http://www.vendeestpetersbourg.tv/directPlayer.php?ids=4bf848d14940c&idv=1000&idu=MAN5393805610
http://www.vendeestpetersbourg.tv/directPlayer.php?ids=4bf7af8d810fe&idv=1000&idu=MAN5393805610
Tagesvideos
22.05.2010
Press release n°12
Vendée - St-Petersburg
A bridge over far from troubled waters…
The Oresund bridge marks the real entry into the Baltic. The more the fleet moves away from the narrow passage separating Copenhagen and Malmo, the less they see of others and it becomes more and more like a wide open, natural space. The Baltic is gradually revealing its characteristics and its pitfalls. They are not yet in Russia, but this is already quite a different world opening up before their bows.
With the exception of a few experienced sailors like Eric Loizeau, crewman on Actual and Antoine Houdet on Croisières Anne Caseneuve, this second part of the leg is rather like opening a door to an unknown world for most of the sailors taking part in this extraordinary adventure. Without exaggerating we could say that the Baltic has its own distinctive character. An enclosed sea, which partially freezes in winter offering conditions closer to a huge northern lake than an inland sea: with its cold dark waters, unstable winds, surface currents, it certainly generates all they need to add to the uncertainty aboard the Multi50s taking part in the Vendée St-Petersburg. To the extent that no one is prepared yet to make any forecasts about their expected time of arrival.
A change of scenery
While we await the final outcome, the racing is continuing throughout the fleet. At the front, for the second time in the race, the two leaders have gone for different strategies: while Franck-Yves Escoffier (Crêpes Whaou 3 !) has continued to make gains on the direct route, the crew of Actual have chosen to head north-westwards, maybe in anticipation of some stronger winds to come. The last time they separated like this was off the Cherbourg Peninsula and it turned to the advantage of Yves Le Blévec, but what will happen tomorrow? For the moment, the 20-mile separation between the two boats cannot be considered that significant, as one of the pair is sailing at right angles to the direct route. Whether it will pay off or not, Yves Le Blévec and his crew have chosen to put to one side a cautious approach… An inability to keep up the pace with the leader or maybe they have seen something in the weather to convince them, only the three men aboard Actual know the answer. In fourth place, Pierre Hingant's crew (La mer révèle nos sens) has won back his place from Anne Caseneuve (Anne Caseneuve Croisières)… But the Kattegat, in these light airs could still have some surprises up its sleeve, before the two boats pass through the Oresund. The crew of Crêpes Whaou 2 ! can tell us all about that, as they had to drop anchor just fifteen miles from the bridge linking Denmark and Sweden. A rather surrealistic sight with a racing trimaran becalmed, while some amateur fishermen enjoyed taking a look by circling Loïc Féquet and his crew. In Denmark, too it is the start of the weekend and a boat trip is a traditional thing to do at weekends.
Whatever the current situation, it looks likely that the winds will strengthen from Sunday morning. Under the influence of a low-pressure area over the North Sea, the SW'ly winds are likely to freshen considerably and some forecasts have even announced 25 knots of wind. That will certainly cheer up the crews, hoping to see their boats speed along downwind thanks to the help of this breeze. It may well lead to changes in the rankings as some of the multihulls like Lalou Roucayrol's (Région Aquitaine Port-Médoc) are clearly more at ease in a breeze than others. But above all, we should note that the wind is going to freshen from the west, possibly allowing those that have been left behind to narrow the gap to the leaders in the pack. Although the change is unlikely to affect the position of the two frontrunners, it should at least enable all of the fleet to reach St-Petersburg in reasonable time.
From the boats:
Erwan Le Roux (FenêtréA Cardinal)
"We're waiting for the wind to strengthen. Everyone is fed up with the light conditions and would like to see their boat speeding along in some wind. We're a bit disappointed, as we've got some computer problem stopping us from sending e-mails and in particular pictures that we've taken on board. So we can't give you as much information as we would like. Apart from that there is an excellent atmosphere on board and we're hanging on in there. If the wind strengthens, everything will be to play for amongst the boats in the pack."
Mathieu Souben (Crêpes Whaou 2 !)
"We're making very slow headway. We even had to drop anchor, because the wind was so weak that we couldn't resist the current. It's quite funny, as there are a lot of amateur fishermen out here on small boats and small yachts motoring around us taking a look at the boat. We've obviously intrigued them. It's really strange to be in an offshore race and to find ourselves in the sort of situation we associate with racing in the bay. As for this race, we're hanging on. We know there's a second leg with the return voyage and that the final result is the total time for the two legs. So each minute won now could be useful to us in the leg between St-Petersburg and St-Gilles Croix-de-Vie."
Eric Loizeau (Actual)
In the Baltic, you can't be certain of anything. I've already been up here twice, once in the Europe Race and once when I was delivering one of my racing boats. The scenery hasn't changed that much, apart from all the wind turbines you can see on land. Sailing here is something very special, because there are so many rivers feeding this sea, so it is less salty than the oceans; the water is black, the winds unreliable on this cold sea, which tends to slow down the masses of air. It's rather like being on a big lake. Apart from that, I'm happy to be out here: even if for several years I opted for the mountains, deep down I still enjoy being on a boat."
Reminder
You can hear the live radio link-up with the boats each day on the race website and ask the crews any questions you may have, which the radio presenter will then put to them during the session.
Daily radio session from 1000hrs to 1040hrs GMT.
Rankings at 1400hrs GMT
- 1 Crêpes Whaou ! 3 (FY Escoffier) 389.1 miles from the finish
- 2 Actual (Y Le Blévec) 20.4 miles from the leader
- 3 Crêpes Whaou ! 2 (L Féquet) 259 miles from the leader
- 4 La mer révèle nos sens (P Hingant) 344.7 miles from the leader
- 5 Naviguez Anne Caseneuve (A Caseneuve) 349.8 miles from the leader
- 6 Région Aquitaine Port-Médoc (L Roucayrol) 435.1 miles from the leader
- 7 FenêtréA-Cardinal (E Le Roux) 441.7 miles from the leader
- 8 CLM (H Cléris) 469.8 miles from the leader
- 9 p R2 (E Hochédé) 570.9 miles from the leader
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