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Press release – Tuesday 24 May 2011
The delights of upwind!
2 days at sea have passed for the 14 Class40s still racing. After a sprint
across the English Channel, the fleet has been sailing close-hauled since
entering the Solent in some very lively conditions: 25 knots of breeze and
big seas. Their bodies are beginning to stagger under the blow. It’s hard to
get any sleep or eat heartily during a rodeo! However, the battle continues.
At the front of the pack, Marie Toît – Caen la Mer has taken pole position
thanks to a fine tactical coup. Overnight, Marc Lepesqueux and Michel
Kleinjans favoured an offshore tack in contrast to Fabien Delahaye and Bruno
Jourdren, Port de Caen – Ouistreham, who hugged the English coast and thus
dropped down to second in the ranking overnight. However, just 6 miles
separate those at the head of the fleet and fifth place. Suffice to say that
there’s everything to play for. In a few hours’ time, the leaders will have
passed the Scilly Isles and will enter the Irish Sea. Such waters are
renowned for their toughness and the murky atmosphere. It’s not certain then
that the skippers will finally be able to get some respite, but on reading
last night’s messages from the boats, it would seem that, despite it all,
they seem to be enjoying the upwind sailing…
Message from Axel Strauss and Nicolas Boidevézi aboard Défi GDE – Tzu Hang,
received on Tuesday 24 May at 0043 hours French time:
“All’s well aboard Défi GDE Tzu Hang except... we’re still close-hauled and
according to the grib files, there’s more of the same until at least as far
as Tuskar Rock. We’ve put in a fair number of tacks and done the
accompanying stacking. It’s no holiday! We lost a bit of ground yesterday
morning on exiting the Solent but we’re not far from the leaders. I’m very
happy for Marc and Michel (Marie Toît – Caen la mer) as their new boat seems
to be working well. I must go and eat now. The head chef aboard has prepared
two delicious dishes (sachets). We had to choose between lamb with pilau
rice and Thai chicken. For some unknown reason Nicolas immediately went for
the lamb...”
Message from Caroline Vieille and Stéphanie Alran aboard Ocean’s Eleven,
received on Tuesday 24 May at 0253 hours French time:
“Some slight issues with the sail wardrobe on Ocean's Eleven. What a
paradox, isn’t it?! On a girls’ boat… Our wardrobe is rather dated and we
wouldn’t be averse to a spot of shopping at the sailmakers! The large
spinnaker ripped yesterday morning as we made it into the Solent; it was a
good way to go, all alone like a grown up. The solent has holes in it, the
staysail looks like a sack of spuds and the gennaker’s too small.
Fortunately our indexsail is hanging on in there, but that’s as it should be
as it’s new. Other than that we regret that we’ve amassed such a big
deficit, though spirits reindex high aboard. Stéph is tackling today’s
conditions, which are wet and very close on the wind… See you soon, Caro and
Stéph”.
Message from Pierre-Yves Lautrou and Dominic Vittet aboard Express Sapmer,
received on Tuesday 24 May at 0308 hours French time:
“Well… We’re planting stakes to make headway! Given the number we’ve used
since exiting the solent, there’s enough to make a fine fence! Other than
that, it’s a very cold night and there’s still as much of a struggle and a
current as ever so it’s perfect. We’re not idling though and it’s taking its
toll physically... See you PYL”
Message from Phillippa Hutton Squire and Nick Leggatt aboard Phesheya
Racing, received on Tuesday 24 May at 0357 hours French time:
“24 hours of close-hauled sailing, it’s tiresome! Yesterday, day broke
somewhere near Cowes, beneath grey and not very welcoming skies. We changed
headsail to switch from staysail to genoa and in the end we switched back to
the staysail on exiting the Solent. We were very close to Défi GDE – Tzu
Hang, Partouche and Red, but we lost them for a while when we took a
different option. On approaching Portland Bill, we began to catch up with
them. The pace of the sprint across Lyme Bay was steady under 2 reef
indexsail and staysail. That’s where Partouche turned back and headed for
home. We haven’t heard why they’re stopping but we hope the crew’s okay. The
South-Westerly wind took us in very close to Dartmouth over the course of
the afternoon and at that point a cold front rolled through: rain, poor
visibility and a Westerly wind shift. The wind then eased a little and we
shook out a reef. As the sun set near Plymouth, Défi GDE – Tzu Hang and Red
disappeared and we haven’t seen them since. As we write, we’re at Lizard
Point, still in big seas, still cold and wet, but day is breaking and the
skies are clearing. The barometer is climbing again and we hope conditions
will become more manageable this morning!”
Message from Tanguy de Lamotte and Sébastien Audigane aboard Initiatives
Saveurs, received on Tuesday 24 May at 0517 hours French time:
“Since Cowes we’ve been on a beat, with stacking and tack changes on the
menu. Suffice to say we’re a bit broken with various bruising. It’s a bit of
a battle zone. Yesterday afternoon, whilst I was quietly resting, a big
spotlight came lose and landed straight on my mouth. I now have the trace of
one of my teeth inside my lips. Fortunately it’s not too much of a bother.
As regards the race, all’s well. We’re up with the leaders and the fleet has
bunched up again. Solely the Kiwi boat (Marie Toît – Caen la mer) seems to
be a notch above us but there’s still a long way to go… We’re hoping for a
bit of respite after Land’s End so we can get in a decent siesta and a good
meal. Good day to you all! Tanguy and Séb”.
Ranking on Tuesday 24 May at 0800 French time:
1
MARIE TOÎT - CAEN LA MER
Marc Lepesqueux/Michel Kleinjans
664,0
2
PORT DE CAEN OUISTREHAM
Fabien Delahaye/Bruno Jourdren
667,3
3
TALANTA
Jean Galfione/Eric Péron
669,9
4
INITIATIVES SAVEURS
Tanguy de Lamotte/Sébastien Audigane
670,1
5
MARE.DE2
Jorg Riechers/Etienne David
670,5
6
L'EXPRESS - SAPMER
Pierre-Yves Lautrou/Dominic Vittet
670,9
7
DES PIEDS ET DES indexS
Damien seguin/Yohann Richomme
671,0
8
DEFI GDE - TZU HANG
Axel Strauss/Nicolas Boidevézi
678,3
9
PHESHEYA RACING
Philippa Hutton/Nick Leggatt
679,3
10
RED
Matthias Blumencron/Boris Hermann
681,3
11
40 DEGREES
Hannah Jenner/Anna-Maria Renken
705,0
12
GRYPHON SOLO 2
Joe Harris/Josh Hall
709,1
13
SPLIFF
Andrew Dawson/Rune Aasberg
725,2
14
OCEAN ELEVEN
Stéphanie Alran/Caroline Vieille
752,2
ABD
LIVEWIRE
Stuart Dodd/Steve Kennington
ABD
PARTOUCHE
Christophe Coatnoan/Sébastien Figue
Translated by Kate Jennings – Expression
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