Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe - Day 6
by Sabina Mollart Rogerson 7 Nov 2014 18:10 GMT
7 November 2014
Dual Duels
Racing remains too close to call at the head of IMOCA 60 class, Class 40 and the Multi50 Class in La Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe while the margins in the Ultime and Rhum classes are more established.
The IMOCA 60 class is shaping up to be a two boat race, a head-to-head duel between two of France's most talented solo offshore sailors. Francois Gabart (Macif) 31 years old Vendée Globe solo non stop around the world champion against 38 year old Jeremie Beyou (Maitre Coq) reigning and three times La Solitaire du Figaro champion are just 20 miles apart this afternoon after five days of racing. The duo timed their timing and angle through a front last night well which gave them a jump on their third placed pursuer Marc Guillemot (Safran) who is now 106 miles behind Gabart, suffering in lighter winds and with some small breakdowns.
Gabart won the Vendèe Globe at the first time of asking at 29 years old but has never yet won the incredibly intense annual multi-stage one design Solitaire. His best place finish is second in 2002. In June Beyou became only the fourth skipper to win La Solitaire du Figaro three times along with Philippe Poupon, Jean Le Cam and Michel Desjoyeaux. Then he showed an almost unerring, key ability to modulate his performance on each of the 3 to 4 day legs, peaking at the right time and holding in reserved when needed.
But the same could be said of Gabart on the last Vendée Globe when he and Armel Le Cleac'h played cat and mouse, solo non stop around the world for 78 days and 2 hours, latterly Gabart able to squeeze out small miles seemingly at will.
Gabart is in his last race in the IMOCA class, at least for a while. And Beyou is highly motivated by a succession of disappointments. He withdrew from this race in 2006 due to family reasons and four years - post Vendee Globe - when this race came around he was sponsor-less. The sailor from the bay of Morlaix has had retire form the last two Vendee Globes, relatively early in both races due to damage. Indeed his biggest transocean success was winning the 2011 Transat Jacque Vabre at the side of Jean-Pierre Dick.
All the leading IMOCA 60s are downwind or reaching under spinnaker but the key to the battle of the leaders will be how they deal with the tentacles of light airs extending in front of them from the dominant Azores high pressure zone. From that point of view the advantage is often with the hunter, behind, rather than the hunted, ahead. Beyond that, the golden ticket is first entry into the Trade Winds.
Enigmatic Italian skiper Alessandro di Benedetto has had to more or less stop today whilehe made a repair to his rudder system on the IMOCA 60 Team Plastique AFM Telethon.
"I have finished the repair with resin infused glass cloth. I have had to attach myself to the stern section to make the repair. Now I am going to hold on station for a few hours, boat angled 10 deg to starboard." he told Race Direction this afternoon.
Class 40 is also living up to its pre-race billing, even with the abandonment of favourite Sebastien Rogues. Transatlantic Rookie Thibaut Vauchel-Camus (Solidaires en Peloton) had to give up his lead today to Kito de Pavant (Otio-Bastide Medical) who profited from his stratgey some 55 miles or so to the north of the leaders. That got him through the front first and earns him a 24 miles lead and he has been consistently quickest. De Pavant is another skipper who is no stranger to disappointment. The soloist from near Montpelier in the south of France had to retire from the last Route du Rhum, the Vendée Globe twice (he hit a fishing boat five days in in 2012) and the last Barcelona World Race, but his strategy and speeds have proven his skills so far in this race.
Britons Conrad Humphreys and Miranda Merron are on strong form in this class. Merron holds ninth and Humphreys - who had to pitstop into Camaret - is in 12th.
Merron reported this afternoonm that she has been racing side by side with Geodis (Fabrice Amedeo):
"Geodis and Campagne de France have been sailing in sight of each other since yesterday morning. Clearly the Atlantic playground is not big enough! Fabrice has the advantage just now, but has kindly gone for a nap while I keep a lookout, and which means I should overtake him. It'cool sailing so close - good for going fast, but I hope the match race doesn't last too long. I need a nap too."
In the Rhum Class which is much more competitive than the last edition which he won from seven finishers, 1 day and 4 hours ahead of second, Andrea Mura has Anne Caseneuve now over 95 miles directly behind him. She is on her fifth Route du Rhum and looking to better her second place in the heinous 2002 edition. Sir Robin Knox Johnston is in the midst of a four way fight in seventh, 100 miles shy of fourth. Behind him, just, is Finland's Ari Huusela.
