Sam Davies in the Trophée BPE - Day 18

SKANDIA remains in 3rd, increasing her lead over 4th place CERCLE VERT to 57nm and narrowing the gap to the leading boats. Sam is now 47.7nm to leader Eric Drouglazet and 28nm behind Charles Caudrelier (BOSTIK). At 1000hrs SKANDIA was averaging the fastest boat speed in the fleet, sailing at around 10 knots.

Sam had the opportunity to test out her repaired asymmetric spinnaker all day yesterday, "My repair seems (touch wood) to be working absolutely fine! The tack is still attached to the ring of the asymmetric - hooray! And I have tested it well - all day with 20-28 knots wind!!"

SKANDIA has less than 1000nm to go until the finish and approximately 460nm until the next waypoint at the Turks Islands in the Bahamas, "It definitely signifies the end of the race once you get on to the 1000 mark. Especially when it’s conditions like that, the 100’s seem to tick down nicely and you do countdown to the finish..."

The fleet are well aware that as they approach the Turks Islands the race is far from over, "Normally in a transatlantic race when you see land you’re finished. It’s a bit of a trap here because we get to the Caribbean and we still have another 500 miles. It’s a strange situation but it will be interesting. I’ve never done a race like that, where you finish by racing along 500 miles of coast!"

Sam is preparing herself mentally and physically for the passage through the islands, “There are loads of little trip-ups which could catch you out. Once we get inside these islands we cross a big shipping lane and there’s going to be cruising boats, fishing boats and pirates off Haiti...It will be good for these last 2 nights to get some good rest for that. It’s going to be more like a Figaro race – I’m psyching myself up for a Figaro type sprint.”

After having no communication with the race organisers or his family since Saturday, last night race HQ received news that Dominic Vittet (ATAO AUDIO SYSTEM) is safe and well. He passed a cargo ship yesterday evening who had VHF contact with him at 22h40. Everything is ok on board, but Dominic has confirmed he has no more satellite communication. All is well with the rest of the fleet today. Antonio Pedro da Cruz (LITTLE BLACK SHARK) has repaired his autopilot and Gildas Morvan (CERCLE VERT) is feeling much better today after sleeping for 3 hours overnight!

The fleet are now sailing in a stable northeast wind of around 15-25 knots. This is forecasted to strengthen this afternoon and then turn light as they near the Turks Islands, “It should get a bit stronger during the day today which will be fun and I'm going to put the big spinnaker up and send it! As you get near Turks it should drop off and go a little bit to the north. There's a funny little depression forming just to south of us, which is due to take our wind away. “

EMAIL FROM SAM (0100HRS)

Hello

I have just escaped a near nasty experience - I was enjoying a beautiful evening of trade winds surfing - moonlight, great waves, 25 knots wind, asymmetric spi (still holding up OK).... and then something whizzed past my face, missing my nose by about 5cm! That something being a very lucky flying fish!

So I decided I had had my luck and to escape whilst the going was good!!! It is a good thing, because I need to rest and it is hard to leave the tiller when the sailing is as good as that!

My repair seems (touch wood) to be working and the tack is still attached to the ring of the asymmetric - hooray! And I have tested it well - all day with 20-28 knots wind!! I only collapsed it once, and I have to say I am being more careful than normal!

And, only one week to go! I started thinking of some of the things that I am looking forward to once back on dry land. In no particular order:

Drinking tea (Earl Grey) out of a china mug
Seeing my boyfriend
Dry feet
Toilet, with seat, that flushes
Bed, with sheets, that stays still

And things that I don't want to give up:
Not having to brush my hair
Surfing at 16 knots all night
Being able to eat sweets for breakfast
Staying up all night
Sleeping during the day

I am hoping I have a little more wind than the others at the moment (it says so on the weather info) to try to catch back up a bit. Tomorrow looks like we will have a lot of wind (possibly more than 30 knots) - downwind - later on in the day, as a little low-pressure forms just to our East. So it's going to be yee-ha conditions, which means I need to really try to get some rest now.

