Transat ECOVER-BtoB - Day 13

Minefield

Whilst the three leaders are approaching the Spanish coast, a new danger has emerged ahead of their bows: unidentified floating objects which have been ripped off the cargo ships during the storms off Brittany last Sunday... Though Loïck Peyron is still maintaining a 40 mile cushion of advance over the Pavant-Desjoyeaux duo, there's still everything to play for in terms of second place!

Everyone knows that the winds of over 100 km/h, which swept across the Western Atlantic last weekend caused some serious damage to some of the fishing boats and commercial vessels, and in particular, several loads ended up in the sea. Some of them sunk directly, other are in the process of sinking, but some are floating around: pineapples, fridges, lorries, logs, packets of tobacco… and a lot of other bits of cargo are being dispersed by the winds and currents of the Bay of Biscay. The coastguard is regularly broadcasting alerts to indicate to boats the position of these dangers but though it’s relatively easy to locate certain wrecks, others are a lot more easily dissipated. This is the case for a cargo of wooden beams that could cause serious damage to a 60 foot monohull made of carbon, which isn't designed to hit obstacles in the middle of the ocean...

The alert has been sounded amongst our solo sailors however and each of them is now hunched over their computers pinpointing the danger zones: solely Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) who was setting his Inmarsat up again was only just discovering the news at today’s radio session... The problem should only present a threat tomorrow, Thursday, over the last 150 miles however. For the time being, the head of the fleet are concentrating on a zone of transition which they will have to negotiate off the Iberian coast. The Azores front is behind them and isn't managing to push away the zone of high pressure, which has settled over France. As a result they will pass progressively from a depression zone to a high pressure zone, leaving a weaker and shiftier wind between the two. A tricky passage then, which will slowly crumble to the benefit of the chasing pack. Loïck Peyron (Gitana Eighty) was lapping up the ideal conditions in any case: "It’s glorious weather: blue seas, blue skies, almost warm, not much wind, but it’s quietly picking up. I’m making the most of it to do a bit of tidying up: I have my slippers on, which I warm on the engine: all I need is a cat on my lap!" The skipper appeared very serene and not overly perturbed by a twist in the situation in terms of the ETA for the finish, now set for Thursday night.

In second position, Kito de Pavant (Groupe Bel) was under no illusion as regards a comeback on the leader and had even overtaken Michel Desjoyeaux overnight: "Good news! In fact, I’m making the most of Michel’s misfortunes and the conditions are good for going quick under gennaker. There is still a bit of distance to go with some different options: Loick has a good lead and he’s hitting the zone of transition but he’ll hit the fresh wind first and escape before us. On the other hand, Michel and I have a good battle on our hands as he's headed more inshore. The main problem is the amount of things floating around the Bay of Biscay with the various containers that have fallen off shipping into the sea... We have some approximate positions and we’re going to have to go offshore. I’ve noted the positions on my chart that the coastguard has sent us: it’s a real minefield!" The final scenario is beginning to be drawn up now and the principal actor in this maritime soap, Loïck Peyron, may begin to put the finishing touches to his text at the finish of the Transat Ecover-BtoB, which has certainly been packed with surprises...

With the deficits extending still further over the past few days, the hierarchy is proving to be pretty much established, though that is not preventing certain skippers from benefiting from the sailing conditions to refine their trim or test some new sail configurations, even broaching unannounced like Bernard Stamm (Cheminées Poujoulat): "I just broached because the leeward rudder kicked up: but we’re making good headway! That’s the first time that's happened with the rudder so I’ll have to find out why it did that. I'm just trying to angle the boat so I don't have the wind directly on my tail and testing the sail configurations. Right now I've got between 20 and 25 knots of wind and we’re going quick though we’ll be more slowed than the frontrunners" And for Yann Eliès (Generali) too, this final sprint is full of useful lessons: "I’ve come out of a fairly physical session changing over from one reef and gennaker to full main and solent! I was a bit sweaty so I’ve stripped off and am about to put on some fresh clothes for the finish! I’m then going to make myself something to eat as I’ve been helming all morning. There are some weak winds ahead, which are going to be difficult without the genoa. It’ll be easier once we’re upwind in stronger breeze. We're receiving warnings about all the containers across our route near the finish after all the storms off Brittany so we'll just have to keep our fingers crossed. Most notable is a 15 mile stretch full of wooden beams...."