Bob Escoffier spoke of his rescue from his 60 foot monohull yesterday:
"When I woke up, I could hear the sound of water. I thought first of all it was the ballast tanks, as I sleep alongside them. In the end it woke me up, and I realised it was not a normal sound. I could see in the forward cabin that the floorboards were floating. I already had two or three feet of water. I'm not exaggerating. I brought down the mainsail which had three reefs in, furled the staysail to calm down the boat. The boat was heading towards the NE at that point. I went back down below to try to see where all the water was coming from. I lifted up the boards to see if there wasn't a problem with the engine. The water was already halfway up the engine, so I couldn't see anything. I put on my survival suit. I issued a mayday alert on Channel 16 and triggered both my beacons. I let Benjamin Hardouin on Krit'R V know what was happening. At that point, the rescue procedures came into play. I was feeling quite calm, as there were plenty of boats around me, around ten or so within forty miles. My life was not in danger. There was just one scary moment, as there was a huge orange tug, the Sar Gravia towing Pierre Antoine's Olmix, who wanted to tow my boat too. They got within 20 inches and the manoeuvre went wrong. I thought they were going to run into me That was quite scary. When they saw that it wasn't working, they set off again. At that moment, the helicopter arrived. I threw myself in the water, and the helicopter picked me up. I had lost everything. The boat of course, bank card, phone, passport etc. You feel naked when that happens. My dear wife arrived this morning. We slept well and everything is fine."
Fellow veteran Patrick Morvan on the tiny tri Ortis has decided to stop into Peniche just north of Lisbon after dicovering a crack in the forward crossbeam. There was a loud noise and the fissure became evident and so he is halted into the Portguese haven around 1000hrs this morning. The crack is about 30cms wide.
At the front of the race Loick Peyron confirmed how hard it is in the light, unstable trade winds when you can't just gybe and work each wind shift and go searching for pressure. He has lost some miles to Yann Guichard but both are making good speeds between 22 and 25 kts. Maxi Solo Banque Populaire is 130 miles ahead, Lionel Lemonchois on Prince de Bretagne is slowed and under attack a bit from the Multi 70s Groupe Edmond de Rothschild and Musandam Oman Sail which are 70 miles apart now, Seb Josse still ahead.
Quotes:
Jérémie Beyou, IMOCA 60 Maître Coq: "We knew we were in for a fight. And that's exactly what we've got. It looks like that is going to continue. We have some heavy squalls, and the downwind sailing is a bit fast and tense... I had the spinnaker up last night, but the wind got up to thirty knots when I was under full mainsail and big spinnaker. I brought down the big spinnaker down and hoisted the gennaker, which is quite a job. At the moment, we're speeding along, but it's not really the trade winds as there are squalls and drizzle... I'm pleased about where I am. I deliberately headed north to deal with the front. I didn't want to hang around below it. Marc Guillemot and Armel Tripon's positions are a bit risky, as there are areas with no wind. It's a bit of a risk."
Sidney Gavignet Ultime Musandam-Oman Sail: "I've got twenty knots of wind. The seas are quite heavy, which is quite a surprise, as they seem to calm down and then get stirred up again. The boat is sailing well. It's much more unstable during the night than during the day with squalls and wind shifts, so we we've had plenty of gybes to do. I am working closely with my router, Jean-François Cuzon. We do a lot of work on the phone and we determine a bearing at which we need to gybe. He sends me the weather in the morning and evening so that I can understand what's going on and together we come to a decision. He is really hard at it around the clock. I don't have any hesitation in calling him up at any time, even at night. We're both hard at it. He is racing from his home."
Bob Escoffier, skipper of the Rhum class, Groupe Guisnel: "As far as my health is concerned, I've got a few bruises and a few aches this morning, but everything is fine apart from that. As for my morale, I feel down, as this is the first time in my career as a sailor that I have not brought the boat safely home. It is indeed very sad. She's a great boat. She's Servane's. We have to look on the bright side. I'm still here and that's the main thing! I carried out a pit stop in Roscoff after a staysail problem. The sail went into the water, so I had to set off with another staysail. We set off early on Tuesday morning at 0730hrs to make our way down. It was still complicated passing Ushant, but that went fine. Then we crossed the Bay of Biscay, which went well too. As Karine Fauconnier, my router told me, there was a rather nasty low-pressure area coming up from the south-west with winds of around 40 knots. I decided to head for the coast to shelter and heave to for fifteen hours or so. Once the wind had swung around in the evening, I would head off again along the coast of Portugal. Kriter was sailing about three miles from me. I told him that as we were in an area where there were a lot of boats, he should call me up if he saw anything on the AIS, while I grabbed 15-20 minutes of rest. When I woke up, I could hear the sound of water. I thought first of all it was the ballast tanks, as I sleep alongside them. In the end it woke me up, and I realised it was not a normal sound. I could see in the forward cabin that the floorboards were floating. I already had two or three feet of water. I'm not exaggerating. I brought down the mainsail which had three reefs in, furled the staysail to calm down the boat. The boat was heading towards the NE at that point. I went back down below to try to see where all the water was coming from. I lifted up the boards to see if there wasn't a problem with the engine. The water was already halfway up the engine, so I couldn't see anything. I put on my survival suit. I issued a mayday alert on Channel 16 and triggered both my beacons. I let Benjamin Hardouin on Krit'R V know what was happening. At that point, the rescue procedures came into play. I was feeling quite calm, as there were plenty of boats around me, around ten or so within forty miles. My life was not in danger. There was just one scary moment, as there was a huge orange tug, the Sar Gravia towing Pierre Antoine's Olmix, who wanted to tow my boat too. They got within 20 inches and the manoeuvre went wrong. I thought they were going to run into me That was quite scary. When they saw that it wasn't working, they set off again. At that moment, the helicopter arrived. I threw myself in the water, and the helicopter picked me up. I had lost everything. The boat of course, bank card, phone, passport etc. You feel naked when that happens. My dear wife arrived this morning. We slept well and everything is fine."