Sam x

TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO WITH SAM (1000HRS)

What is your sail configuration?
“I had the asymmetric up, and I was sending it well with that all day. The repair is absolutely fine – probably better than it was before so that’s cool! I thought it would be fine overnight with the pilot driving. At the start of the night, I decided should rest because I really needed sleep, so I climbed in to my bunk, and the boat started accelerating and accelerating! The whole boat was shaking – it was fine but I looked out and the wind speed was up to 27knots! I thought to myself, I don’t really want to crash right now because I know that there are people who have broken things and it’s nearly the end of the race, so I changed down to the small spinnaker and also the wind was coming aft. The asymmetric is not so good with the pole aft so I needed to change anyway. I decided for the night, so that I could sleep properly, I’d put the small one up, so I could go pole back and the boat was absolutely fine. We’re still surfing and doing mostly over 10 knots so I think it’s good!”

So is the photo you sent back a sign that you are heading for warmer weather?!
“The kamikaze 'trying to smash in to my face' flying fish are always a good sign! The fish in the photo was so small and so perfect!”

Is it bikini weather yet?!
“No not yet - still in mid-layer and my foul weather gear on deck. I'm a wimp but I know and there are probably people in shorts and t-shirts but I don't like getting wet, as you know! You have to stay nice and dry to keep your skin good!”

Do you have the same conditions for next 24 hours?
“It should get a bit stronger during the day today which will be fun and I'm going to put the big spinnaker up and send it. As you get near Turks it should drop off and go a little bit to the north. There's a funny little depression forming just to south of us, which is due to take our wind away. “

Later today you’ll be inside the magic '1000 miles to go'… how are you feeling about that?
“It’s cool actually, at the moment it’s 1044 so in a couple of hours it will be gone. Yeah it’s definitely signifies the end of the race once you get on to the 1000 mark. Especially when it’s conditions like that, the 100’s seem to tick down nicely and you do countdown to the finish. It’s funny in this race, getting through to this waypoint at the Turks because normally in a transatlantic race when you see land you’re finished. It’s a bit of a trap here because we get to the Caribbean and we still have another 500 miles. It’s a strange situation but it will be interesting. I’ve never done a race like that, where you finish by racing along 500 miles of coast – another challenge! Hopefully I’ll have the chance to get a suntan before the arrival.”

What are you expecting to happen as you pass the Turks waypoint?
“I hope it's not going to be a big pile up! That would be a shame from my point of view because I’m in a good position! I’m sure there could be possibility that everyone will end up all in the same place together after sailing all the way across the Atlantic. We’ll see…looking at the weather forecast, I’m not sure what will happen because every time I get a new grib file it says something different."

The Turks waypoint in the Bahamas is the end of ocean sailing. Are you ready for the coastal section of the race?
“There are loads of little trip-ups which could catch you out. Once we get inside these islands we cross a big shipping lane and there’s going to be cruising boats, fishing boats and pirates off Haiti. There’s all kind of things in our way so we’re going to have to be a lot more vigilant. I don’t think there’s going to be any sleeping in the bunk anymore. It will be good for these last 2 nights to get some good rest for that. The wind’s going to shifting all over the place. I’m ready, I’ve been thinking about it a lot – to prepare myself so that it won’t be a shock and really tough. I think it will be mentally and physically quite hard. Even though there will be light winds there will be a lot of trimming and moving the weights in side to keep the boat upright or heeled over if necessary. It’s going to be more like a Figaro race – I’m psyching myself up for a Figaro type sprint. I know I’m tired already so I know I can’t go completely like I would do when I’d start refreshed. It will be nice to go through the Turks hopefully still in 3rd position. For me that’s my transat and I’ve done a good one!”

Communications thanks to BT Broadband

LATEST POSITIONS 1000 BST 20/4/05 (boat name / average boat speed /distance to leader)

1. CREDIT MARITIME - ZEROTWO / 9.3kts / 1005.0nm to finish
2. BOSTIK / 9.2kts / +18.9nm
3. SKANDIA / 10.3 / +47.7nm
4. CERCLE VERT / 9.8kts / +102.5nm
5. BANQUE POPULAIRE / 8.6kts / +139.3nm
6. COUTOT ROEHRIG / 7.5kts / +150.7nm
7. GEDIMAT / 9.8kts / +152.5m
8. AQUARELLE.COM / 9.0kts / +167.0nm
9. TOTAL / 9.3kts / +194.0nm
10. ATAO AUDIO SYSTEM / 9.4kts / +220.5nm
11. ENTREPRENDRE AU PAYS DE LORIENT / 8.9kts / 257.6nm
12. LITTLE BLACK SHARK / 7.0kts / +375.4nm