Light winds start to the 2013 Transat Jacques Vabre
by Transat Jacques Vabre 2013 7 Nov 2013 14:34 GMT
7 November 2013
The 11th edition of the Transat Jacques Vabre started under grey, drizzling skies in light winds at 1300hrs (local) off Le Havre's Saint Adresse beach. The 44 boats, 26 Class 40s, six Multi 50s, 10 IMOCA Open 60s and two MOD70s broke the start line in eight knots of W'ly breeze in very choppy seas, heading three miles to the France Info mark before heading down the Channel towards Itajaí, Brazil.
The Class 40 fleet are required to make a weather stop in Roscoff, 190 miles from Le Havre to sit out a big low pressure system which would have hit them in the Bay of Biscay at the weekend. They should arrive in Roscoff tomorrow afternoon. Three Class 40's were judged to be over the start line early, Vaquita, Ecolec Frantronic and Solidaires en Peloton.
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They're off! Oman Air-Musandam starts Transat Jacques Vabre 2013 (from Oman Sail)
At 13:00 CET this afternoon, Oman Air-Musandam, the Sultanate of Oman's flagship MOD70 campaign, crossed the Transat Jacques Vabre start line off Le Havre alongside 42 other boats – destination Itajaii, Brasil, 5,450 nautical miles away!
Oman Air's French-Irish duo was delighted to be starting the race ahead of their original Friday schedule. "We are very happy to be off at last," said Sidney Gavignet, French skipper of Oman Air-Musandam, as he stepped onto the boat this morning. "We have been ashore for over a week now and are keen to get going, to get out of the English Channel and the Bay of Biscay in one piece and then once we get off Cape Finisterre, to putting the hammer down towards Itajaii in Brasil."
The IMOCA 60s, Multi 50s and Class 40s have been postponed ashore since Sunday while the race committee waited for a safe opportunity to start the 11th edition of this classic. The weather window that has opened briefly is still a fierce prospect for the duo and the rest of the fleet with relatively light 15-knot conditions at the start rapidly building to 25 knots as the fleet races out of the English Channel and then higher still to between 25 and 30 knots in the Bay of Biscay with a five metre sea state.
"The first few days will be very tough," said Ireland's most celebrated offshore sailor, Damian Foxall. "We will be beating into 25 knots and being very careful of how we manage the boat. When we reach Cape Finisterre, we should be able to ease the sails out a bit and concentrate more on the speed. These MOD70s are superb seaworthy machines, but obviously two-handed you have to anticipate much more and shorten sail much earlier."
The two sailors are a well-oiled pair having trained intensively together for the last few months and raced the MOD70 Oman Air-Musandam fully crewed during the Around Europe Route des Princes, the Artemis Challenge and the Rolex Fastnet Race earlier in the year.
"We are quite similar in our approach, and have to be careful not to push too hard. In some ways, the fresher we arrive in Itajaii the better," said Sidney. "I think we have a good race ahead, the competition is tough onboard Edmond de Rothschild and for the first and second days we are going to be very much in 'safety mode'. From Cape Finisterre, we will move into the speed phase of the race."
CEO of Oman Sail, David Graham, who was on site in Le Havre to wish the team fair winds, said he was enormously proud of how much the Omani MOD70 crew had developed this year but racing two handed on a radical high-performance multihull like Oman Air-Musandam required very advanced skills.
"Sidney and Damian, with their huge knowledge and experiences from a lifetime of top end offshore racing are such highly respected icons in Oman that this milestone event will give our Omani sailors another valuable learning opportunity. Some have been working with them as shore crew and the rest learning by watching closely as dedicated supporters. It is a big team effort.
"Most importantly Sidney and Damian's immense achievements feed back to our wider Oman Sail objectives for establishing role models and inspirational figures. It is people like them that motivate the youth of Oman to take up sailing and excel in the sport."
Wishing Gavignet and Foxall fair winds and a safe passage, Wayne Pearce, CEO of Oman Air, said the Sultanate's MOD70 flagship entry in such a high profile event would once again turn the spotlight on Oman.
