Transat ECOVER-BtoB - Day 14

Nocturnal arrival

Loïck Peyron is expected to win the Transat Ecover BtoB tonight, probably after midnight UTC. The victory of the skipper of Gitana Eighty no longer seems to be in any doubt, but Kito de Pavant and Michel Desjoyeaux will finish very close together, second place still up for grabs...

The three leaders are just hours from the finish line now off Beg Meil, NW France: difficult to image a change in the situation at the head of the fleet since Loïck Peyron still holds a 40 mile lead over his two closest rivals and with around 20 knots of SE'ly in the Bay of Biscay, there isn't likely to be a drop in the pace or any tactical options. Solely the last few miles between Penmarc'h and Port la Forêt are likely to be a little slower with a 12 knot E’ly. Not enough then to revolutionize the hierarchy which has been in place since the doldrums! The scenario for second place is less obvious however: as the miles have gone by, Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) has made up a few metres and the ‘event local' is now just ten miles behind Kito de Pavant (Groupe Bel). Whatever the outcome of this final sprint, the two solo sailors have a great duel on their hands with their arrival planned for around daybreak on Friday...

Behind this triumvirate, the sailors aren't all celebrating as a result of multiple technical problems, which are handicapping their progress. This was the case for Yann Eliès (Generali) who is still without his large headsails for crossing the Bay of Biscay: "Yesterday we were slipping along, today we're freezing! Conditions are a bit like they were in the tradewinds, reaching with 20 knots of established breeze, but it’s much colder now of course! Yesterday and last night were difficult because I could see the calm zone ahead at Cape Finisterre so I was stressed all night. I think Marco even got a bit stuck behind me. Right now I'm working my way across a line of cargo ships and looking out for debris in the water. I've already hit something with the leeward rudder 3 hours ago so things are still pretty tense!!"... It was a similar picture for Marc Guillemot (Safran) who is having to make headway with his keel locked along its axis: "It’s okay: I’ve hit some new wind and I’m making for Port la Forêt but there was a light patch off Spain. There was an option to make northing but as I can’t move my keel and it meant ending upwind, I opted to cross this zone of light winds: I’m not doing too bad... Safran is a great boat and this problem with the keel will have to be looked into properly. I intend to share the results with the other competitors for safety reasons prior to the Vendée Globe. Life aboard has been good since the wind has kicked back: solent and one reef in the mainsail, ballast tanks filled, chili con carne! We’re making headway... "

Though the frontrunners are keen to finish after fourteen days at sea, at least those in the chasing pack have a battle on their hands, including British sailor Samantha Davies (Roxy) and Yannick Bestaven (Cervin EnR) who are just a few miles apart, the former having opted for a slightly more N’ly course now for strategic reasons: "I'm having a great battle with Yannick Bestaven and I'd really like to beat him. We haven't been on the same course since yesterday. I opted to distance myself from the direct route in favour of what looks like more wind to the North and sacrifice a bit of ground to Yannick. It was down to 50/50 feeling and there just happened to be an opportunity to gybe with a 20% wind shift after the position black-out last night. With all this going on this was the first day I’ve had problems finding time to eat. I'll have lunch in a minute but I'm certainly not going to eat Godfrey (a flying fish that has been helping Sam out in the cockpit for the past few days). He smells a bit ripe to say the least! Right now conditions are perfect. 17/20 knots of wind, the boat surfing, full main, big gennaker and staysail hoisted, blue skies, hot and sunny and I'm still in shorts."... Echoing Sam’s thoughts, the Arcachon sailor (SW France) confirmed how good their battle was for the motivation: “Sam and I have had a superb fight on our hands since the doldrums. She had a 60 mile lead over me at the time and I've managed to make up the deficit three times and then there's always something that goes wrong, either weather related or mechanical. This time is was my spinnaker halyard. 400m2 ended up in the water. I managed to get it aboard and then I spent about two hours up the mast fixing the halyard, which has left my body racked with cramps. I lost 30 miles but I hoisted the big gennaker and am surprised to see that I’m back on her tail again. I’m really happy and this all augurs well for the next stage. In fact the longer I am at sea the longer I want to stay here!"