www.routedurhum.com
Beware of the tropics (from Spindrift racing)
Driven by the trade winds, the trimarans are cruising through warm, turquoise waters. While the sailors are now clad in shorts and t-shirts, there are still nervous times ahead. The north-east wind has built up and stabilised at around 20 knots. The squall has gone, and Yann Guichard successfully negotiated a small area of light winds last night. Two gybes under a full moon took the Spindrift 2 skipper onto a fast, effective route. Still lying in second position with 1,400 nautical miles to go, Spindrift 2 has even closed the gap slightly on Loïck Peyron, the current race leader, who will have to make the right decisions now if he is to fend off the predators following in his wake.
"I don't know exactly how many days we've been at sea," said Yann in the on-board video he recorded. "I think this is the sixth day." Sailors, especially those sailing solo, fit their sleeping patterns around the boat and the weather conditions, making it difficult for them to keep track of the days and nights they've spent at sea. "I'm cruising at 24-25 knots on a boat that is using its full potential, which is good," he adds. "Now that the wind has picked up, I really need to minimise my manoeuvres to reduce the chance of making a silly mistake."
Onshore support
Yann's routers continue to keep watch day and night, advising the skipper about his order of priorities. At their headquarters in Carnac, Brittany, Richard Silvani of Météo France and Erwan Israël are following each and every minute of this transatlantic race. "At first I wasn't sleeping enough and I was so focused on the race that I actually forgot to eat," said Erwan. "Richard, who has tremendous experience, has helped me to find a good rhythm, which is crucial as we also need to last right through to the end". Erwan, who knows Spindrift 2 by heart, having sailed as part of the crew for previous records, is able to perfectly calculate the extent of the tasks that Yann must face: "We decided to manoeuvre last night to avoid this bubble which could have made us lose time. Yann stepped up to the challenge, yet again. He's right onto his game! We ask him to alert us about the slightest change in the wind so that we can react as quickly as possible. What impressed me most was his close-hauled sailing in the Bay of Biscay, when he kept his foot on the accelerator despite the awful conditions. It paid off, because he moved to second place, and has stayed there ever since."
The team is keeping a close eye 24/7 on both sides of the Atlantic
The meteorologists are not the only ones who have to get up in the middle of the night. Each member of the team is supporting the skipper in his or her area of expertise. Dona Bertarelli is directing operations, maintaining a link between Yann and the onshore team, constantly monitoring the skipper's morale and anticipating his needs. Leo Lucet, Executive Director of Spindrift racing, is one of the cornerstones of the team, dealing with the logistics required to ensure that such a huge challenge functions properly. From a technical point of view, the boats are suffering wear and tear after nearly one week at sea. Yann must now perform some maintenance alone on this immense maxi-trimaran. To make such maintenance possible, Spindrift 2's technical manager Antoine Carraz needs to find fast solutions so that the skipper can spend as little time as possible keeping the boat in perfect shape.
With the finish line approaching, the teams have already begun to fly out to Pointe-à-Pitre. Travel plans were made months ago, and team members will travel in several groups to ensure that Yann can contact the right person he needs at any time, day or night.
Choosing the right moment
Loïck Peyron and Yann Guichard are both following a long starboard tack on the edge of the Azores High. In a few hours time they will gybe to follow a long port tack, this time towards the island of Guadeloupe in the West Indies. If there are no major tactical surprises, each skipper must choose the right moment to hit the home straight. Banque Populaire VII is in control. Behind Loïck and Yann, Lionel Lemonchois has decided to veer south to pick up the trade winds as soon as possible, even if it makes his route slightly longer. Sébastien Josse is following in his wake. Although the two leaders currently look to be outside everyone else's reach, the two closest chasers have taken a last-ditch gamble, knowing that they could still spring a surprise and reach Guadeloupe first.
