Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe - Day 17

Alex Pella during the Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe © Alex Pella

Catalan solo skipper Alex Pella passed another mental milestone this afternoon as he seeks to close out victory in Classe40 in La Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeluope, but he needs to remain totally focused to avoid any mishaps in the final stage of the solo race from Saint Malo to Guadeloupe.

Fish nets and traps and weed, as well as the swirling light winds in the lee of the island are among the reasons Pella needs to hold back his maximum energy to concentrate through the last hours of his race. He had slowed this afternoon - perhaps with a small technical problem - but was still making good progress towards the finish line.

Pella should still be in good shape. This Tuesday afternoon he passed under 100 miles to the finish with his leading margin back to second placed Transatlantic rookie Thibault Vauchel-Camus at 115 miles. His nearest rival was making between 10 and 12.5kts and Pella a more conservative nine knots.

Pointe a Pitre and La Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe's red carpet pontoon and La Place de Victoire is set for a truly international 24 hours or so. Alessandro di Benedetto, the Italian skipper who has been adopted by Les Sables d'Olonne as their own since he sailed from there solo around the world on his Mini650 in 2009-10, was due to finish later this afternoon. He had been slowed to between 5 and 7kts down the west side of the island. Tanguy de Lamotte (Initiatives Coeur) was around 42 miles behind making 10 kts but had yet to enter the real lee of the island.

Di Benedetto will add to his own incredible ocean going record, now completing the set of Vendee Globe, Transat Jacques Vabre and now Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe.

In fact Pella is only 20 miles behind De Lamotte, who had to stop into Brest to make a time consuming repair to his rudder. Pella may actually be able to benefit by tracking De Lamotte's path through the calmer winds. Tanguy will complete his second Route du Rhum after finishing 15th in Class 40 in 2010 on a boat which he co-designed. but it will conclude his sixth Transatlantic. After having to make his technica pit-stop De Lamotte confirmed that his main objective changed to simply learning the boat Initiatives Couer - formerly Vincent Riou's 2006-7 Farr design - with a view to a future which he hopes will include the 2016 Vendee Globe.

Meanwhile it is a cavalcade of 32 skippers which Pella leads home, Class40 spanning 2,200 miles of ocean this evening.

In the Rhum Class Sir Robin Knox Johnston has conceded some miles to 2010 Class winner Andrea Mura who is now 66 miles ahead in third place. "I have all the right sails up and am really flying along by Andrea is going like the clappers." said Sir Robin this afternoon.

And on this night 24 years ago history was made when Florence Arthaud became the first woman ever to win La Route du Rhum. At 33 she wrote a new page in the history of French ocean racing, winning the fourth edition of the race, following in the wake Birch, Poupon and Bourgnon, she won in 14days 8 minutes and 28 seconds.

Tanguy De Lamotte, IMOCA Initiatives Couer: "It is difficult to know how long I'm going to take to get around Guadeloupe to the finish. My goal is to get finished tonight. On my last Rhum in the Class 40, it went well until I arrived at the Tete a L'Anglais. I finised at sunset and it would be nice to do the same. Last nigght was good, all surfing along under spinnaker. Then I got a squall and it tore at the bottom so it has been down to the gennaker. I had a bit of a problem with the drum but its OK. So it was a sleepless night. Alex is not far behind and Alessandro not far ahead, and so I think we form a beautiful trio of international finishers. "

Thibaut Vauchel-Camus, Class40, second on Solidaires en Peloton: "It feels stable as they say. It For more than 30 hours I have had problems with weed. Kito closes the gap a bit and I feel under pressure, we are still racing. I maybe need to reposition a bit and eget downwind to control him. Along the leeward side of Guadeloupe there may be a lottery, and I hope I have the winning ticket."

www.routedurhum.com

Update from Gitana Team

A week ago to the day – Tuesday 11 November – with the nightlife of Guadeloupe in full swing on the Place de la Victoire in Pointe-à-Pitre, Sébastien Josse crossed the finish line of the Route du Rhum – Destination Guadeloupe. The skipper of Gitana Team secured 3rd place, completing the podium for the 10th edition after a particularly intense 8 days, 14 hours, 47 minutes and 9 seconds at sea. At the helm of the Multi70 Edmond de Rothschild – the Tom Thumb of the Ultime class – the solo sailor pulled off an outstanding performance against the giant trimarans of the star category. Before we turn the stunning page that encapsulates the Route du Rhum and set sail on a series of major new challenges, Sébastien Josse plunges back into his first solo transatlantic race aboard a multihull.