During the radio session for the public, organised at Port la Forêt between 1400 and 1500 UTC, the group in the middle of the fleet voiced a few personal and technical concerns. Suffering numerous sail issues Jean-Baptiste Dejeanty (Maisonneuve) indicated that he’d had to call upon the services of the race doctor, Dr Chauve, following an infection of his wrist a week ago that has caused his hand to swell up. Arnaud Boissières (Akena Vérandas) was more affected by technical issues with the ‘plumbing’ aboard his 60 footer. At the tail of the fleet, Derek Hatfield (Spirit of Canada), Dee Caffari (Aviva) and Rich Wilson (Great American III) are all astounded by the light winds enveloping them mid Atlantic, Rich referring to 1.2 knots of breeze at lunchtime, Derek becalmed and Dee even afraid they were lost in the 'Azores Triangle' earlier today. Thankfully the build of the brand new Owen Clarke designed Aviva has just been completed in New Zealand today, which will doubtless boost the spirits of the British heroine as she trucks gently homewards with her Canadian and American chaperones, a likely finish on around Tuesday evening at the earliest.

Finally, Mike Golding (Ecover) is now just 50 miles from Tenerife and should receive a tow in a few hours time to a port in the Canaries. The British legend has been suffering from a total engine breakdown and thus no electricity for nearly a week now...

An alert will be placed online this Thursday at 2100 hours UTC in order to give a more precise ETA for the likely winner, Loïck Peyron. A press conference will be organized in the presence of the three winners at 0930 UTC on Friday, live on the internet, a translation of which will appear on the English site shortly afterwards.

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

1 Gitana Eighty Peyron Loick at 76.60 miles from the finish
2 Groupe Bel Kito de Pavant at 38.00 miles behind
3 Foncia Desjoyeaux Michel at 47.80 miles behind
4 Generali Elies Yann at 108.80 miles behind
5 Safran Guillemot Marc at 207.40 miles behind
6 Cheminées Poujoulat Stamm Bernard at 295.90 miles behind
7 Cervin EnR Bestaven Yannick at 776.20 miles behind
8 Roxy Davies Samantha at 779.30 miles behind
9 Akena Vérandas Boissières Arnaud at 945.20 miles behind
10 Maisonneuve Dejeanty Jean-Baptiste at 989.50 miles behind
11 Spirit of Canada Hatfield Derek at 1280.40 miles behind
12 Aviva Caffari Dee at 1331.60 miles behind
13 Great American III Wilson Rich at 1403.60 miles behind
- Ecover Golding Mike - - - - - - - -
- Brit'Air Le Cleach Armel - - - - - - - -

Quotes from the boats:

Dee Caffari (Aviva): “I’m lost for words, devoid of emotion and hang my head in utter disbelief that this area of the Atlantic can be so calm. The infamous smile was gone and replaced with tears of despair today. The sun shone, the sea was blue and like a mirror. Not even a zephyr to be seen on the surface and Aviva floated going nowhere all day and now, all night. I am without boat speed, without wind, without forward momentum and without steerage. I haven’t got any new ideas on how to make us move and am coming close to being losing my personality. When everyone is in the same conditions you can deal with it better as you know you are not alone, but I cannot believe that the others are suffering like this tonight and I am now dreading the deficit in miles that will be shown in the morning’s polling. Things can only get better for Aviva and me.”

Derek Hatfield (Spirit of Canada): "Hello from Spirit of Canada. Becalmed. Not much else to say, catching up on maintenance, sleep and housekeeping.”

Rich Wilson (Great American III): “Becalmed again. 1.2 knots SOG. Venus beautiful yet again in mirror calm.”