Saturday 22nd May - Evening
Final act
It’s a suspense filled final act being played out in the first ever Normandy
Channel Race. After a week of racing, it’s the most enthralling of scenarios
that the double-handed Class 40 sailors are putting on for us, with the two
leaders virtually neck and neck. This is the likely to be the case not
solely on the final home straight, but at the final ‘cols’ of the course,
the exceptional ‘summit’ of which is the passage around the famous Raz
Blanchard, which Thomas Ruyant and co-skipper Tanguy Leglatin on
"Destination Dunkerque" will round tonight. Hot on their heels is the
seemingly unshakeable threat of "40 Degrees" helmed by the experienced
Halvard Mabire and Peter Harding.
Late this afternoon the duo is fast approaching the island of Guernsey and
its dreaded currents. Amazingly, after over 800 miles of racing, it’s in the
most winding section of the course, at the heart of these Anglo-Norman
islands and in sight of the Nez de Jobourg, that the outcome of this race
may be decided. The 8 reindexing protagonists in the race have all been
making headway in the Channel since dawn and are putting in some long tacks,
close-hauled in a steady ESE’ly wind of around fifteen knots, in the
sunshine (at last!). The sea is also proving to be a little more compliant,
though the ride is still a bumpy one. By Monday, the whole fleet should be
safely tied up on the pontoons of the Bassin Saint Pierre in Caen, with a
view to attending the prize-giving, now scheduled to take place in the
Pavillon de Normandie at 1200 hrs on Monday 24th May.
Right now though, the focus is on the two high performance Class 40s, with
their two crews comprising very different track records on the water. Years
of experience are behind the Harding-Mabire duo, while the young Ruyant
–Leglatin duo are spirited racers, going for gold with all guns blazing. As
such we’re in for a breathtaking final, whose uncertain outcome is set to
last all the way to the wire with just over 100 miles to go until they reach
the finish line off Hermanville sur Mer. Lining themselves up for the final
sizeable obstacle, Raz Blanchard and its strong currants, Ruyant/Leglatin
and Mabire/Harding have been giving everything they have today as they sail
against the wind in a nasty chop, in a bid to round this imposing headland
before the tide turns. Unfortunately this is unlikely to be the case now as
the current is against the two ‘historic’ leaders of the Normandy Channel
Race as they prepare to round the Cotentin. Ruyant demonstrated a slightly
fatalistic air during today’s radio session: "Those behind us are likely to
make up ground..." However, his biggest worry was naturally fuelled by the
performance of the Mabire-Harding duo, whose "40 Degrees" works wonders
sailing close to the wind, a point of sail which has pretty much dominated
the 1,000 mile race. "Halvard has a superb boat for upwind sailing, and
added to that he’s not making any mistakes" concludes the Dunkirk sailor.
The latest ETAs this evening, predict a finish off Hermanville sur Mer at
around 0800 hrs tomorrow morning, Sunday. A bunched finish is naturally on
the cards so a fabulous final sprint is taking shape in the Baie de Seine,
where anything and everything could happen.
As such uncertainty reigns over the final ranking for the 8 reindexing
competitors tonight. Yvan Noblet and his co-skipper David Taboré (Appart
City) have just snatched third place from the Dutch/Belgian duo Roland
Franssens and Michel Kleinjans (Moonpalace). It’s behind them though that
the greatest indecision reigns. Christophe Coatnean and Pierre-Yves Lautrou
(Groupe Partouche) are doing their best to get away from Tanguy De Lamotte
and Jean Galfione (Novedia Initiatives), the latter still lacking
electronics and currently in line to cross the finish overnight on Sunday or
Monday morning.
Quotes from the Boats:
Roland Franssens (Moonpalace):
"We finally have a bit more breeze, 18 to 20 knots, with the sun shining on
our way back to France. It’s a fabulous day for sailing. It’s just a shame
it’s an E’ly wind. It’s hard to say when we’ll finish, but we’ll be
close-hauled until the middle of tomorrow afternoon! We’ve got all the sail
aloft and we’re battling with the waves..."
David Taboré (Appart City):
"We’re slowly getting towards the finish. We had some fine conditions last
night, with wind, a starry sky and a beautiful moon. We were able to make
good headway. We’re battling it out with "Moonpalace", who we passed off the
Scillies last night. We haven’t yet decided on our strategy for rounding
Jobourg but we see ourselves reaching Caen at around 1400 hrs. We’re in good
shape. We’re making the most of the fact that the boat isn’t slamming quite
so much, to get in a bit of sleep. The wind has eased slightly from 18 to 14
knots...."
Nick Legatt (Phesheya Racing):
"We have a lot of wind at the moment with 20 knot gusts, so it’s very wet.
There’s a lot of current as we sail into the wind and the sailing is rather
difficult. We’re waiting for the tide to turn so the sea calms down and we
can go faster. It was a beautiful night and a very active one, with a fair
number of changes of tack. We hope to reach Ouistreham on Sunday evening.
We’re going to have to deal well with the tide changes. The minute we can
carry the right sail combination, we’ll be able to go very fast. We’re flat
out and we’re motivated to get past "Marie Toît - Caen la Mer". We certainly
intend to make Caen in time for the prize-giving! (Laughs)
Jean Galfione (Novedia-Initiatives):
"The wind has increased to 20 - 25 knots. We don’t have any instruments,
irridium, grib files or positions.... We’re sailing blind. The boat’s
jumping about a bit but we prefer sailing in the sunshine. We came across
"Groupe Partouche" yesterday, but I don’t know if we’re ahead. We’re
travelling with a very pretty dove, which is resting at the foot of the
mast. Unusual!"
Thomas Ruyant (Destination Dunkerque):
"The boat’s slamming! It’s a bit warlike, close-hauled, approaching
Guernsey. We’re tacking in 18 knots of breeze. It’s a difficult situation,
especially as we’ll have the tide against us at the Raz Blanchard. As such
those behind will make up ground. Halvard is coming dangerously close. It’s
going to be very tight at the finish! We’re likely to stall before him.
Tactically we’re not doing too bad, but the weather is bringing the
backrunners nearer. Halvard has a good boat upwind and isn’t making any
mistakes. We’re wave hopping right now and even when you’re at the helm you
can’t prevent the boat from slamming. We’re in the most technical phase of
the course..."
Marc Lepesqueux (Marie Toït - Caen la Mer)
"We’re finally out of the fog, sailing upwind in the sunshine! We spent 48
hours in the fog in the Celtic Sea. We didn’t see Tuskar or the Fastnet!
We’re having something to eat right now but we don’t have a lot left. We
traversed the Scillies by playing the wind shifts. We hope to be in Caen on
Sunday evening... for a rib roast! We’re trying to control Phesheya, but it
will be hard to make up ground on the top 4...."
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
Translated by Kate Jennings – Expression
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