Thursday 20th May 2010 Evening
Normandy bound
On rounding Fastnet Rock to the South of Ireland this morning, Thomas Ruyant
and Tanguy Leglatin also set a course back to France and Normandy. Indeed
Normandy will now be the last reindexing passage mark after Sylvie Viant,
President of the Race Committee, signalled the removal of the Sept îles
course passage in Brittany last night to the 8 reindexing competitors (the
English crew of ‘Spliff’ retiring due to alternator problems). This course
reduction was dictated by the light airs that have been reigning across the
race zone since Sunday’s start off Normandy’s landing beaches, which
unfortunately look likely to extend along the 389 miles that separate the
leaders of the fleet from the finish. "Destination Dunkerque" seems to be a
solid leader and has indextained its big lead from last night’s tacking
session through the Irish mists, ahead of "40 Degrees" skippered by the
Franco-British duo Mabire-Harding and the tenacious Dutch-Belgian pairing
Franssens-Kleinjans. Naturally none of the latter are keen to give their
rivals even an inch. The zone of high pressure which is promising fine
weather across France and England this weekend, will severely complicate
things for the sailors, who will have to contend with yet more light airs
and yet more upwind sailing; conditions which have characterised this first
ever Normandy Channel Race.
Leading the fleet in the Solent, at the Lizard, at Land's End and at Tuskar
Rock, the Thomas Ruyant-Tanguy Leglatin pairing added the legendary Fastnet
Rock to their list early this morning, after what has been a flawless
performance. However, the two men are still only too aware of the proximity
and aggressiveness of their pursuers and are thus avoiding any hint of
rejoicing in their messages, in a bid to retain their concentration all the
way to the finish line in Hermanville sur Mer. Right now a fine zone of high
pressure is sprawling out along the coast of Brittany, shifting gently up
towards the British Isles. Within its centre it contains some vast zones of
flat calm, while around its edge is a breath of E’ly, which is something the
competitors will have to negotiate head on once they’ve got around the
Fastnet. As such this close-hauled sailing will have coloured each of the
race’s high points, with the exception of the fast downwind sprint, slipping
across the Celtic Sea towards Tuskar Rock. However it was the omnipresent
mist and fog since Land's End, which was consuming the duos this morning;
the latter deprived of the spectacle of enchanting scenery as they hugged
the coastline. From the ghostly Tuskar Rock to an indiscernible Fastnet, the
sailors are tracing out their route with their instruments, an eye fixed on
the radar to warn them of potential fishing boats looming up out of the
gloom.
With the majority of the fleet still slinking along towards the Fastnet with
the wind on the nose, today hasn’t seen any upsets in the ranking, instead
the boats seem to have simply bunched up together. Christophe Coatnoan and
Pierre Yves Lautrou are bringing up the rear on "Groupe Partouche", but they
can at least console themselves with the fact that they are now "just 62
miles behind the leaders” from Dunkirk. The three boats in front of them,
"Novedia Initiatives" helmed by the De Lamotte-Galfione duo, "Marie Toit -
Caen la Mer”, skippered by Lepesqueux-Defert and the South Africans Nick
Legatt- Philippa Hutton-Squire on "Phesheya Racing", are all sailing within
a 27 mile expanse of ocean, whilst the provisional podium places hinge on 4
competitors grouped within 35 miles of each other. The shortening of the
course, though it changes very little in terms of distance to the goal, has
opened up the whole of the Channel to the competitors, and may well
facilitate a finish for the frontrunners of early morning on Sunday.
Quotes from the Boats:
Yvan Noblet, (Appart City)
"We have some slight communication problems, but the shortening of the
course comes as good news. We’re fairly happy with our night and we managed
to check the repairs in the light airs. We’re concentrating on making
headway now. We hope the fog’s going to disappear. We’ve got a lot of upwind
sailing still to do. The boat’s going well with the mast a little further
astern now. We’re going to try to get back in contention. After the Fastnet
we’ll reinforce the repair. We’re not going to be maniacs. We’ll stay as
close to the direct course as possible and try to claw back the miles on our
two friends ahead.
Nick Legatt (Phesheya Racing)
"The wind was very erratic last night; at times we had 10 - 15 knots, and
other times we had nothing at all. This morning the wind has stabilised.
We’re not far behind the others. We’re going to dig deep and try to stick
with them, though we’re also a bit worried about what’s happening behind us.
We’re sailing at a good angle to the wind to drop down towards the Fastnet.
We’re fogbound and can see nothing and no-one so we’re relying on the
computer to tell us what’s happening outside. We can barely see the front of
the boat! It really is a great race though. I’m not quite sure how you
organised things so we had upwind the whole way. Fortunately we are quick
upwind, though a bit more breeze and some downwind conditions would be much
appreciated...”
Tanguy Leglatin (Destination Dunkerque)
"We still have between 4 and 8 knots of breeze and we’re still in the fog.
We’re sad not to have seen anything of Ireland, though we did manage to take
a photo as we rounded the Fastnet. The shortened course won’t have much
effect as we’re expecting light airs and E’ly winds. We hope to be in Caen
by midday on Sunday. The new course is forcing us to be vigilant over the
next 36 hours as anything could still happen as our rivals will have
different wind and won’t slow down as much as us in the zone of high
pressure. Thomas and I are working on the grib files. We’re going about
things simply and trying to focus on speed. There is still a lot of
uncertainty as regards the future and we must now control what’s happening
behind us."
Tanguy Delamotte (Novedia Innovations)
"We saw the Irish coast as we tacked in the entrance to the bay of Cork and
it was great to see a bit of green! We have a problem with our email server
so we’re not receiving files anymore. It’s logical that the course has been
shortened and it will enable us to finish in a fairly tight bunch. It
wouldn’t have been much fun to go and play in the zones with strong currents
in the light airs. We’re putting in a nice little tack in the bay of Cork
with the current and we’ll soon put in another tack onto a direct course to
the Fastnet, which sadly we’re likely to round under the cover of darkness.
Meantime the zone of high pressure will slow down the frontrunners but it
won’t be enough to enable us to sweat it out at the front. However, we will
be trying to eat into the lead of our rivals ahead of us..."
Roelland Franssens (Moonpalace)
"Conditions have been difficult since Tuskar, with a light and very
fluctuating breeze. We’re very close to the Fastnet and 40 Degrees is just
ahead of us. We saw them last night. They got away from us this morning but
everything changes in the blink of an eye. The course reduction doesn’t
really alter much in terms of distance to the goal. We’re in for some more
upwind sailing and we can wave goodbye to our spinnaker. We’re ready for
battle..."
Marc Lepesqueux (Marie Toit - Caen la Mer)
"The seas are becoming calmer and, aside from the fog, everything’s
hunky-dory as we approach the Fastnet. We barely got a glimpse of Tuskar
despite being just 200 metres away, and we haven’t seen the Irish coast
either. The wind was very fluky, ranging from 3 to 25 knots and creating a
choppy sea. The wind shift has kicked in now and we’re dropping down towards
the Fastnet.”
Follow the Normandy Channel Race by visiting:
http://www.normandy-race.com/, an official
position report will be online each day at 5, 8, 11, 15 and 1900 hours
Rights free photos for the press and web by Jean-Marie Liot
www.jmliot.com
User name: media@ncr2010.com
Password: ncr2010
For Sirius Evénements’ press contacts: Tanguy Blondel +33 (0)6 88 45 35 36 –
Denis van den Brink +33 (0)6 07 91 65 66
Translated by Kate Jennings – Expression
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