|
Press release – Tuesday 24 May 2011
Change of course!
After just over 2 days at sea, there are now just 13 Class40s still racing.
This morning, at around 0900 GMT, the crew on Marie Toit – Caen la Mer
announced their retirement following a collision. For the rest of the fleet,
the cavalcade continues. The rankings are tightly bunched with the top three
desperately hanging onto their top spots. Fabien Delahaye and Bruno Jourdren
aboard Port de Caen Ouistreham are leading the way ahead of Tanguy de
Lamotte and Sébastien Audigane on Initiatives Saveurs and Jean Galfione and
Eric Péron on Talanta.
For the past few hours, the competitors have been enjoying some downwind
sailing. A more manageable point of sail, despite the strong wind, which is
finally giving them a chance to rest and eat. Tuskar Rock lays ahead of
their bows. Late this evening the leaders were set to pass the Irish course
mark, before setting a course for the Fastnet lighthouse. However, that was
before taking into consideration a depression heading straight towards the
fleet…
Change of course
The first two days of the race haven’t been at all relaxing for those
competing in the Normandy Channel Race. Furthermore, the weather forecasts
have no good news for the skippers, who are already worn down by fatigue. A
deep depression is homing in on the Irish Sea and is likely to reach the
fleet early morning tomorrow, Wednesday. The winds generated by this South/
South-Westerly air flow are likely to be very strong and, as a result, the
race committee has taken the decision to shorten the course: “Given the
upcoming weather conditions in the Irish Sea and especially at Fastnet Rock,
namely 40 to 45 knots of South/South-Westerly and heavy seas, we’ve opted,
in agreement with the organisation, to remove the Fastnet lighthouse course
mark and take the fleet directly towards Guernsey after Tuskar Rock”,
explains Sylvie Viant, Race Director. All the competitors have been warned
by email. Following the change of course, the 13 Class40s still racing
should be able to ride out the tide between Thursday afternoon and Friday
morning. In the meantime, the race will be no less thrilling. A long beat
awaits the fleet between the lighthouse at Tuskar Rock and the tip of Land’s
End. Indeed this tactical passage will mean the skippers will have to battle
to stay in contention. Further down the track, the depression will shift,
the winds set to move round to the West, where it will accompany the
Class40s downwind as far as Guernsey. The upshot of this will be a high
speed 130 mile run. An interesting change of course then, which might well
reshuffle the cards in the overall ranking…
Retirement of Michel Kleinjans and Marc Lepesqueux aboard Marie Toit – Caen
la Mer
This Tuesday morning, at 0900 GMT, Michel Kleinjans and Marc Lepesqueux
called race management to announce their retirement. Following a collision
with a pipe being towed by a tug, the new Kiwi 40FC Marie Toit – Caen la Mer
suffered damage which has forced the skippers to turn back. Michel Kleinjans
tells of their misadventure: “A tug was making headway on a course virtually
parallel to our own. As such we weren’t paying any more attention than that.
I was up forward when I spotted a black pipe. I ran to the helm but it was
too late. The pipe slipped between the rudders and ended up getting stuck
there. The stock of one of the rudders is twisted, the sail is likely to be
damaged and maybe the hull too.” For Marc Lepesqueux, it’s a bitter
disappointment: “We found it difficult to get our bearings initially but
after the Saint Marcouf islands, things went better! We were in second place
on exiting the Solent and this morning, after last night’s option, we were
leading the ranking. We’d worked well until this stupid thing! It’s pleasant
sailing on a modern boat which has a sound hull below the waterline and
great potential. I’m disappointed we can’t finish the race and that we’ll
miss out on the fine reward of a downwind descent between Ireland and
Guernsey!”
The crew of Marie Toit – Caen la Mer is making towards Cherbourg and is set
to take the boat as far as Belgium to begin repairs. The Franco-Belgian duo
had sailed a great race until just after they’d moved up into the lead…
Ranking for Tuesday 24 May at 1400 GMT:
1
PORT DE CAEN OUISTREHAM
Fabien Delahaye/Bruno Jourdren
Dist to finish 602,2
Separation 0,0
2
INITIATIVES SAVEURS
Tanguy de Lamotte/Sébastien Audigane
603,9
1,7
3
TALANTA
Jean Galfione/Eric Péron
606,4
4,2
4
MARE.DE2
Jorg Riechers/Etienne David
610,2
8,0
5
L'EXPRESS - SAPMER
Pierre-Yves Lautrou/Dominic Vittet
610,3
8,0
6
DES PIEDS ET DES indexS
Damien seguin/Yohann Richomme
613,0
10,7
7
DEFI GDE - TZU HANG
Axel Strauss/Nicolas Boidevézi
626,9
24,6
8
RED
Matthias Blumencron/Boris Hermann
627,4
25,2
9
PHESHEYA RACING
Philippa Hutton/Nick Leggatt
633,0
30,8
10
GRYPHON SOLO 2
Joe Harris/Josh Hall
675,0
72,8
11
40 DEGREES
Hannah Jenner/Anna-Maria Renken
675,8
73,6
12
SPLIFF
Andrew Dawson/Rune Aasberg
688,0
85,7
13
OCEAN ELEVEN
Stéphanie Alran/Caroline Vieille
724,1
121,9
ABD
LIVEWIRE
Stuart Dodd/Steve Kennington
ABD
MARIE TOÎT - CAEN LA MER
Marc Lepesqueux/Michel Kleinjans
ABD
PARTOUCHE
Christophe Coatnoan/Sébastien Figue
Find the cartography, updated rankings, photos and radio sessions on the
race website: www.normandy-race.com
Join the Normandy Channel Race at
www.normandy-race.com and on Facebook.
High definition photos available at www.jmliot.com
.
User name: media@normandy.com
Password: ncr2011media
Translated by Kate Jennings – Expression
|