"I left Saint Malo feeling quietly confident because, together with the shore crew, we'd done all that was needed, but inevitably there was a little bit of tension as we set sail as it's not everyday that you set off on such a race. The start is always a stressful moment. I wanted to be careful over the first few miles, which is what I did before really getting into the rhythm along the Breton coast during the first night. I knew that the first three days were going to be tough given the wind and sea state, but it was a bit like venturing into the unknown as far as the rest of it was concerned. I didn't want to get caught up in the pressure from my rivals and risk making mistakes by sailing beyond my capabilities and going into the red. That was never the case though. At no time did I frighten myself during this transatlantic. I sailed my own race, at my own pace and when I felt fully confident I attacked. Aside from the first few days, where we had to hunker down in the rough weather, it was a sheer delight! I really had a ball, especially in the tradewinds. We had some relatively calm tradewinds, between 18 and 20 knots, and gentle seas: perfect conditions on a multihull. At 30 knots, under gennaker, flying two hulls, it's simply magical... The finish remains a high point! The race and the stress are behind you and all that's left are happy memories and the sense that you've done a good job. It was my first solo race on a multihull, but I'd sign up straightaway for a second!"

"When I set sail on a race, I head off with the most rational idea possible of how I think things will pan out. In this case, I reckoned that a 4th place would be a great result in itself given the line-up of big multihulls in the Ultime class. However, in the back of my mind, I wanted more. I believed I had a card up my sleeve in the 70-80-foot category. Banque Populaire and Spindrift were untouchable due to the sheer size of the boats. If we'd had the same boats, things could have been different, but clearly there was very little match racing involved, even though I managed to keep pace with them for a few days. Whilst I was sailing flat out to secure my 3rd place, I think Loïck and Yann still had at least 20% of their machines' potential to play with. I won the Route du Rhum in my category (laughs)... that of the 'tiny big' multihulls!"

"As always, the members of Gitana Team did an outstanding job, as much during the winter refit as in the preparation of the boat. It's very important to be able to rely on such a team. Knowing that you have a machine where nothing has been left to chance, enables you to set sail with confidence and transcend yourself on the water. My third place is theirs of course. Obviously I include Antoine Koch and Jean-Yves Bernot in that as they did a fantastic job routing me over this race. Antoine and I know each other inside out and that was a considerable asset in this race. The choices of trajectories were completely in line with what I was experiencing at sea. We were on the same wavelength and everything ran incredibly smoothly. We work together on a daily basis as Antoine is also in charge of Gitana Team's design office and we've sailed together a great deal over the past three years. This complicity played a key part so thank you to him."

"Technically, everything went well aside from an engine issue in the last few days. The damage could have been very serious for the race, because without an engine you don't have any power and hence no automatic pilot. However, we found some solutions to keep it going all the way to the finish and I had to helm a lot at the end.

The system of lifting surfaces developed by Gitana Team, in collaboration with Guillaume Verdier's team, clearly proved itself and the rudders made Guadeloupe intact. This transatlantic race enabled us to validate the reliability of the system in the rough weather over the initial days of racing, as well as over the long term. The Multi70 Edmond de Rothschild was not equipped with tools to measure performance but in terms of sensation the added bonus is very real. The T-foil rudders create an unquestionable turbo effect on the boat at certain points of sail. The addition of this system also has appeal in terms of safety as we had increased stability, which notably enabled me to push hard in the breezy conditions over the first few days without feeling as if I was in danger. Gitana Team's gamble was a daring one given the short timeframe for developing it and making it reliable but the experiment has been a success. Our scope for improvement is still significant, which promises to be a thrilling factor in the next stage of proceedings."

"The Gitana Team will continue with the developments to the platform on Multi70 Edmond de Rothschild. With the lifting surfaces on the float rudders, we've opened a way forward and taken a first important step, but it's not over. We still have a lot of work to do and we're going to carry out more extensive investigations on the latest generation appendages. The aim is obviously to capitalise on the advances we've made and become the first flying oceanic trimaran. At the same time, the team is working on the 60' monohull Edmond de Rothschild, which is currently in build at Multiplast in Vannes and whose launch is scheduled for June 2015. It's another, equally motivating challenge, which awaits us with the Transat Jacques Vabre in November and of course our minds are already on the Vendée Globe 2016 too. As a skipper I am overjoyed! Benjamin and Ariane de Rothschild, and the Edmond de Rothschild group, have given us an incredible opportunity to live out our passion at the highest level; a massive thank you to them!"

Though the final curtain has fallen on Sébastien Josse and the sailors in the Ultime category, some forty-eight sailors are still at sea today. They too will soon savour the delights of the Route du Rhum – Destination Guadeloupe finish line. The racing stable founded by Baron Benjamin de Rothschild looks forward to seeing you again in four years time for the 11th edition of the star of the solo transatlantic races, which has once again proven the aptness of its title.