Sam Davies in the Trophée BPE - Day 21

Yesterday afternoon Gildas Morvan on CERCLE VERT, who had been closing on SKANDIA for the last two days, finally came into sight and has now sneaked into 3rd position approximately 10 miles in front of SKANDIA in the official rankings at 1000 BST today (although her position is an estimate). Sam last saw him at the second bouy that marked the passage south of the Turk Islands before a big header saw them go in different directions: "I don't know where he is now, it is difficult to see the other boats at night but I think he stayed lower than me."

There is little distance between Morvan and Sam and, although depressed at being caught up, she is motivated to stay with Morvan and fight her way to the finish line. Only 75 miles now separate the top five boats and with the light and very shifty conditions currently dominating the leading group, no one is taking anything for granted. For Sam the dilemma is whether to sail to the wind or the compass - right now, SKANDIA is sailing to the wind which means being 20 degrees left or right of the direct course: "Think I will sail to the wind at the moment and right now we are going upwind so it seems the best thing to do..." With approximately 580 miles to go the finish, 'part II' of the Trophee BPE can be broken down into three 200-mile stages from the waypoint to the SE tip of Cuba, along the south coast of Cuba, then to the finish line off Cienfuegos. "It is going to be interesting - the wind is not doing what the forecast says at the moment and then the effects of the land and the cloud mass make it difficult to have any kind of strategy."

Sam refrained from using the word "lottery" but it is not the far from the truth as the leading group, re-group for this inshore part of this 4,265 mile solo race.

PS: Tomorrow Sam will set her own personal record for her longest solo passage at sea. Her previous longest passage was on the transatlantic Mini Transat race that lasted just under 20 days following the stopover in Lanzarote. That race was won by Yannick Besthaven who is currently lying in 7th place in this race.

EMAIL FROM SAM (0043HRS)

Hello

What a horrible day! It started to be horrible at about 5am (middle of the night here 22.4.05) when I saw a big rain squall coming my way. The wind shifted and increased. The shift was so big that I was way off course, so I decided not to run with it but to skim across the front.

Anyway, this little squall was developing into a massive cumulonimbus, right on top of me and there was no way of escape. Eventually the lightning and thunder started and I got a bit scared when I saw big bolts of lightning coming from the base of the cloud right down onto the horizon around me! I turned all my instruments off except the nke, in case I got hit.

The end of the thunderstorm coincided with dawn for me and I was left in ABSOLUTELY NO wind! Horrible, and nothing I could do. I sat there for 3 hours with the sails going "clack - clack" from side to side with the moition of the swell. That is so violent, that I was afraid something would break!

Eventually, I saw a sail on the horizon. That signified good news and bad news: The sail was full, so the good news was that the wind was coming back. Bad news - it was Gildas, who had been 8 miles behind, so my thunderstorm had lost me 8 miles. I was, as you can imagine, pretty depressed!

But, it was not my stupidity - the storm just happened to develop on top of me. AND, now I am with Gildas, it is motivating, like in the other shorter Figaro races as we are sailing and "speed testing" against each other all the time, so I am guaranteed to be sailing fast. I hope we keep the contact for a long time becasue I am sure we will gain on the others that way.

The rest of the day has been downwind in very light wind, sometimes "gusting" to 10 knots! We have been gybing together (me and Gildas) towards the Turks waypoint. Right now, it is 10 miles in front! Hooray - at last we are out of the Atlantic, and I have made it across in the "top" part of the peloton.

When we first saw each other, we had a little chat on the VHF. It was funny to talk to another skipper. We compared notes - breakages (none, except my spi and his twisted knee), diesel consumption, how good the pilots are and how stable the Figaro is under spinnaker going fast, solar panels...

Right now, it is still very light winds and we are trickling along. I hope that there will be some stable wind tonight because I have not rested since before my thunderstorm and I am starting to feel tired. It is getting hard to sleep during the day because it is so hot. But it is impossible to sleep if there is little or no wind and it is shifting all the time because you have to be constantly adjusting the trim.

Sam
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EXTRACT OF AUDIO WITH SAM (1000HRS)

Have you managed to keep tabs on CERCLE VERT?
When it's dark it is really difficult to see each other - I saw him until the second bouy through the passage at the Turks and I was close to him at the next bouy but he stayed lower and sailed with his spinnaker for a while. Last time I saw him he was on my starboard beam then I went to sleep and when I woke up he was gone. But I was sailing a bit higher of the rhumb line and he was a bit lower.

Did you actually see land at the waypoint?
They are only small islands and were about 10 miles away. The nearest one we got to was 7 miles away but it was dark and I didn't even see the lights on the land.

Frustrating to see your advantage slip away and more frustrating times to come?
It's frustrating but I knew it would be like this. I am still really pleased that I got across the Atlantic in third and that is the big thing, I got it right. The next part is going to be really tricky, the wind is just shifting all over the place. Right now, when I am talking to you, I've got my finger on the remote control for the boat because the wind is shifting so quickly. Every time you sleep, you know that for some of that time the sails won't be trimmed properly or you won't be steering the right direction. For sure, it's going to be tricky but it's the same for everyone. It's another race, basically, and I am treating it almost like two races - I did the first bit really well and I am just going to have to see how I do on the second bit.

Are you expecting the conditions to stay light and what about local effects?
It's looking really light and shifty and it's difficult to make any kind of strategy from the weather because the wind is not doing anything like the forecast tells us it is going to do. It is all local depending on the clouds and the land. I am breaking the next part down into three stages - it will be light, frustrating but also treat it with a bit of interest because I know I will learn something.

How are you coping in the shifty conditions?
It's difficult to know whether to sail on wind or whether to sail on compass and continually adjust the sail...I am not quite sure what is the right thing to do. The wind has just headed so we are going upwind, so its probably best to sail to the wind right now.

What do you see as the pros and cons of being so close to another competitor?
The picture is a lot bigger than just one other boat - it's good to have another boat to check against but also it could be a trap to sail off and not to do what my feelings tell me to do so I have to try and balance between the two. But it will be good to see where he is when it's light!

Any other news?
Tomorrow will signify my longest time ever at sea on a race on my own! The Mini Transat was just under 20 days.

Communications thanks to BT Broadband

LATEST POSITIONS 1000 BST 23/4/05 (boat name / average boat speed /distance to leader)

1. CREDIT MARITIME - ZEROTWO / 7.6kts / 529.0nm to finish
2. BOSTIK / 7.1kts / +10.6nm
3. CERCLE VERT / 8.6kts / +42.0nm
4. SKANDIA / 4.8kts / +53.1nm
5. BANQUE POPULAIRE / 7.6kts / +75.1nm
6. GEDIMAT / 5.1kts / +82.6nm
7. AQUARELLE.COM / 6.0kts / +83.1nm
8. ATAO AUDIO SYSTEM / 1.6kts / +86.0nm
9. COUTOT ROEHRIG / 4.2kts / +87.9nm
10. TOTAL / 5.4kts / +113.6nm
11. ENTREPRENDRE AU PAYS DE LORIENT / 52kts / 177.8nm
12. LITTLE BLACK SHARK / 6.2kts / +273.3nm