Transat ECOVER-BtoB - Day 10

Transition

There are only thirteen still racing in the Transat Ecover BtoB, following Armel Le Cléac'h, it was the turn of Mike Golding to throw in the towel, to his bitter disappointment, following an overabundance of electrical issues. And though Loick Peyron is still leading the fleet, the danger now comes from Kito de Pavant and Michel Desjoyeaux, with the least 'handicapped' boats of the fleet...

Today’s big news is the retirement by British sailor Mike Golding (Ecover)! For some days, it has been apparent that his monohull have been experiencing technical issues: “This is not a decision I take easily. I am not given to giving up in the face of adversity but this is about what I consider good seamanship. There is too much at stake to put the boat through unnecessary miles in this condition. The primary goal of doing this Transat Ecover B to B race was to qualify for the Vendee Globe, and to get racing miles under our keel in a competitive mode. As soon as we finished the Transat Jacques Vabre we had a discussion with the ECOVER 3 technical team and we decided I would do it only if the boat was in competitive shape, which it definitely was at the start. Due to these problems we are no longer competitive. Minor issues can become much bigger problems on the Bay of Biscay in December. From here on it would only be a trial of my ability to keep the boat together, in no way learning more about the things we need to do for the future... The forthcoming 600-odd miles will be a challenge in their own right and it is not going be an easy five days in this kind of mode”. Mike Golding intends to make for the Canaries to resolve his problems which cannot be fixed single-handed...

Indeed, the solo sailors are no longer making headway at 100% of their potential, except perhaps Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) who may well be able to put the pressure on the leader Loïck Peyron (Gitana Eighty) over the next few days, the latter remaining handicapped by his lack of mast wand. The leader is currently managing to maintain his advance but he’ll have to keep a careful eye on Kito de Pavant (Groupe Bel) ! "It’s a cushy Sunday! Some good conditions with 20-25 knots of E’ly wind, two reefs in the mainsail and staysail. I’m making 17 knots of boatspeed… I’ve had some problems with my reefing lines but as the wind is easing this evening or overnight it should be okay. After that we will end up with a SW'ly wind all the way to the finish! Being second is good news but nobody is racing at 100%! I’ve checked my keel for the same problems as Safran’s but all is well. We should finish on either Thursday or Friday."

Stormy Sunday

Whilst the solo sailors battle through the easing tradewinds, the storm has kicked in over the finish zone of Brittany, with gusts at over 60 knots! Making fairly good headway towards the goal, Yann Eliès (Generali) finally unveiled the causes of his performance, which has dipped below the theoretical potential of his monohull of late: "It was an active night on deck. In the squalls I had anything from 0 to 20 knots so it wasn’t a very prolific night in terms of making headway and I lost a bit of ground. I have tried to anticipate the high pressure zone and make some westing but in the middle of the night there were squalls and I had to battle to get out of their clutches. Before the Doldrums my genoa was keen to split in two and then it did just that inside the doldrums. I tried repairing it whilst I was in there. The solent is in pretty much the same state and it’s not possible to make repairs whilst the winds are so fickle. As a result I’m currently sailing under small jib, forced to bear away in the high winds in order to roll it in and limit the damage. The wind has kicked back in now, we have 14/15 knots of boatspeed and 17/20 knots of wind. It's a bit wet and we're looking forward to turning right. I am fairly sure I’ll make it to the finish. I am an "Eliès"..." As for Michel Desjoyeaux, the tone was more striking and the atmosphere calmer: “There have been copious amounts of rain and we've had a few passages of squalls, which involve a lot of work. Now we’re in the North you can feel it getting colder and the fleeces are out. Conditions now look to be stabilising with 26/27 knots of wind but the high pressure trap still lies ahead. There may be a little way through perhaps but we have to wait for the new grib files to confirm that. I’m downloading 4 files a day so that takes a bit of work!..."

In short, the weather conditions will considerably improve over the next few hours for the whole fleet, but the slower progress at the front of the pack should see the chasing group squeezing up with them, Yannick Bestaven (Cervin EnR) leading the revolt after a great performance since the start. Dee Caffari (Aviva) was back on the warpath again too, delighted to have completed her rather extensive job list at today’s radio session. "Conditions are much improved aboard. The sun is shining, the winds have eased and the seas have calmed down. Best of all though – I’ve completed my job's list and the 2 holes I had in my mainsail have now been repaired. This afternoon I'm fixing the lashing on my headsail and then that's that. I'm now happy sailing along and concentrating on making headway.”

