Tour de Bretagne a la Voile
by Offshore Challenges 20 May 2003 21:58 BST
TOUR DE BRETAGNE A LA VOILE - 18-24 MAY 2003
PRE-LEG 3 : PERROS GUIREC – BREST STARTING AT 2100 HRS TONIGHT DISTANCE : 90 MILES FORECAST : 20 knots W / starting against the tide / racing close to shore
IN BRIEF:
* The SKANDIA team of Sam Davies, Emma Westmacott and shore team Nick Black have had a frantic day preparing their Figaro...damage to jib, mainsail and boat's computer were top of the job list along with studying the all important navigation for the 90 mile overnight leg...
* The 26-boat fleet will be starting in approx 20 knots of breeze from the west against a strong tide...upwind sailing, close into shore...a dangerous prospect in darkness...
* SKANDIA's strategy: "To play the tides and wind shifts like we are racing round the cans - the only difference being it is for 90 miles!" said Davies.
IN DETAIL:
The atmosphere on the dock has been one of quiet concentrations as the 26 Figaro teams prepare their boats for leg 3 of the Tour de Bretagne - a 90 mile course from Perros Guirec to Brest starting tonight at 2100 hrs. Repairing damage from yesterday's leg 2 in 35+ knot winds, problem solving and studying the weather has pre-occupied the skippers: "Everyone has their heads down preparing boat and nearly everyone has had some sort of problem," said Davies. "It's good to be able to share some of the problems, especially with the experienced skippers, so you know what to do if they happen to you."
Even after two legs, the pattern is there...you have to make the least amount of mistakes as possible, you have to be consistent and you have to finish in the top ten to stand any chance of being at the top of the leaderboard. These spots are currently occupied by the experienced team of Charles Caudrelier Benac and Pascal Bidegorry on Bostik Findley. Sharing the same number of points but in second place overall after a fourth in leg 2 compared to Bostik Findley's second, is Jeremie Beyou and Gilles Chiorri on Delta Dore - Tabarly, Drouglazet, Pace, Elies and Peyron are all stacked up behind. A bad result now can put a boat out of contention for good at this halfway stage.
The forecast is for 20+ knots from the west - upwind, upwind and more upwind... The fleet will be starting against the tide forcing them to race as close inshore as possible. "The first few hours are going to be really tacticaly," said Davies. "We will be against the tide for the first five hours beating upwind along the north coast of Brittany. By daylight we should be closing on the NW corner of France but, hopefully, once we turn the corner we will be on more of a reach - the last part we will hopefully get the big spinnaker up but will be against the tide again."
Both SKANDIA'S mainsail and jib are going under repair and not expected to be delivered back until one hour before SKANDIA leaves the dock at 2000 hrs. To overcome the problems of yesterday, the bolt rope in the headsails have been replaced with a larger size to prevent them from ripping out of the head foil. "We also damaged our Sony laptop in a knock down yesterday so it is not working 100% which means we are going to have to navigate more using the GPS and charts rather than relying on the computer."
For Davies and Westmacott their strategy is simple: "We're going to play the tides and wind shifts like we are racing round the cans - the only difference being it is for 90 miles," said Davies. "Won't get any sleep at all and we will survive on energy bars until we arrive at Brest tomorrow lunchtime. We're just going to go for it."
RESULTS TOUR DE BRETAGNE - AFTER 2 LEGS:
Skipper / co-skipper / boat (L1-L2=pts)
26 starters
1st Charles CAUDRELIER-BENAC / Pascal BIDEGORRY - BOSTIK FINDLEY (6-2=8) 2nd Jeremie BEYOU / Gilles CHIORRI - DELTA DORE (4-4=8) 3rd Erwan TABARLY / Philippe VICARIOT - THALES (1-8=9) 4th Benoit PETIT / Tangi MAHE / DEFE SANTE VOILE (3-6=9) 5th Gildas MORVAN / Bertrand PACE - CERCLE VERT (11-1=12) 6th Thierry CHABAGNY / Corentin DOUGUET - PETIT NAVIRE (7-5=12) 7th Yann ELIES / Loick PEYRON - GROUPE GENERALI ASSURANCES (5-7=12) 8th Eric DROUGLAZET / Hans BOUSCHOLTE - DAVID OLIVIER (10-3=13) 9th Ronan GUERIN / Yves PAJOT - CAMUS IMMOBILIER (2-19=21) 10th Bruno JOURDAIN / Jean-Marie DAURIUS - D'AUCY (9-12=21) 25th Sam DAVIES / Emma WESTMACOTT - SKANDIA (21-25=46)