Though the weather situation for the top six is not too unfavourable, pleasant even, this isn't exactly the case for the rest of the fleet! Samantha Davies (Roxy) and Yannick Bestaven (Cervin EnR) are still managing to make around ten knots of boatspeed as they approach the Azores and therefore the S'ly winds. However, for those at the tail end of the fleet, who are still in the clutches of erratic, indecisive breezes, the going is terribly laborious as is the case for Dee Caffari (Aviva): "It’s very slow and very, very frustrating. I'm stuck in a wind hole with just 3 knots of breeze right now. I'm a little demoralised and was even a little tearful yesterday floating around the Atlantic while the rest of the fleet are making good their escape. Fortunately I’ve still got lots of food and the boat is in good shape, the repairs holding. There is a little breeze to the North however. I was getting really excited about my ETA but now I just don’t want to think about it really. I’d trade food for wind that’s for sure. Any wind would be fantastic!!” American Rich Wilson is also suffering “becalmed for the past 10 hours!” At this pace, there will be a five to six day gap between the front and the end of the fleet when they reach Port la Forêt!

Transat ECOVER B to B Ranking: (18:00 French time)

1 Gitana Eighty Peyron Loick at 350.30 miles from the finish
2 Groupe Bel Kito de Pavant at 39.50 miles behind
3 Foncia Desjoyeaux Michel at 49.40 miles behind
4 Generali Elies Yann at 116.40 miles behind
5 Safran Guillemot Marc at 153.30 miles behind
6 Cheminées Poujoulat Stamm Bernard at 317.70 miles behind
7 Roxy Davies Samantha at 733.90 miles behind
8 Cervin EnR Bestaven Yannick at 760.90 miles behind
9 Akena Vérandas Boissières Arnaud at 900.80 miles behind
10 Maisonneuve Dejeanty Jean-Baptiste at 938.90 miles behind
11 Spirit of Canada Hatfield Derek at 1052.20 miles behind
12 Aviva Caffari Dee at 1081.10 miles behind
13 Great American III Wilson Rich at 1212.40 miles behind
- Ecover Golding Mike - - - - - - - -
- Brit'Air Le Cleach Armel - - - - - - - -

Quotes from the boats:

Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia): “It’s not going to bad, though I was sleeping. There's a little bit of a swell but it's calm and we have sun and are gently making headway. There is a tricky passage ahead near La Coruña but my ETA is around 2/3 UTC on Friday morning. I've been further East since yesterday and the wind has been beginning to back. I'm not going to be able to catch up with Loick but Kito may be able to. Will all the objects floating around the finish I'll wait till I have crossed the finish line before I say how it's been but I'm certainly sleeping well."

Rich Wilson (Great American III): “Last posmaxsea report showing our 4 hour average of 0.86 knots says it all. Flat becalmed for ~10 hours, slatting, rolled up solent to save the fabric. Venus' reflection at dawn was perfect in the mirror calm. All is well aboard otherwise. Rich”.

Samantha Davies (Roxy): “Hello. It is extremely frustrating, in race terms, where I am right now. Everyone in front of me is speeding off to the finish in a different weather system. I am stuck in the transition of no wind, and everyone behind is catching up! Luckily I have my friend Yannick Bestaven to keep me company! Roxy has been slipping along gently all day, but the wind has been slowly decreasing. At sunset, we were almost stationary. However, everything around me is so amazing, that I can easily forget the stress of the race. The sky is so crystal clear that you can see for miles and miles, so far that you can see the tops of the clouds that are way beyond the horizon. Roxy is sailing like a dream, with the code 0 up, and a little keel to leeward, she slips along at 3 knots in only one knot of wind."

Derek Hatfield (Spirit of Canada): “The wind is back which does wonders for my motivation. No wind is stressful. I’m really missing that genoa now though as we are going upwind in 10-12 knots. The boat is not fully powered up but moving along well at between 6 & 10 knots upwind. I have the gennaker and spinnaker at the ready, if ever we get some downwind work. The weather files show at least two more days of this light air and then possible some sailing directly towards Port La Foret and the finish. It will be good to get this race over with and start working on the long list of improvements that we can make for the Vendee Globe. As I mentioned, this race has been a steep learning curve. Otherwise, everything is fine on board. I have a leak in the ballast system that requires bailing about five buckets a day from the engine compartment, but otherwise we are ok. Take Care.”