01.06.2010
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http://www.vendeestpetersbourg.tv/directPlayer.php?ids=4c0522d10bdbf&idv=1000&idu=MAN5393805610
Tagesvidos
Vendée - St-Petersburg
The Baltic Express
It was just what the doctor ordered after the high life in St. Petersburg. An express crossing of the Baltic, with hands on the sheets, and attentive work at the helm trying to get some good acceleration. Gradually, the whole fleet reached the east-north easterly air stream, which should allow them to make good headway to Mölle Point in Southern Sweden. A quick start to the race, before they encounter high-pressure conditions at the end of the course.
The second leg is well and truly underway. After a gradual build-up in the Gulf of Finland and a few inevitable calms, the whole fleet is sailing on a long downwind tack, pushed along by an east-north easterly wind blowing at between twenty and twenty-five knots. And if to begin with, conditions have tended to favour the frontrunners, as they were the first to pick up the wind, we can expect them to bunch up again as they approach the Oresund between Denmark and Sweden. The fleet is due to tack its way to the northern tip of Denmark in winds that will ease off from the west.
The search for perfection
For the time being, the competitors are making the most of the conditions to enjoy themselves. Hurtling along at full speed on seas that are still relatively smooth, the helmsmen take it in turns as the speed builds. Even the air temperature is quite comfortable thanks to some generous sunshine. We must remember too that nights are shortened considerably in these latitudes and the sailors are able to take advantage of more than twenty hours of daylight sailing. At the front, we find the two leaders from the first leg, Actual and Crêpes Whaou ! 3, who are both speeding along at more than twenty knots. However, we can see that the crew of Crêpes Whaou ! 2, as they announced in St. Petersburg, does not intend to let them get away with it. As proof of that, the small tactical move made by Loïc Féquet and his crewmen just after the start, meant that for a short time just before they left the Gulf of Finland, they crossed in front of Actual. In the pack chasing after them, Lalou Roucayrol (Région Aquitaine Port-Médoc) is leading the way just ahead of Erwan Le Roux (FenêtréA Cardinal). These two crews, who are setting off in the same configuration as on the outward leg, have the advantage of being able to slip into automatic mode immediately. When we remember that passing some of the hurdles along the way came down to just a few minutes, we can imagine how effective a well practiced crew may be. At the moment, the gaps in terms of time reindex small, talking into account the respective speeds of the boats… But once the wind drops off for the whole fleet, the deficit of a few minutes can be lengthened considerably. Looking at the results of the first leg, we can bet that everyone will be busy trying to grab that extra mile.
Positions in the 1400hrs rankings
- 1 Actual (Y Le Blévec) 1483.8 miles from the finish
- 2 Crêpes Whaou ! 3 (FY Escoffier) 12.7 miles from the leader
- 3 Crêpes Whaou ! 2 (L Féquet) 42.3 miles from the leader
- 4 Région Aquitaine Port-Médoc (L Roucayrol) 81.7 miles from the leader
- 5 FenêtréA-Cardinal (E Le Roux) 87 miles from the leader
- 6 La mer révèle nos sens (P Hingant) 99 miles from the leader
- 7 Naviguez Anne Caseneuve (A Caseneuve) 112 miles from the leader
- 8 CLM (H Cléris) 124.5 miles from the leader
- 9 p R2 (E Hochédé) 154.9 miles from the leader
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Press service: Liliane Fretté Communication
Liliane Fretté / Cathy Sibot
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Tel :+33 (0)1 42 56 60 60
E-mail : presse@vendee-saintpetersbourg.org
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