"It is a pleasure to be sponsoring these two giants of the sailing world, each of whom has two challenges: firstly to achieve the best possible result in the Transat Jacques Vabre and, secondly, to help Oman Air to raise international awareness of the extraordinary beauty, rich culture and warm hospitality that awaits visitors to the Sultanate of Oman.
"By linking Oman Air's name to this incredible campaign, we aim to encourage increased numbers of elite discerning travellers to discover the unique holiday destination of Oman, thereby building on the success of our other international marketing initiatives and our active support for sporting excellence in the Sultanate."
Sidney Gavignet estimates that the race across the Atlantic Ocean will take approximately 12 days – we wish them fair winds and safe passage.
The 2013 Transat Jacques Vabre has begun! (from Team 11th Hour Racing)
The fleet competing in the 5,400nm Transat Jacques Vabre left the port of Le Havre bound for Itajaì this morning at 12noon (UTC) today.
12 noon (UTC) marked the start of the 2013 Transat Jacques Vabre. The Class40 fleet left the famous French port of Le Havre at around 09h30m french time this morning to make the start line. It was also announced that the class40s would have to make a mandatory weather stop in Roscoff, France in order to weather out the worst of the 50 knot winds currently developing in the North Atlantic and making its way into the notorious Bay of Biscay. A brave decision by the race directors but one that I believe is the right decision, the last thing a 5,400nm yacht race wants is a high level of attrition in the first four days!
Hannah and Rob left Le Havre is good sprits and ready to take on the most famous double handed yacht race in short handed racing. "The boat is in great shape and a lot of time has been spent analysing various weather models. We have spent a lot of time preparing for this race and are so pleased to be able to carry our sponsor 11th Hour Racing's colours across the Atlantic. We will see you in Itajaì" said Hannah.
You can follow the fleet online at tracking.transat-jacques-vabre.com/fr/live and we will be of course updating the website, social media and youtube channels with pictures, video and information from Hannah and Rob.
A successful start for Safran! (from Safran Sailing Team)
At 1300hrs local time today (Thursday 7th November) the Race Committee finally signalled the start of the eleventh Transat Jacques Vabre from Le Havre. They're now on their way to Itajaí in Brazil. After thirty minutes of racing, Safran was one of the three frontrunners.
The theoretical distance they have to sail is 5400 miles. According to the most recent routing scenarios, the 60-foot Imoca boats should take between 17 and 19 days to complete this race. The transatlantic race is very much like the start of a Vendée Globe, among other reasons, as they have to make their way down to the Southern Hemisphere and therefore deal with the Intertropical convergence zone, the infamous Doldrums.
For the moment, at the foot of the cliffs at Cape de la Hève, it is in drizzle and a light NW'ly wind (around 8 knots) and reduced visibility that Marc Guillemot and Pascal Bidégorry are attempting to get the most out of Safran. In all, ten IMOCA boats are competing and it is said that half of them can reasonably hope to make it to the podium.
With Marc Guillemot, Safran has already been successful on two occasions in this race: 2nd in 2007 and the winner in 2009. This time François Gabart and Michel Desjoyeaux's Macif, the most recent boat in the IMOCA fleet, is said to be the favourite. But an ocean race is never won until it's over.
The first task that lies ahead is getting out of the English Channel in the best position possible, dealing with the strengthening of the wind and the current off the tip of the Cherbourg Peninsula, making their way to the tip of Brittany and then crossing the Bay of Biscay.
Thirty minutes after the start, Safran was up with the frontrunners getting off to a successful start to the race: at the France Info clearance buoy, Marc Guilllemot and Pascal Bidégorry were in third place, just behind Macif and Jérémie Beyou and Christopher Pratt's Maître Coq.
