Transat ECOVER-BtoB - Day 11

The Azores breeze

The top trio in the Transat Ecover BtoB have just a thousand miles to go until they reach Port la Forêt. And though the podium is virtually set, the hierarchical order is still very uncertain. Behind the leaders, the battle looks set to rage between the three other groups, who have formed over 3,200 miles of racing!

"C'est parti mon kiki!"* as British Sailor Dee Caffari (Aviva) repeated at the start in Salvador de Bahia, but unfortunately barely making any headway since 6 am this morning, she is yet to reach the depression, which is sweeping across the Azores this Monday. For the three leaders and their three pursuers however, the breeze has finally cooperated my switching from heading the boats to hitting them beam on and thus providing downwind conditions. The breeze still lacks a little puff though as leader Loïck Peyron (Gitana Eighty) indicated: "There are some variable breezes and my pursuers must be benefiting from some squalls, which are propelling them along a little faster. The wind isn't very stable yet..." A dozen or so knots on the outskirts of the Azores archipelago it would seem as if the head of the fleet are grazing the Eastern edge. Already though, the headings have changed register since the North has given way to NE'ly, and a direct course to the finish in Port la Forêt. Most importantly the sailing conditions have become considerably more pleasant and this was echoed in today's radio session live on the internet. Kito de Pavant (Groupe Bel) is now well installed in second place now that Marc Guillemot (Safran) is penalized by a keel being locked in its axis. The 60 foot monohulls are now having to head off again on the waves and sail at around 130° true in order to go fast and this requires the keel to be canted upwind so as not to heel over too much. That's to say, fill the ballasts with seawater, which is a little less effective since the boat is heavier as a result...

A thousand miles and counting...

In short, the battle for first place in the Transat Ecover-BtoB remains open between the three leaders: Loïck Peyron is still maintaining a cushion of advance of around fifty miles over Kito de Pavant and Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia). They are also the first to hit the new breeze from the Azores depression and can thus rack up averages of over 15 knots. In the two ‘limping’ boats who are tailing them, Marc Guillemot and Yann Eliès (Generali) will find it hard to snatch pole position; the former, because he can no longer cant his keel, the second because he doesn't have all his headsails. There is an opening for Bernard Stamm (Cheminées Poujoulat) to get back into the action though as the Swiss sailor has resolved his technical ballast issues and is on the edge of a transition zone which is settling over the zone just behind him. If he manages to escape (which is what he was indicating at the 1400 UTC radio session), he could battle for fourth place...

This is no longer the case for the chasing pack lead by Samantha Davies (Roxy) who has conceded over 380 miles to the leader and is now in a very different weather system: the Azores high is being pushed towards Spain by the passage of some Atlantic depressions, a vast zone of light, variable winds thus settling over the archipelago... You’ll have to count on a day and a half for the ‘third group’ to get free of the zone and probably three days for the backrunners Derek Hatfield (Spirit of Canada), Dee Caffari and Rich Wilson (Great American III), the former having no use of his genoa anymore after forestay issues! In addition, an E’ly wind is forecast from Thursday 13th December in the Bay of Biscay, and that is set to last for the entire week! The first arrivals will only have to make a few tack changes to complete the race, whilst the backrunners will have to beat for a long time to reach Port La Forêt... In any case, on this 4,200 mile course between Brazil and Brittany, there have been, there are and there will be a number of changes in situation and whilst there are still 1000 miles to go for the frontrunners, the podium is far from certain in terms of order.

* Here we go!

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

1 Gitana Eighty Peyron Loick at 1099.80 miles from the finish
2 Groupe Bel Kito de Pavant at 37.20 miles behind
3 Foncia Desjoyeaux Michel at 48.70 miles behind
4 Safran Guillemot Marc at 84.20 miles behind
5 Generali Elies Yann at 101.50 miles behind
6 Cheminées Poujoulat Stamm Bernard at 203.50 miles behind
7 Roxy Davies Samantha at 384.60 miles behind
8 Cervin EnR Bestaven Yannick at 413.00 miles behind
9 Maisonneuve Dejeanty Jean-Baptiste at 464.70 miles behind
10 Akena Vérandas Boissières Arnaud at 472.90 miles behind
11 Spirit of Canada Hatfield Derek at 562.70 miles behind
12 Aviva Caffari Dee at 583.60 miles behind
13 Great American III Wilson Rich at 661.00 miles behind
- Ecover Golding Mike - - - - - - - -
- Brit'Air Le Cleach Armel - - - - - - - -

Quotes from the Boats:

Sam Davies (Roxy): “Things are going well. At times I have wind and other times I don't. One minute, as is the case at the moment, I have 6 knots, the next 14 knots of breeze, varying between 40 and 130 degrees. I think Bernard is going to be lucky enough to catch onto the right system with the leaders. Sadly those that are behind him aren't likely to hook onto SW'ly and will have to wait another day for more favourable wind. I've not got any problems aboard but the boat is older and more tested. Now it’s calmer I can remove my ski mask and foulies. Fortunately I’ve got lots of chocolate left and I’m getting loads of sleep and with the calmer conditions I even manage to have a few siestas in the day. I hope to hit new wind in around a day and a half."

Dee Caffari (Aviva): “Since six o’clock this morning I have gone absolutely nowhere. Everyone else seems to have seen it and sailed round it but Aviva and I are stuck in it. All the grib files tell me I should be having six knots of breeze but I have seen no more than three and I am really fed up. I hate going nowhere. I have 1,600 miles to go and I’m not even sailing in the right direction so I am thinking it could be weeks before I get home. Forget Christmas – I shall be lucky if I’m there for New Year (laughs). I’m supposed to be qualifying for the Vendée Globe but at this rate, I’ll be lucky to be back in time for the start of the Vendée! It’s ridiculous - and I’m not good at being patient. I want wind and I want it now! Bloody Canary Islands, I’m never coming here on holiday again. I noticed there was a direct correlation between how I was feeling and how much I was eating and sleeping. When I don’t eat and there is a problem, I get very emotional so I’m making sure I eat properly and take plenty of fluids. And I’m fine now.”

Kito de Pavant (Groupe Bel): “The current conditions are very welcome. In ten days this is the first time the deck has been fairly dry and that’s better for both the boat and the skipper and I can finally dry off some of my clothes. We're now heading towards Brittany and I envisage a finish in about four days time on Friday. I passed Santa Maria in the Azores early this afternoon."

Bernard Stamm (Cheminees Poujoulat): “I’ve got some wind so things are pretty good and I'm managing to make some NNE'ly. I made Tanguy (crew during the Transat Jacques Vabre) something to eat before I remembered I was on my own! I ended up eating all his pasta too so nothing went to waste. It's dodgy as to whether I can stay in the right wagon or not in my view as I'm right on the edge of the system. There's a big zone of transition settling over the zone and it’s trying to drop in on me but for the time being I’ve got between 12 and 13 knots of wind. I'm going to have to battle to stay in play. The wind was very unstable yesterday but last night the situation improved and now the boat is making good headway.

Marc Guillemot (Safran): “The sea and wind conditions are ideal and I’m not far off the Azores, which are fabulous. For sailors this really is one of the days not to be missed. I'm a bit breathless because I'm just returned from a little climb up the mast. I think it was a couple of days after the doldrums that I broke a lazy jack so I’ve been trying to rig that up properly again but it’s difficult as the deck is moving about a bit. My brain lost a bit of its clarity yesterday and I headed in the wrong direction for a while. It’s no great shakes but I’m a bit angry with myself. It's been very wet outside and inside it’s like spending days and days in the gym! All in all I think I’m about a knot and a half down on my normal boatspeed."