Yves Eclaret (skipper Vale Inco Nouvelle Calédonie): “The new week has started brilliantly with more wind than forecast. Around 14-16 knots of Trade Wind instead of the 8-10 knots promised by the GRIB files. I’m starting to believe that our earlier wind dance and incantations are beginning to work. We’re moving along at 9-10 knots heading straight towards our goal and we’re finally starting to feel that we’re back in the race. It’s a case of foot to the floor and if anything breaks…it breaks. Right now, our poor old spinnaker is on the verge of exploding and the mainsail is developing some rips although we’re asking for one final effort from it.”

Tieto Passion of Finnish duo Jouni Romppanen and Sam Öhman arrived in St. Barts at 1030 GMT today after four days under motor having retired from the race with keel problems

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Weather forecast
over race area of Solidaire Chocolat 2009



General synopsis by November 9, 2009 at 00h

High 1028 hPa 35N70W, moving gradually east, expected 1031 hPa 38N61W by 09/00UTC then 1028hPa 36N47W by 11/00UTC. 
Area of low pressure about 1008 hPa 12N78W, moving slowly north at end. 
Low expected 1014 hPa 24N55W by 09/12UTC, moving west and deepening, expected 1011 hPa 25N58W by 10/00UTC, then 1008 hPa 25N55W by 12/00UTC. Associated tropical wave south of low in northwest EST ANTILLES and NORD ANTILLES with violent thundersqualls.   
Ouragan IDA 979 hPa 23.7N 86.7W by 09/03UTC (wind max 90 kt) moving north northwest 12kt, expected 28.5 Nord and 87.7W by 10/00UTC (wind max 75 kt) then 31.2N 85.8W by 11/00UTC (wind max 40 kt).

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

North of EST ANTILLES (20N23N 50W60W )
Cyclonic 10/20kt, but Southeast 10/15kt in east, becoming South or Southeast 10/20kt in west le 10/06UTC. Sea moderate, cross with north swell, locally rough in west. Violent thundersqualls with gusts 40/45kt.
 
South of EST ANTILLES
East or southeast 10/15 kt, locally Southeast 07/11kt in north today. Sea moderate, cross with North swell. Violent thundersqualls in west with gusts 40/45kt. 
 
West of NORD ANTILLES  
Northeasterly 10/15 kt, veering Easterly 08/12kt by 10/12 UTC, then Southeasterly in south at the end. Sea moderate, locally slight in southwest. Violent thundersqualls with gusts 40/45kt.
 
East of NORD ANTILLES
Southeasterly 5/10kt, veering Southerly 5/10kt in north by 09/12UTC, increasing 08/12kt by 10/00UTC. Sea moderate, cross with North well. Violent thundersqualls with gusts 40/45kt. 
 
HISPANIOLA : 
East or Northeast 18/22 kt, locally 10/15kt in far southeast. Sea slight or moderate, locally rough in far northeast. Showers and squalls. 
 
South of CUBA : 
East or Northeast 10/15 kt. Sea moderate. Squalls. 
 
North of CUBA
East or Northeast 20/25 kt with gusts 30/40kt today, decreasing 17/22kt by 10/06UTC. Sea moderate. Frequent showers and squalls.

Further outlook for next 24 hours

Strong wind warning (> 33 kt) : None



Tropical activity

Hurricane IDA in gulf of Mexico moving north expected inland by 10/00 UTC.


on Monday, November 9, 2009 at 09? UTC

Hervé Fortuny

Météo-France

Nicko Brennan (co-skipper Sail4Cancer): “Working hard gybing on wind shifts - which are regular - and chasing clouds where practical in light winds to try to pull some miles back from the boats ahead, who remain in stronger breeze. With numerous night time gybes meaning one of us often being woken it is sometimes difficult to remember how many were for real or just a dream when back up for watch! Another successful session with the watermaker to top up supplies given the amount of water we are consuming in the heat.”

Paul Worswick (co-skipper Keysource): "Saturday night was a riot full of Stella and cider and a take-away Thia curry playing the air guitar to Lenny Kravitz, luckily it has been a quiet evening yachting making good progress with shifty breeze that has kept us moving through to the morning. The clouds have become our friends and we march in file with them...albeit cautiously."

The Chilean duo of Felipe Cubillos and Daniel Bravo Silva crossed the St. Barts gate at 0844 GMT today in 6th place on Desafio Cabo de Hornos. Peter Harding and Miranda Merron on 40 Degrees followed at 1114 GMT in 7th.

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Weather forecast
over race area of Solidaire Chocolat 2009



General synopsis by November 8, 2009 at 00h

High 1025 hPa 35N71W, expected 1028 hPa 35N65W by 09/00UTC then 1029hPa 37N67W by 10/00UTC. 
New low expected 1008 hPa 10N78W with litle move.
Tropical wave south 19N along 64W, moving east 10/15 nds. 
Hurricane IDA 984 hPa 20.5N 85.6W by 08/09UTC moving northwest 10kt , expected 2'N8è._W by 09/06UTC  ( max wind 85kt) then 28.5N 88.2W by 10/06UTC (max wind 65 nds).




Weather forecast from November 8, 2009 at 9UTC to November 10, 2009 at 00UTC

West of ALIZES OUEST (between 20N and 25N)
Easterly 9/12 kt, increasing 9/11 kt by 09/00 UTC. Sea moderate. Squalls.
 
Northeast of EST ANTILLES (20N27N 50W55W) 
Southeast 4/9 kt in north by 07/15UTC, but East 8/11 kt in south, backing Northeast 8/12 kt by 09/00 UTC. Sea moderate, crossby North swell. Showers and scattered squalls.
 
