Transat Jacques Vabre: Goodchild feeling the heat as Crédit Mutuel gets baking
by Soazig Guého 13 Nov 2019 03:39 GMT
13 November 2019
40ft monohull, Leyton - Transat Jacques Vabre © TJV
Sam Goodchild is running out of race track in his bid to become the first Briton to win the Class40 of the Transat Jacques Vabre Normandie Le Havre. At the 15:00 (UTC) ranking, Goodchild and French co-skipper, Fabien Delahaye, on their 40ft monohull, Leyton, were still 62 miles behind the leaders Crédit Mutuel, who have just 380 miles to the finish in the Bay of All Saints, Salvador de Bahia.
The two-year old Leyton has only been able to make up 3.5 miles in the last 24 hours against France's Ian Lipinski and Adrien Hardy on the latest generation, Crédit Mutuel, with its distinctive large rounded nose and apparent speed in all conditions. As they race down the north-east coast of Brazil, second place looks safe for Leyton,with Aïna Enfance & Avenir, lying 73 miles further back and making no impression overnight.
"We're 30 miles from the coast to avoid container traffic - we saw it around Fernando de Noronha," Ian Lipinski, the skipper of Crédit Mutuel said. "There was not that much there, but we're redoubling our vigilance to avoid anything that could reverse our position."
A further 51 miles behind Aïna Enfance & Avenir, Crosscall Chamonix Mont Blanc, looks to have escaped their three rivals but the latest generation Banque du Léman is just 24 miles behind them in fifth. If the wind is not very generous at the end of the course and is as complicated as it was for some of the IMOCA, it could be another nail-biter.
"We can't wait to arrive because it's been a bit of a long trek since the Doldrums. "It's very hot, we have between 13-15 knots of southeast wind and we're under genoa and mainsail. We think we're going well, there's no reason for us to change it, but we are still watching the rankings every hour!"
But if they are feeling the pressure on Crédit Mutuel, that was slightly undermined by their menu. "Yesterday, Adrien made bread and today he's making a crumble," Lipinski said.
ETAs (Warning! The approach to the finish in the Bay of All Saints still looks complicated, so time may vary.)
Thursday, November 14
Crédit Mutuel - 04:00 (UTC)
Leyton - 12:00
Aïna Enfance & Avenir - 20:00
Friday, November 15
Crosscall Chamonix Mont-Blanc - 00:00
IMOCA
21 IMOCA and three Multi50s are now moored in the port of Salvador de Bahia. On land the atmosphere is one of reunion, memories of the race and parties, meanwhile at sea, the remaining duos continue their relentless pace.
Six IMOCA are still racing to Salvador de Bahia and though there is nearly 600 miles between first and last, there is a keen battle between the older generation IMOCA in the fleet. Britain's Pip Hare Ocean Racing just 4.5 miles ahead (and 50 miles southeast) of 4myplanet with 578 miles to go as they approach Recife.
Penalty
Advens for Cybersecurity have lost a place and are now officially fifth after they received a two-hour penalty from the international jury for failing to round the last mark of the race at the entrance to the Bay of All Saints. Charlie Enright and Pascal Bidégorry on America's 11th Hour Racing, who finished less than 15 minutes behind in fifth, are now fourth.
As a reminder, PRB, 11th Hour Racing and Newrest Art & Fenêtres were also penalised by 1 hour and 30 minutes for breaking engine seals, but had made their penalty turns during the race.
ETAs (Warning! The approach to the finish in the Bay of All Saints still looks complicated, so time may vary.)
Wednesday, November 13
Campagne de France (Miranda Merron (Britain) and Halvard Mabiré) - 17:00 (UTC)
Thursday, November 14
Pip Hare Ocean Racing (Pip Hare (Britain) and Ysbrand Endt (Holland) - 15:00
4myplanet (Alexia Barrier (France) and Joan Mulloy (Ireland)) - 18:00
Ariel II (Ari Huusela (Finland) and Michael Ferguson (Ireland) - 23:00
Find out more at transatjacquesvabre.org/en