Transat ECOVER-BtoB - Day 15

A great average

On the occasion of this Transat Ecover-BtoB between Salvador de Bahia and Port la Forêt, the solo sailors have demonstrated that the new 60 foot prototypes are extremely fast, even against the wind: an average of 12.95 knots across the water for the winner, and a deficit of just three and four and a half hours respectively for Kito de Pavant and Michel Desjoyeaux, the latter slowed after hitting a fishing boat just 40 miles from home. But there are still nine solo sailors at sea...

Close-hauled, eased sheets, a little downwind, then a Doldrums… more close-hauled, eased sheets and a little downwind prior to a light patch off Spain... and close-hauled, eased sheets to round it off... In short, virtually the entire climb from Brazil to Brittany, NW France, took place in the same weather pattern, over 90% of which was on the same tack (starboard) with practically the same weather conditions for everyone, with the exception of the tail end of the fleet over the past four days, who have clearly not been spared. Unfortunately the outlook doesn't look too rosy either!

It’s worth remembering the vast amount of damage on all the boats, with the exception of that of Samantha Davies (Roxy) and the fact that these problems concern almost all the different positions onboard: rig (dismasting of Brit Air, broken stay on Maisonneuve), sails (delaminated jibs on Generali, lost sails on Maisonneuve and Spirit of Canada), appendages (locked keel for Safran), electronics (mast wand ripped off on Gitana Eighty), ballast tanks (Groupe Bel, Akena Vérandas, Ecover), halyard (Cervin EnR), engine and automatic pilots (Ecover), personal injury (infected hand for Jean-Baptiste Dejeanty) and even a collision (Foncia collided with a fishing boat)...

After the calm, the storm

Despite being handicapped to varying degrees, the top trio certainly weren't wasting any time and the deficits on the podium remain very small: in the end, the winner only took one day more than the reference time of the Transat Jacques Vabre (2005: 13d 09h 19'), a race which is predominantly downwind! This would suggest that the new prototypes designed for the next Vendée Globe have gained even more in terms of performance and power... All the shore crews are going to have a lot of work over the winter however, in order to make their machines more reliable and optimise the life on board as the sailors make no bones about the fact that the comfort is more than a congruous element on these 60 footers, which slam considerably against the wind. 14d 09h 13' 25'' for Loïck Peyron (Gitana Eighty) is also two days less than on the previous return race between Bahia and La Rochelle in 2003, that Mike Golding won in a time of 16d 14h 24'... In short, the pace has been particularly intense and none of the solo sailors could have imagined easing off the pace to simply qualify for the Vendée Globe...

This triumvirate (Loïck Peyron, Kito de Pavant, Michel Desjoyeaux) were clearly having a ball during today’s press conference organized at Port la Forêt this Friday at 0930 UTC, just before the inauguration of the new reception area in a specially dug out basin for boats with large drafts. Just hours behind them in fourth Yann Eliès (Generali) was delighted with what was a fantastic race on this, his first single-handed transatlantic. To follow, Marc Guillemot (Safran) is labouring a little on his climb up to Brittany against the wind, and his arrival in port is now expected around 2000 UTC. Bernard Stamm (Cheminées Poujoulat) meantime, still has a 60 mile deficit (ETA: 02-0400 Saturday), while Sam Davies (Roxy) is hoping to make the finish late on Sunday night.

However, it's towards the tail end of the fleet that we must sympathise with the three Anglo-Saxons, who are set for a really firm dressing down after yet another period of light wind, which has been with them for the past few days! A very active depression is on its way from Newfoundland and is set to pass over the Azores on Sunday evening. The three skippers will each have to concentrate on making as much headway as possible to the NE in order to avoid very big seas and S'ly winds in excess of forty knots ahead of the front. In addition, the crossing of the Bay of Biscay is not going to be a picnic either with a very cold and brisk E’ly wind (temperatures below zero and winds in excess of 35 knots). Headwinds, very difficult seas, icy weather: all the odds seem stacked against our unlucky trio: Dee Caffari (Aviva), Derek Hatfield (Spirit of Canada) and Rich Wilson (Great American III) but our thoughts are with them!

