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Vendee/St.Petersburg 2010- vs.
Zwischenevent zum Vendee Globe alle 4 Jahre
16.05.- 04.06. 2010
www.vendee-saintpetersbourg.org - Übersicht
16.05.2010
Vendée - St-Petersburg
And they're off
The hares and the tortoises
There's no point in being too hasty… that is the moral of Aesop's fable that the competitors aboard the three trimarans that are the favourites must have been thinking, when they passed the final coastal mark. In spite of a significant difference in speed from the start line, Franck-Yves Escoffier, Yves Le Blévec and Loïc Féquet were only five minutes ahead of those chasing after them. Those who manage to take advantage of local effects as they sail along the coast have an opportunity to upset the rankings.
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Quelle: www.vendee-saintpetersbourg.org
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A 10-knot westerly wind and calm seas. At noon (local time), 1000 hrs GMT, Dominique Bérenger, the President of the Race Committee, set the nine Multi50s free and from the outset a few of the outsiders made their presence felt. Firstly, Pierre Hingant (La mer révèle nos sens), but also Anne Caseneuve (Naviguez Anne Caseneuve), who rounded the first buoy ahead of some of the leading lights in the circuit, Franck-Yves Escoffier (Crêpes Whaou ! 3) and Yves Le Blévec (Actual). The latter went on the attack on a route that was closer to the wind than the rest of the fleet. They would soon be joined to fight it out by the youngsters on Crêpes Whaou ! 2, which set off at the other end of the line and got the timing just right. These three soon settled into a close battle, each one trying to show the other they had the edge in terms of speed…
On the other side of the sail area, those chasing after them avoided playing that little game and continued close to the coast, finding some slightly stronger winds, which were perpendicular to them due to local effects. The result in the end was that the three frontrunners found themselves forced to carry out several gybes to reach the all-important mark, while the other bunch could make their way more or less directly towards the buoy. So consequently, the three leaders got around the buoy with only a tiny lead over the others.
Light airs and some tricky decisions
The whole of the fleet then set off out to sea to try to find stronger winds, before heading up towards the tip of Brittany. They will be facing light west to north-westerly winds with a first test for them as they make their way through the Sein tidal race, marking the entrance to the Iroise Sea. After that, they will have to deal with the English Channel and make their first strategic choices: should they take the direct route or head up towards the British coast to find potentially more wind and speed? But that's all for tomorrow...
Rankings at 1400hrs GMT
- 1 Actual (Y Le Blévec) 1749.3 miles from the finish
- 2 Crêpes Whaou ! 3 (FY Escoffier) 0.4 miles from the leader
- 3 Crêpes Whaou ! 2 (L Féquet) 1.4 miles from the leader
- 4 Région Aquitaine Port-Médoc (L Roucayrol) 3.1 miles from the leader
- 5 La mer révèle nos sens (P Hingant) 5.1 miles from the leader
- 6 Naviguez Anne Caseneuve (A Caseneuve) 6 miles from the leader
- 7 FenêtréA-Cardinal (E Le Roux) 6.2 miles from the leader
- 8 CLM (H Cléris) 6.7 miles from the leader
- 9 Pi R2 (E Hochédé) 12.8 miles from the leader
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