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Press release – Thursday 26 May 2011
A breathtaking finish!
Since rounding Land’s End, the 12 Class40s still racing have been enjoying
downwind conditions and 25/30 knots of breeze. The leaders passed Guernsey
at 0300 GMT this Thursday morning. At the head of the fleet, the suspense is
unbearable. Yesterday evening, at the 1800 GMT ranking, Port de Caen -
Ouistreham was just 200 metres ahead of Initiatives Saveurs. This morning,
at the 0400 GMT position report, Tanguy de Lamotte and Sébastien Audigane’s
Class40 had moved in front with a lead of over 6 miles. It would seem,
according to a message received from Initiatives Saveurs, that Port de Caen
– Ouistreham encountered a sail issue. It couldn’t have been an easy night
for the two boats racing neck and neck. However, for the crew of Des Pieds
et des indexs, who have made a great comeback, the last few hours have been
rather favourable… At 0700 GMT, there are less than 70 miles to the finish.
The hardest part is behind them and Raz Blanchard has just been rounded with
a favourable current. Since the tide has turned the boats have had slightly
less pace but they’re still making very high speeds with more than 12 knots
VMG. After a theoretical course of nearly 800 miles, the frontrunners are
set to cross the finish line in Ouistreham between 1100 and 1300 GMT. We
await what is set to be a breathtaking conclusion with baited breath!
Message from Tanguy de Lamotte and Sébastien Audigane aboard Initiatives
Saveurs, received on Thursday 26 May at 0342 GMT:
“Last night, Port de Caen - Ouistreham must have had an issue with a sail,
as she just disappeared… We spent the whole night under medium spinnaker,
flat out, and we’ve just passed Guernsey under gennaker. The tide is going
to be with us for Raz Blanchard and then things will be quick! My right boot
is completed filled with water: it’s like a swimming pool… only not as
pleasant :-) It’s full-on racing! See you soon. Tang and Séb”
Message from Axel Strauss and Nicolas Boidevézi aboard Défi GDE – Tzu Hang,
received on Thursday 26 May at 0256 GMT:
“Hi everyone! A little night message for you. We rounded Land’s End late
yesterday and since then we’ve been on a more fun point of sail and above
all quicker under 2 reef indexsail and small spinnaker. It’s pretty full-on
now… 28 knots of Westerly and heavy seas. We’re crossing the shipping lanes
at an average of 17 knots of boat speed. The AIS is making the slaloming
easier. The engine is purring as it recharges the batteries... My ears don’t
like it much. I’m no longer used to sailing with such a racket. It’s quite a
dark night, which is preventing me from seeing the sea to hone the direction
of the ride at the helm, but we’re already slipping along nicely, teasing
out 20 knots of pure speed. Axel is resting as we’re preparing ourselves for
the ‘boat-breaking’ conditions on rounding Raz Blanchard in conditions not
recommended by any sailors! Namely 35 knots of breeze battling against the
tide: "will it work / won’t it"... Kisses Nico and Axel”.
Message from Phillippa Hutton Squire and Nick Leggatt aboard Phesheya
Racing, received on Wednesday 25 May at 2258 GMT:
“Hello everyone! Thanks for all your messages. Yes, today was my birthday
for all those who forgot. We rounded Tuskar Rock around midnight last night,
so once again we saw nothing of it! Last year there was fog… We’re going to
have to do the race again so we can see it in daylight! Today was hard.
Sailing across the Irish Sea with 25/30 knots of breeze and some big waves.
It’s not much fun and it’s cold and wet. However, the surrounding nature
made it all worthwhile. We saw numerous dolphins, gulls, rainbows, etc. I
think that’s what motivates us to be on the water. Each time the boat slams
into a wave, everything gets shaken about like there’s an earthquake. The
shrouds vibrate; the computer screen flashes and the beeps resonate around
the boat, driving us crazy! We’re always wondering ourselves what’s going to
happen after the next wave… In a few hours’ time we’ll be approaching Land’s
End after which we’ll be on a direct course to Caen. We cannot wait for
that! However, it should be fast all the way home ;-)”
Ranking on Thursday 26 May at 0700 GMT:
1
INITIATIVES SAVEURS
Tanguy de Lamotte/Sébastien Audigane
86,0
0,0
14,0
2
PORT DE CAEN OUISTREHAM
Fabien Delahaye/Bruno Jourdren
92,0
6,0
12,2
3
DES PIEDS ET DES indexS
Damien seguin/Yohann Richomme
94,6
8,6
11,9
4
MARE.DE2
Jorg Riechers/Etienne David
98,1
12,0
12,0
5
TALANTA
Jean Galfione/Eric Péron
102,7
16,7
8,6
6
L'EXPRESS - SAPMER
Pierre-Yves Lautrou/Dominic Vittet
107,0
21,0
3,5
7
DEFI GDE - TZU HANG
Axel Strauss/Nicolas Boidevézi
132,5
46,4
12,6
8
RED
Matthias Blumencron/Boris Hermann
163,1
77,1
10,2
9
GRYPHON SOLO 2
Joe Harris/Josh Hall
233,8
147,8
6,4
10
PHESHEYA RACING
Philippa Hutton/Nick Leggatt
248,2
162,2
-9,5
11
40 DEGREES
Hannah Jenner/Anna-Maria Renken
261,0
175,0
8,7
12
OCEAN ELEVEN
Stéphanie Alran/Caroline Vieille
293,8
207,7
9,8
ABD
SPLIFF
Andrew Dawson/Rune Aasberg
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.
Translated by Kate Jennings – Expression
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