No real initiatives are likely to be dealt out at the moment, the fleet on virtually an identical trajectory, making northing. However, with the Azores High ahead of the fleet, that may well all change. The wind is progressively shifting round to the South, which will enable the sailors to shorten the course by heading towards the goal. After this high pressure 'lull', the objective remains to quickly catch onto the depression which will sweep across the Azores archipelago from Monday onwards and leave the fleet in downwind conditions... They’ll have to hurry though because behind the front, the breeze will shift around to the East in the Bay of Biscay, enabling the frontrunners to extend their lead at the end... Amongst these leaders, it is Michel Desjoyeaux and Kito de Pavant who are best kitted up to rock the supremacy of Loïck Peyron, acquired back at the Doldrums!

Transat ECOVER B to B Ranking: (14:00 French time)

1 Gitana Eighty at 1389.50 miles from the finish
2 Groupe Bel at 1417.20 miles
3 Safran at 1425.20 miles
4 Foncia at 1436.40 miles
5 Generali at 1466.50 miles
6 Cheminées Poujoulat at 1523.90 miles
7 Cervin EnR at 1658.80 miles
8 Roxy at 1684.40 miles
9 Maisonneuve at 1754.80 miles
10 Akena Vérandas at 1757.80 miles
11 Spirit of Canada at 1855.60 miles
12 Aviva at 1855.90 miles
13 Great American III at 1940.40 miles
ABD Ecover
ABD Brit'Air

Quotes from the boats:

Mike Golding (Ecover): “Due to insurmountable technical problems with both the main engine and the autopilot system Ecover 111 is now retiring from the Transat Ecover BtoB race. It is my intention to make port, subject to weather information in the Canaries in about four days time - Ecover 111 is still sailing but now under reduced sail - deeply disappointed but all is fine otherwise.”

Sam Davies (Roxy): “Now it's not so wet on deck I can do a few checks and some odd jobs to get Roxy at 100% for the last week. The piano winch had begun to rotate in both directions so I opened it up to clean it and now it's as good as new! Early this morning when I made some sail changes I was attacked by some flying fish - not just little ones either - these were enormous beasts! I was lucky because one of them flew less than a centimetre from my face (he was lucky too!!) - it's frightening! In the cold light of day I have been cleaning up all the road kill on the deck! Poor fish!”

Kito de Pavant (Groupe Bel): “It’s a pretty relaxing Sunday. I've got 20 to 27 knots of breeze under solent and full main, making 17 knots of boatspeed. I'm waiting for the conditions to become more manageable. Tomorrow we're likely to get some S’ly winds followed by some SW’ly breeze later on. I’m happy with my position as we haven't over pushed ourselves and we’ve always erred towards less rather than more sail aloft. I've had a check of my keel after what happened to Marco (Guillemot - locked keel yesterday) but it all looks okay.”

Marc Guillemot (Safran): “All's well. We've had a lot of squalls since this morning. It's wet on deck, it's colder and we're being prudent so as not to shake the boat about too much. I'm happy with my position because I expected Foncia and Generali to be ahead of me by now. Currently I’ve got 16 knots of wind, which is set to ease during the course of the day.”

Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia): “I'd like to send my support and condolences to Vincent Riou and Sebastien Josse (retired from the Barcelona World Race yesterday).

Derek Hatfield (Spirit of Canada): “Hello from Spirit of Canada. Day four of the heavy upwind work, I must say it’s getting tiring always being over on the side all the time. I keep looking ahead for Dee’s stern light but not yet. She is doing a good job of keeping ahead of me, it should be a great race to the finish for the two of us. Sorry to hear about Safran’s keel problems, I hope he can keep the boat going to the finish line. Take care.”

Rich Wilson (Great American III): "Had a bit of a fracas yesterday afternoon as the staysail sheet parted, fortuitously, just before dark. Bore off, and rolled the sail up as fast as possible in high gear on the pedestal. Was able to get the good windward one around and re-set, and then put two stronger ones in place. Hopefully didn't do any significant damage to the sail in the few minutes of violent flogging while I rolled it in. Our mid-deck hatch leaks in these conditions, and so have had some use of the bilge pump system there, both electrical and manual, as if I needed the extra exercise!”

Arnaud Boissieres (Akena Verandas): “I’m making headway again now after a long period where I’d fallen into a zone with little wind. It’s a real joy to be on the water!”