, with a wave on the tail which launches
the boat into the surf, you can expect 18 knot average speeds without
forcing things too hard. However, the minute the sea state is poor you lose
3 knots straightaway. In this instance you really get the feeling that if
you force the boat too hard by carrying too much sail aloft, you can cause
damage with the violent braking in the waves. Forcing your way through these
types of seas isn’t reasonable. You have to try and weave your way through
gently when the sea state is poor.”
Since yesterday, Dominique has been making the most of a passing front to
make up some of his deficit. A touch vengeful after coming to a standstill
in the calms two days ago, Dominique was benefiting from the good conditions
to “push the machine” and rather than getting some sleep, the skipper has
gained some ground on the head of the fleet and is now just 227 miles off
pole position. “It was a good day. I had a good wind angle and good seas and
that enabled me to push the machine. As the squalls went through I had over
30 knots of breeze and had to reduce the sail area a little. The boat was
burying too much and it would have been difficult to go faster without
risking the gear. When you indextain average speeds like these it’s both
intense and stressful. We’re really shaken about and it’s harder to get off
to sleep. You feel like you may be unseated from your bunk at any moment by
the movement of the boat. You have to sleep in boots and foulies to be ready
to intervene on deck if the boat runs off the racetrack. The nervous tension
is palpable. The pilots do a good job but we know that they’re not
infallible. They can give up the ghost in a split second and send the boat
into a broach. When that happens you have to be able to react extremely
quickly if you don’t want to break gear.”
The range of creaking and impacting on the boat in the waves is not designed
to improve the growing state of anxiety, though Dominique has his own way of
softening things which may appear very austere from land. “As soon as the
boat’s making more than 20 knots the rudders scream creating a fairly
stressful, sharp noise. I tune the Ipod into my anti-noise earphones and
that tones down the noise well and it becomes more bearable.”
Translated by Kate Jennings – Expression
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