South of EST ANTILLES
East 10/15 kt. Moderate, cross by North swell tomorrow. Scattered squalls. 
 
West of NORD ANTILLES  
East or Northeast 10/15 kt. Sea moderate in Atlantic, slight en Caribbean sea. Squalls.
 
East of NORD ANTILLES
Easterly 9/12 kt, decreasing 4/8kt by 09/18 UTC. Sea moderate, cross by North swell at the end. Squalls. 
 
HISPANIOLA : 
East or Northeast 12/17 kt, but 17/22 kt in west. Sea slight or moderate, but sea moderate in west. Showers and squalls. 
 
East of CUBA : 
East or Northeast 10/15 kt. Sea becoming moderate. Showers and squalls. 

Further outlook for next 24 hours

Strong wind warning (> 33 kt) : None

NORD ANTILLES: Violent thundersqualls with severe or violent gusts (> 40kt).

Tropical activity
Hurricane IDA 20.5 north 85.6 west by 08/09 UTC, moving towards gulf of Mexico.


on Sunday, November 8, 2009 at 09? UTC

Hervé Fortuny

Météo-France

Giovanni Soldini – ITA (Telecom Italia) :«  We’ve had lots of lows, and had a broken stay but we managed to sort that out. We lost a few miles when we had to get the repairs done and sail north. The computer has been playing up and there’s a whole host of other little things too. But we’re not going to stop. We are out to win ! »

Bernard Stamm – SUI (Cheminées Poujoulat) : « Our iridium antenna has been ripped off and so we have lacked weather info. We missed out on the bubble we got stuck in and which Tanguy (De Lamotte, ndlr) managed to avoid. Otherwise, we’ve lost all of the batten cars from the main. No way are we stopping. We’re not thirsty ! »

David Consorte – ITA (Adriatech) : « We’re here and happy to be in the race. We’ve lost our wind indicator, lost early on. Our automatic pilot is not working properly either, so we have to helm a lot and we lose a few miles that way. Last Saturday we lost two spinnakers. We were counting on them but never mind! We collided with something the other night which slowed us for a few seconds and then we just got going again back to 10 knots. Port rudder damaged but we’re keeping going. »

Stephen Card (Orbis) :« Yesterday we repaired and raised our spinny. It looks odd but it works! Let’s hope we pick up speed to make up for lost time. Apart from that, the fleet is quite spread out. It is not easy to know whether there are likely to be any changes in the position tables before we get to the Saint Barts gate, but we’re doing our best. » 

Miranda Merron (co-skipper 40 Degrees): "Last night, 40 Degrees was the victim of the unwanted advances of all the neighbourhood cumulomonsters. At sunset, we sensibly took the big spinnaker down with the imminent arrival of squall Number 1, and waited until it had passed, only to discover once the rain had stopped that there was another squall behind it. Well, it is generally considered risky to put a spinnaker up in a squall, so we waited, meanwhile not going fast in the right direction, and waited for the next one, and the one after, and so on for what seemed like hours. Finally a gap, and so we put the small spinnaker up. An hour or so later, another cumulomonster is overshadowing the boat. Should we take the spinnaker down? Too late: the first fingers of cold down draught and significant increase in wind are upon us, and we take off at pace for 20 minutes, surfing on the edge of control, but in the right direction. We wouldn't try this with the big spinnaker. Squall-riding is highly satisfying when it goes right. It doesn't make for a peaceful night, however. Yesterday was baking hot, and it looks like more of the same today. There are 145 miles to the gate at St Barts, and therefore the end of the Atlantic Ocean section of the race, but we will have to put in a few gybes to get there. Have a good weekend!"

Weather forecast
over race area of Solidaire Chocolat 2009



General synopsis by November 7, 2009 at 00h
High 1028 hPa 36N76W, expected 1025 hPa 35N70W by 08/00UTC then 1029hPa 35N63W by 09/00UTC. 
Low 983 hPa 46N58W moving northeast.
Tropical depression IDA 1006 hPa 16.2N 84.0W by 07/03UTC moving north 6nds and deepening again. Expected 18.4 N 84.8W by 08/00UTC (Max wind 35 kts) then 21.4N 86.5W by 09/00UTC (Max wind 45 nds).

Weather forecast from November 7, 2009 at 9UTC to November 9, 2009 at 00UTC
West of ALIZES OUEST (between 20N and 25N)
East 8/12 decreasing 6/11 kt by 07/18 UTC. Sea moderate. Scattered squalls.
 
Northeast of EST ANTILLES (20N27N 50W55W) 
Southeast 7/11 kt decreasing 4/9 kt in north by 07/15UTC, but East 8/11 kt in south, backing Northeast 8/12 kt at the end. Sea moderate, cross by Northerly swell tomorrow. Showers and scattered squalls.
 
South of EST ANTILLES
East 10/15 kt. Sea moderate. Scattered squalls. 
 
NORD ANTILLES  
East or Northeast 10/15 kt. Sea moderate in Atlantic ocean, slight in Caribbean sea. Scattered squalls.
 
HISPANIOLA : 
East or Northeast 12/17 kt increasing 17/22 kt in west by 07/21 UTC. Sea slight becoming moderate in west. Showers and squalls. 
 
East of CUBA : 
East 10/15 kt. Sea becoming moderate. Showers and squalls. 

Further outlook for next 24 hours
Strong wind warning (> 33 kt) : None



Tropical activity
Tropical depression IDA in gulf of Honduras deepening again and should become a tropical storm in the next hours. Path expected just east of Yucatan peninsula tomorrow before taking a north way in gulf of Mexico.

on Saturday, November 7, 2009 at 09? UTC


Hervé Fortuny
Arnaud Turck

Météo-France