Felipe Cubillos (skipper Desafio Cabo de Hornos): “Everything is perfect here: a sunny day, good speed, good wind, very nice sailing. Slowly we’re making a gain on 40 Degrees, but they are very good and we are probably about 11 miles ahead of them. I’ve been checking the weather information and probably tomorrow, or this afternoon, the wind will be at a good angle for us. Now we are sailing at 150 degrees. So, wait and see, wait and see! We’re very much enjoying the race. We have enough water and enough food and we’re not really tired.”    

Shaun Murphy (co-skipper ORBIS): “We’re 14 miles from the gate now making about eight knots. Typically, there have been big squalls with absolutely no wind afterwards with a nasty north-easterly swell. It’s bloody horrendous with the boat wanting to move, but then the swell would just kill the boat. It was probably about two hours of torture yesterday. For the boats at the back it might not be a lot of fun when we get to the finish as all the parties will be over. Just a few tequilas and then people will start making their way home. Hopefully the Caribbean will be a bit easier as the last part of the Atlantic has been as full of headaches as the first part. We just take every day as it comes. We’re going to have a celebration tonight to mark finally seeing some land.”

Paul Worswick (co-skipper Keysource): “We’re about 60 miles away from the gate. There’s only 44 miles between four boats. It should be good across the Caribbean. We’ve been chipping away a bit at the guys in front. Patrice on Crédit Maritime, I looked at the stats and a week and-a-half ago he was 27 miles in front and now he’s 1.3 miles in front. We’ve been glued to him for about a week. Adriatech has been 20 miles in front for a long time and PLAN, we’ve got back in touch with. There’s everything to play for and I think we’re going to arrive at the gate at fairly similar times as we’re all going at similar sort of speeds. It’s going to be just full-on and going for it after the gate. I haven’t repaired the spinnaker we wrapped yet and I might have a go at that today. We’ve been full-on just trying to get the miles in and catch the guys up with a lot of handsteering because our autopilot only works on compass. I’ve been up the rig to look at the forestay and that all looks OK. Mike has spent quite a lot of time getting the electronics to work. We’re a bit tired as the last two nights have been really tough trying to sail round all the lightning and picking your way through is really difficult. The breeze went to nothing, to shifty and it has been a really long night. We’re nearly in the Caribbean which is really, really exciting! We’ve got a fuel cell on board and we didn’t realise how bloody amazing it is. It is brilliant and weighs just eight kilos. We’ve got loads of diesel as the fuel cells just chug away feeding into the circuit and our solar panels add about 6amps, so we’re really only running the engine for an hour every two days just to make water. We’re in good shape and have plenty of food. It’s going to be good to have other boats around us and to keep pushing. We’re at the back, so we’ve got nothing to lose and we can have a really good pop at these boys!”

Yesterday in the studios of the radio station France Bleu Loire Océan the guest was Michel Monnier, Chairman of the association « Transmission ». This was the occasion for him to convey his enthusiasm which is so characteristic of those involved in the associations in the Solidaire du Chocolat.

"Humanity » is the buzzword you hear over and over again when Michel Monnier speaks. And he knows what he is talking about. For 25 years now, he has been helping people who are experiencing social difficulty via the performing arts. Every year, at the end of summer in Trans sur Erdre (44), a particular story is told. Over the past three years it has been the story of Jesus. Before that it was the French Revolution or Jules Cesar. It is not so much a question of religion as one of humanity. In putting the show together, many people have been able to form long-lost social links once again in making the decor, costumes and the production itself.

 Transmission has been recognized by the public authorities as being of public utility*. Its members have succeeded in establishing strong links with various companies in order to obtain material and financial support. Michel Monnier is a newly retired teacher. Some of his former pupils lie behind the involvement of the company DFC2 where they now work (a building and public works company). The link between the company and the association goes beyond that of financial support ; in the month of December, the company will be providing the association with a vehicle.

"Passion" is another of Michel’s favourite words. In keeping with the name of the Finnish boat they are supporting (Tieto Passion) and which bears the colours of the Transmission association, passion is red, the colour of DFC2, and representative of the driving force behind the team formed on the occasion of the Solidaire du Chocolat. Transmission, Jouni Romppanen & Sam Ohman and DFC2 : the ethos is to convey passion!