Edmond de Rothschild over midway (from Kate Jennings)
After setting out from Saint Malo last Sunday at 1400 hours local time, the Multi70 Edmond de Rothschild crossed the symbolic midway point in the race, which equates to nearly 1,771 miles covered along the great circle route (direct route), this Friday morning shortly after 0700 GMT. According to the initial estimates of his routers – Jean-Yves Bernot et Antoine Koch – some four days of sea still lie ahead of the bows of the trimaran fitted out by Baron Benjamin de Rothschild before making Guadeloupe. Four days which Sébastien Josse fully intends to make the most of in his bid to catch up with the head of the fleet. This is all the more true given that the weather conditions encountered by the Ultimes in this second half of the course suit the Gitana Team pairing to a T. At 1600 GMT, the native of Nice was lying in fourth place, some 321 miles shy of the firm leader, Banque Populaire VII, but he'd come back to within 40 miles of third placed Prince de Bretagne.
Tradewind strategy
"I've had my first flying fish", said the skipper of Edmond de Rothschild early this afternoon. The visit by this flying fish is an unmistakeable sign: the seven Ultimes are already sailing in the famous north-easterly tradewinds, synonymous with downwind conditions and high speeds. Thanks to this air flow, albeit less powerful than usual (between 15 and 20 knots), Sébastien Josse and his rivals have been making headway towards Guadeloupe since yesterday, the day before yesterday for some of the 'lucky' ones.
The ability to slip along downwind is something that is relished by solo sailors, though it requires a great many adjustments. Indeed, in sailing, as in life, it's all about balance! Staying far enough north so as not to distance oneself too far from the direct route, but sufficiently far South to benefit from a well-established tradewind; such is the stylistic composition the sailors in the Ultime class are currently focusing on. "The overall strategy is fairly simple, as the tradewind route is dotted with more shifty zones, you have to be on your toes constantly to ensure you're sailing at the best angle in the best wind strength. The Ultimes are tangential to the Azores High, which is just to the north of them. When you approach the high pressure, there is less wind and that's what we're trying to avoid at all costs. However, the gybes towards the south-west to hunt down the pressure are fairly disadvantageous in terms of distance covered. As a result, we're trying to put in as few as possible," explained Antoine Koch, from Gitana Team's routing cell. At this little game of trajectories, Sébastien Josse has sailed a blinder and made up ground on the head of the fleet. His speeds over the past 24 hours testify to this: indeed the Multi70 Edmond de Rothschild was the fastest of the Ultimes having devoured 538 miles at an average speed of 22.4 knots.
Edmond de Rothschild reduces the deficit
The nights go by and every one is different in the Route du Rhum – Destination Guadeloupe... Overnight on Wednesday, Sébastien Josse endured a tough phase, during which he battled hard to extract himself from a zone of light airs, thus letting his direct rivals steal a march on him whilst conceding precious miles to his pursuers. Last night, the solo sailor fully exploited the potential of his Multi70 and had made up ground on the head of the fleet as Antoine Koch explained this morning: "Despite some rainy squalls under which there was little wind, Sébastien managed to slip along seamlessly the whole night. The excellent heading associated with a good speed enabled him to snatch back nearly 70 miles in relation to the leader and around thirty miles from Lionel. It's quite a move."
Late morning, Prince de Bretagne appeared to encounter some problems, but the damage doesn't seem to have been serious as the red multihull has since powered up again. However, the incident played into Sébastien Josse's hands and he is back to within 40 miles of his transom. In the end, the 120 miles, which yesterday separated the Multi70 Edmond de Rothschild from third placed Prince de Bretagne, are a third of what they were, so the race is very much on as the fleet make for Pointe-à-Pitre.
Conrad's Blog, Friday 07th November 2014 (from Cat Phones)
I knew I was going to have to do something different which is why I took the course that I did yesterday, heading west.
I really pushed it hard yesterday and through the night. Cat Phones was loving it! The boat was going really, really fast, reaching some very high speeds.
There was a lot of wind across that front, even more than I'd expected – up to 42 knots at times. I felt that it went really well yesterday and I'm sailing very quickly this morning because of the conditions.
I've got a problem with my computer monitor which means I have to stick my head into a cupboard to see anything, which isn't ideal.
But all in all I'm really pleased with things and feeling good. I managed to get four hours sleep last night and I feel as though I'm making good progress in the race.