Edmond de Rothschild going on ahead (from Edmond de Rothschild)
There was an air of deliverance this Thursday at 1300 hours offshore of Le Havre. After having to sit it out for some days due to the rather blustery autumnal weather, the entire Transat Jacques Vabre fleet set sail today. Not far from the cliffs of Sainte-Adresse, the forty-four duos competing in this 11th edition finally set off for Itajaí in Brazil. There was a drizzly atmosphere, with low cloud and a light westerly breeze, which barely exceeded 8 knots. Not the perfect scenario but the sailors, keen to get going, wouldn't have traded places for all the world. The author of a great start at the pin end of the line, the trimaran fitted out by Baron Benjamin de Rothschild quickly gained control of the fleet and went on ahead once she was around the Radio France mark, situated some 3 nautical miles from the start line. For Sébastien Josse and Charles Caudrelier, the first few hours of racing and the exit from the English Channel promise to be tactical with the wind set to build and conditions likely to be boisterous as they traverse the Bay of Biscay.
Le Havre to Cape Finisterre, tight timing
"I'm confident!" gushed Sébastien Josse just minutes before leaving the Bassin Paul Vatine. "The boat has been prepared to perfection by the members of Gitana Team and Charles and I have done what was needed in terms of sea trials and training sessions. The weather conditions over the first few hours will enable us to gently get into our stride with the race, even though they'll be highly tactical as there are some moves to be pulled in the English Channel," explained the skipper of Edmond de Rothschild.
Rain, light airs, upwind conditions and current: such will be the menu for the initial hours at sea for the Edmond de Rothschild duo: "It's going to be pretty light at the start and during our exit from the Channel in general. There are a certain number of manœuvres on the cards and we're going to have to skilfully negotiate the numerous zones of current. I think it's going to be complicated as there are sure to be fairly heavy seas left over from last night's storm," Charles Caudrelier told us. However, once they're around the north-west tip of Brittany, the atmosphere will very quickly change aboard the 70-foot trimarans: "the wind will gradually increase as we approach Ushant because we're going to pass what we call a cold front and at that point the wind is set to build significantly: from 15, it will shoot up to 25-30 knots with the gusts. The negotiation of the Bay of Biscay is likely to involve a beat, though we won't be hard on the wind, and conditions are forecast to be boisterous with a big 4 to 5-metre swell. That will be the tricky section for the start to the race," admitted the skipper of Edmond de Rothschild.
Given the weather situation forecast, the two sailors know that the miles which separate Le Havre from Cape Finisterre, to the extreme North-West of Spain, won't be at all restful: "Charles and I are readying ourselves for very little sleep until we're around Cape Finisterre. This first stage of the race is very important and there's a set timing to be adhered to. The later we get to Cape Finisterre the more unfavourable the conditions will be with the arrival of a very deep depression over the Bay of Biscay. As such we're really going to have to pull out all the stops over the first 500 miles of this transatlantic race. Every hour gained until we reach the tip of Spain will benefit us over the next stage of the course. Once we're around Cape Finisterre we'll be able to breathe and a whole new race will begin," Sébastien Josse explained. "Heading the fleet at that point would be a real bonus for the next stage", the co-skipper adds.
A double-handed transatlantic race, a very rich human experience
Particularly focused when the trimaran fitted out by Baron Benjamin de Rothschild cast off, Charles Caudrelier didn't disguise his emotion as he headed off on his 'debut': "I'm very happy to be going as we've been waiting for this moment for quite some time. I feel good now and I feel prepared, but inevitably that's coloured by stress. It's our first double-handed transatlantic race in a multihull!" With complementary characters at sea, the Josse – Caudrelier duo has proven to be very close on land. Displaying immense mutual respect for one another and a solid amount of experience, today the two sailors have what it takes to write a great story in this race: "Sébastien and I have known each other for a long time, but we've really strengthened those ties this year, both on the boat and on land, and I'm really happy to be sailing with him in this race. I know that it's a very emotional experience to race these boats and it's going to be nice to share that with him. We're keen to write a great story together," concluded the co-skipper of Edmond de Rothschild.
At the first official polling at 1600 GMT, Edmond de Rothschild was still leading the way off the Cotentin headland. Already the hand-to-hand battle with Oman Air-Musandam seemed to be on. Indeed the two one-design trimarans were just a hundred metres or so apart.