*Official approval of an organization to take on people who have been sentenced by a court to undertake « work of public interest » in partnership with the Ministry of Justice

Extracts from the programme :

« What is interesting about the Solidaire du Chocolat is to see low-key associations alongside big names. Yet each is in his rightful place. We are entitled to passion and opening out onto the world. Tieto Passion’s crew works in much the same way as Transmission. When you take a look at some of the impressive sailing CVs of the guys taking part in the Solidaire du Chocolat, and then ours (Tieto) – nothing! They are excellent yachtsmen and the boat does have the word "Passion" in it. We admire them for what they have done and are doing. »

Daniel Bravo Silva (co-skipper Desafio Cabo de Hornos):  “I feel happy and fortunate to be here and although both Felipe and I are longing for a shower, a soft bed and some decent rest, we wouldn’t be anywhere else. My skipper has crossed the Atlantic five times in the last two years and I’m lucky to have his advice and guidance as I have just crossed the Atlantic for the first time in my life as the youngest – and most inexperienced -  sailor in the fleet. I’m now where I dreamt I would be all those years ago when I first went model boat yachting with my father, or first rented a pedalo on a beach. This is what I dreamt of when my grandfather enrolled me in an Optimist course at the local yacht club. This experience has been fantastic and now it slowly begins to end. We will continue trying to catch-up with the boats in front, but I’ve learnt the important thing in this type of race is to look after your two only allies. That is to say, take care of your boat and to take care of your companion.”

?


Weather forecast
over race area of Solidaire Chocolat 2009



General synopsis by November 11, 2009 at 00h

High 1028 hPa 36N46W, moving gradually east, expected 1021 hPa 33N37W by 12/00UTC then weakening slowly east. 
Area of low pressure about 1008 hPa 15N78W, moving slowly north of Cuba by 12/00UTC. 
Low 1007 hPa 25N64W, moving northwest and deepening, expected 1003 hPa 28N66W by 12/00UTC, then 1003 hPa 32N64W by 13/00UTC. 
Low 1006 hPa ex IDA 997 hPa 30N86W, moving slowly east, expected 1003 hPa 34N78W by 12/00UTC, then deepening with little move 995 hPa 34N77W by 13/00UTC. Associated disturbance crossing north YUCATAN and CUBA.





Weather forecast from November 11, 2009 at 9UTC to November 13, 2009 at 00UTC

East of NORD ANTILLES :
Southeasterly 12/17kt, backing Easterly 12/17kt at end. Sea moderate, cross by Northeast swell, locally rough in north soon. Frequent thundersqualls with gusts 30/35kt.
 
West of NORD ANTILLES : 
South or Southeast 10/15kt, backing East or Southeast 12/17kt at end. Sea moderate cross by Northeast swell, locally rough in north soon. Frequent thunder squalls with gusts 30/35kt.
 
East of HISPANIOLA : 
Southeasterly 12/17kt, backing Easterly 12/17kt at end. Sea slight or moderate, locally rough today in north cross by Northeast swell. Showers and squalls. 
 
West of HISPANIOLA :
East or Northeast 18/22 kt, veering East or Southeast 12/17kt by 12/00UTC. Sea slight or moderate, locally rough in far northeast cross by Northeast swell. Scattered squalls. 
 
South of CUBA : 
East or Northeast 10/15 kt, locally variable 05/10kt in west, becoming North or Northwest 10/15kt in west by 12/18UTC. Sea slight or moderate. Frequents thundersqualls with gusts 30/35kt.  
 
North of CUBA :
Easterly 15/20kt, veering Southeasterly 08/12kt by 11/18UTC, becoming variable 04/08kt in west by 12/00UTC, then becoming Northwesterly 10/15kt in west by 12/18UTC. Sea slight or moderate. Frequent thundersqualls with gusts 30/35kt. 
 
North of YUCATAN :
Northwesterly 15/20kt, locally variable 08/12kt in far east today, increasing Northwest 18/22kt by 12/00 UTC, temporarily 25/30kt in Yucatan strait.  Sea moderate, locally slight east soon. Frequent thundersqualls with gusts 30/35kt.