Arrivals in Port la Forêt:

1-Loïck Peyron (Gitana Eighty) in 14d 09h 13' 25''
2-Kito de Pavant (Groupe Bel) in 14d 12h 22' 49'', 3 hours 09 minutes 24 seconds from first place
3-Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) in 14d 13h 43' 24", 4 hours 29 minutes and 59 seconds from first place
4-Yann Eliès (Generali) in 14d 19h 22' 02'', 10 hours 07 minutes 37 seconds from first place

Loïck Peyron (Gitana Eighty): winner of the Transat Ecover-BtoB "It was a superb start off Bahia and all in all a South-North transatlantic is pretty interesting, especially when you have this level of competition! It was quite pleasant to sail on your own with a fine objective: a dialogue naturally occurs between the skipper and the boat... The battle has been intense on these boats, which are certainly complicated, but remain manageable: you just have to anticipate the problems well..."

Kito de Pavant (Groupe Bel): second "I was a bit anxious in Brazil because it was my first single-handed transatlantic on this type of boat. As the miles went by though, I began to feel confident in myself. In any case, all the boats are validated because after the Transat Jacques Vabre on port tack, we were on starboard all the way back! I’m very happy with the result... "

Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia): third "I’d just woken up and didn’t have any time to wonder what was happening: I heard a loud noise of breaking carbon and could feel that I'd been hit by something... A twelve metre trawler. I immediately noticed that the leeward outrigger, which holds the mast had broken! I knew I wouldn’t be able to tack anymore. No human damage though and I was able to stay on a single tack right up to the finish line. "

Yann Eliès (Generali): fourth "It was good for a first single-handed transatlantic. The conditions were favourable for the boat’s performance and the result is a good one! Apart from the sails, it was a good introduction before the Vendée Globe... "

Mike Golding (Ecover) "I had a lot of problems! One of the most serious was the engine, which was losing oil... It was difficult to have electricity after that and I ended up using olive oil! After that I had automatic pilot issues, which meant that the boat broached at rather inopportune moments and meant making headway to the Canaries has been very difficult. The boat is really good though and we'll get it sorted now that I’ve made land. "

Derek Hatfield (Spirit of Canada) "All's well even though we haven’t got much wind: 5-6 knots, but the breeze is gradually shifting to the SE. The calm zones over the past few days have been terrible! Today, the seas are flat and a lovely deep blue; the skies are blue, it’s warm despite a little chill in the air and the nights are fantastic with the shooting stars. I’m on a direct course towards Port la Forêt... Hoping there won’t be too much wind at the end of the course! "

Samantha Davies (Roxy) "Still having a great battle with Yannick. We’re going great guns at the moment at 18 knots under gennaker, staysail and mainsail with a S’ly breeze. Perfect conditions but I’m going to have to make the most of it because the end of the course will be long and very cold. I should finish late on Sunday night but my echo sounder warning me of other boats and containers etc isn’t working so I’ll have to wake myself up every half hour to scan the horizon... "

Dee Caffari (Aviva) “Finally after 36 hours of only seeing 1 or 2 knots of wind I can now see 3 knots of wind and occasionally this has been more. I have now suffered my fourth day of going slow or even not at all and it does not get any better. Aviva and I are crawling along at a snail's pace just trying with every puff to get north. We know the breeze is up there as we have watched the others sail for home. Congratulations to those just finished for a great race. Now that the front runners have finished the race the pressure is on for us at the back of the fleet because the finish line only stays open for nine days from the first finishing boat crossing the line.”

Armel Le Cléac'h (Brit Air) "I dismasted nine days ago and I’m finally approaching Cape Verde. I’ve got fifty miles to go so I should get there tonight. I still haven’t found the reasons why this happened but it’ll be good to get ashore... "

Marc Guillemot (Safran) "There’s a bit of impatience aboard Safran! Especially with these very cold temperatures...Right now I have 17-20 knots but the wind is going round to the East and I’ll end up at Penmarc'h at this rate: I’ll have to tack all the way to the finish… Upwind followed by more upwind and an ETA around 2000 UTC... "

Bernard Stamm (Cheminées Poujoulat) “A little bit of sailing close on the wind for the final sprint. It's slamming and we're not making headway very fast for sure, but we're gradually making ground on a direct course at the moment so all's well. Bravo to Loïck and I’ll be very happy to make it into port.”