LATEST NEWS

Four boats through the gate and one pit stop

07/11/09

The leading three Class40s in La Solidaire du Chocolat are now through the mandatory gate off St. Barts. On Friday morning, Tanguy de Lamotte and Adrien Hardy on Initiatives-Novedia crossed the gate at 0923 GMT in first place, followed by Giovanni Soldini and Pietro d'Ali on Telecom Italia at 2226 GMT with Bruno Jourdren and Bernard Stamm in 3rd on Cheminées Poujoulat just one hour and-a-half behind the Italian duo at 2349 GMT. Having kept everyone guessing as to whether a pit stop was scheduled, Telecom Italia and Cheminées Poujoulat have continued racing in pursuit of Initiatives-Novedia. At 0800 GMT this morning, Lamotte and Hardy are maintaining a 110 mile lead over the chasing duo and are enjoying the challenge of Caribbean sailing. “Since our passage through the gate, the sea is very flat,” reports co-skipper Adrien Hardy this morning. “We are in the Caribbean and it feels more sheltered and the swell is much easier with the natural barrier formed by the curve of the Leeward Islands and Cuba to the north,” he explains. Currently approximately 35 miles south of Yabucoa, Puerto Rico, the French duo are encountering land after 20 days in the barren wastes of the North Atlantic “Tonight, we’ll pass close to Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic…which is going to trigger some dreams, no doubt,” says Hardy. “It’s really exciting to be in a new sea area, to attempt to evaluate new weather systems and keep a watch on the weather fax for any tropical storms developing,” he adds.

In 4th place, Damien Seguin and Armel Tripon on Cargill-MTTM passed through the gate at 0556 GMT this morning and immediately dropped their spinnaker. Without delay, a RIB pulled alongside and the Class40 is currently moored just by the entrance to the Port of Gustavia while vital repairs are made to the charging system on board. Meanwhile, in the second wave of three boats, Sail4Cancer, 40 Degrees and Desafio Cabo de Hornos are separated by just under 100 miles with Tim Wright and Nicko Brennan on Sail4Cancer in 5th  holding 73 mile lead over Peter Harding and Miranda Merron on 6th place 40 Degrees. Onboard Sail4Cancer, Wright and Brennan have a celebration every 24 hours. “Thanks to CLASS CINQ A for the terrific presents for us to open each day,” explains Tim Wright. “They are a great treat every day and very imaginative! Also, a big thank you to everyone who is  generously supporting our fundraising for Sail4Cancer by donating on the Sail4Cancer website,” adds the British skipper. “It is much appreciated.” While Sail4Cancer and 40 Degrees have taken a southerly approach to the gate at St. Barts with Wright and Brennan gybing north in the past hour and Harding and Merron gybing on to starboard and hitching north for a few hours around midnight last night, Felipe Cubillos and Daniel Bravo Silva in 7th place on Desafio Cabo de Hornos continue to drop down from the north on port gybe, trailing 40 Degrees by 25 miles.

Slightly south of the latitude of the Chileans on Desafio Cabo de Hornos, but 400 miles further east in 11th place, Stephen Card and Shaun Murphy on ORBIS continue to try every trick to increase their speed. “Yesterday morning we managed to get the big kite back up. It looks a bit weird, but seems to be alright,” reports Card this morning. “Let’s hope we notice some speed increase as its 50 percent bigger than the one we've just taken down,” he adds as the duo’s speed currently averages 7.1 knots. With the boats still in the North Atlantic spread over 870 miles between Sail4Cancer nearing St. Barts and Yves Eclaret and Lionel Regnier in 15th on Vale Inco Nouvelle Calédonie, Card cannot see any margin for significant gains and losses. “The fleet seems pretty well spread out and it’s hard to see any significant changing of places happening between here and the gate at St. Barts,” he predicts. “But we'll do our best.”

Trailing ORBIS by 36 miles in 12th place, the Franco-Italian duo of David Consorte and Aubry Arnaud on Adriatech have taken the most southerly route in the fleet. “We are here, happy more than ever for still being in the race,” reports Consorte this morning. “We are sailing without our wind instruments as they were blown off in the first days of the storms, our autopilot isn't working efficiently and we have to handsteer a  great part of the day and night and this inconvenience has made us lose miles in the long run,” he continues. For the team on Adriatech, the past week has been highly eventful. “Last Saturday we broke two spinnakers - we really counted on having those - but it happened, and two days ago, during the night, our boat hit an unidentified object. The boat slowed down almost to a stop for a few seconds and then returned to its sailing pace, 10 knots.” Fortunately, any damage sustained in the impact has – so far – been minor. “The left rudder seems to have been damaged, but I feel we can keep going,” confirms the Italian skipper. “See you all in Progreso and a special ‘saluto’ to all our racing mates.”

Meanwhile, life continues to be challenging for Mike West and Paul Worswick on Keysource in 14th place. “Quite testing conditions, especially at night with the squalls,” reports Worswick. “We managed OK until just after it went dark last night... then we were consumed by the mother of all clouds complete with a lightning show,” he recalls. “It is very weird to hear the rain approaching slowly without a drop on you in the pitch black, then the monster unleashed its power in all its glory. Surfing away at over 20 knots merely encouraged her to blow stronger. We must have enraged the beast when the deck light went on to try and see the spinnaker, our efforts to control the boat were futile and the battle was lost....” With Keysource on the limit of control, West and Worswick tried to douse the kite. “She pins us to the floor shaking us violently to ensure the lesson is learnt,” continues the British co-skipper. “As if looking round for the next victim, the brief respite allowed us to snuff the spinnaker - if somewhat unceremoniously.” With the drama over, the duo opted for a less extreme sail plan. “The spinnaker is now in the bow calming down and will not be flying again until sun up,” reassures Worswick. “Later on, a similar squall attacked, perhaps a relation, but the Code Zero took none of it and accelerated with glee at the extra wind.”

Since retiring from the race with keel issues, Jouni Romppanen and Sam Öhman on Tieto are motoring towards St. Barts as plans begin to formulate. “Our very first plan is to have good dinner with some wine,” reports Rompannen this morning. “I guess this does not surprise you! An old friend of mine lives on St. Barts and of course we are going to meet him and his wife,” continues the Finnish skipper. “The plan for the boat is still open, but we’re getting some shore crew to help us. The insurance company would like to  see the damage and based on that, further action will be taken about what to do with the boat and where. Some consulting must be made also with boat builder and designer,” adds Rompannen.




← Actualités précédente - Actualités suivante →