Further outlook for next 24 hours

Strong wind warning (> 33 kt) : None



Tropical activity

None


on Wednesday, November 11, 2009 at 08? UTC

Hervé Fortuny

Météo-France

Nicko Brennan (co-skipper Sail4Cancer): “It has been a pretty stressful night and I’ve just got off the helm after about three and-a-half hours and fortunately it is getting light now. For most of last night there was no moon, so pitch black and blowing 35 knots, so pretty stressful. We were probably doing two hours on the helm at a stretch as Wrighty’s ribs are still playing-up from time to time and it’s worse for him helming on starboard gybe. He’s doing a stint now. The guys ahead of us polled 14.5 knots, back when it was daylight, I think, which is a very impressive run and we haven’t quite got near that yet. We managed to flog-off the lazy spinnaker sheet during the night, so we had to drop the kite and fix that back on, but it gives you some idea of the situation. When things went wrong last night you are heading for a fairly big wipe out with all the sails flogging. Fortunately, we haven’t broken anything or done any damage, so we can keep on pushing while we’ve got the breeze and see if we can put as many miles as possible on the guys behind us.”

Daniel Bravo Silva (co-skipper Desafio Cabo de Hornos): “We are in very nice weather here. We are very close racing with 40 Degrees and see them all the time so it is very like match racing. We’re hand steering a lot during the day and night. Everything is good on the boat, but we have to go a little bit faster to get ahead of 40 Degrees. Otherwise, everything is fine. We have enough water in bottles to get us to the finish line, but the watermaker is working fine. We haven’t seen much shipping traffic and it’s a bit of a surprise as we thought it would be much busier. Maybe just two or three ships up close.”

Peter Harding (skipper 40 Degrees): “We’re having a good day and the Chileans are about one mile and-a-half behind us. That’s where we want to keep them. We’ve got about 18-19 knots, spinnaker, staysail and full main and we’re doing 10-11 knots. It has been pretty unstable, even this morning we’ve gone from seven knots to 19. All you need is a couple of clouds and all hell lets loose!  We should pick up some speed later today and as long as we stay ahead of the Chileans, we’ll be quite happy. The next boat is 200 miles ahead which is too much to catch. I think we’ll be match racing with the Chileans to the finish, I guess. Everything is fine and we’re all dried-out and it’s a nice sunny day.”

Shaun Murphy (co-skipper ORBIS): “Yesterday morning continue under the large kite, until the clouds started to darken, nearly a perfect drop until we realised I had left the clutch on the tack line open. Off went the tack of the kite, so once again recovering the kite from the water, this part of the drop we have off to a tee, stern retrieval. Solent and first reef was the order off the day with speeds between 10-14 knots with small squalls and an ETA to St Barts of 31 hours. Then the clouds darken still and you could see the squalls coming, second reef and Solent furled away as the squall hit us, the second reef departed from the main sail and a batten popped out of its pocket on the main sail. By now the squall was 28-30 knots as we were putting in the third reef. The waves breaking over the boat are refreshingly warm, unlike European waters. As the wind and rain increased to 45 knots, it was like being hit with hail stones, visibility was around 100 meters, this lasted around 20 minutes. The rest of the day was a mixture of light and fickle breeze and the ETA to St Barts went from 31 to 48 to unknown..... The hole we managed to find around 23.30 UTC was to last nearly three hours, the mainsail was dropped to stop the constant bang and rocking of the boat. Then we were off again with the most fantastic light show. Thunder and lightning everywhere, a few electronic items were unplugged as a precaution. As most children learn, we were also counting between the flashes and the bangs to find out the direction of the weather, but all too often it was impossible to know which flash belonged to which bang. Over a 100 photos were taken and only three managed to capture any lightning.... the moon put in an appearance around 0500 UTC which helped with the weather ahead. Around 6.15 was the closest we came to the thunder and lightning with only a couple of seconds between them, I guess some will work out the maths between speed and sound and tell us it was hundreds of miles away.... just before 6am this morning another hole was found, again this seems to be in our skill set. Fifty minutes later we are on our way again on a heading of 282 @ 8.2 knots and an ETA of 24 hours for St Barts...ummm...somehow I think not.”