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Saturday night fever at Saint Barts gate
Saint Barts : Sugar Loaf Mountain off the port of Gustavia has played host to some interesting stories in the Solidaire du Chocolat over the last few hours. Race leaders Tanguy de Lamotte and Adrien Hardy (Initiatives-Novedia) were first through the gate yesterday. Last night, the trio astern took turns at pushing through the gate. After the Italian duo of Giovanni Soldini-Pietro d'Ali (Telecom Italia) followed by Bruno Jourdren-Bernard Stamm (Cheminées Poujoulat), came the turn of Damien Seguin and Armel Tripon (Cargill-MTTM). As announced, the Nantes-based boat put into port for the regulatory 3h01' minimum for speedy technical repairs before getting underway again at 10h38' French time.
Middle of
the night off the coast of the pearl of the French West Indies. An exchange of
smiles, a couple of words here suffice to convey the motivation and pleasure of
the crews taking part. 20 days and 20 nights at sea and the sheer magic of the
race is clear. The two boats closest behind the leaders came through the Saint
Barts gate within five miles, 1 and ½ hours, of each other, after 3500 miles at
sea and a series of six lows !
The
Italians who have a broken forestay opted not to stop for repairs. The weather
for the Caribbean sail through to the Gulf of Mexico have convinced Giovanni
Soldini and his fellow skipper that they ought to continue as they are and not
risk losing precious miles to those up front. « Avanti ! » Not to mention that
they can almost feel the breath of those behind them on their necks. Idem Bruno
Jourdren and Bernard Stamm. Although they admit having problems obtaining
precise weather information and having problems with their mainsail, they have
resisted the temptation to make a pitstop. The race is in full swing and no way
are they prepared to lose three hours at the entrance to the Caribbean with 1
500 miles before reaching Progreso in the Yucatan.
As
expected, Damien Seguin and Armel Tripon made a pitstop. They managed to
repairs to make repairs to their alternator belt in the time they had allowed.
They much preferred to spend three hours ashore than continue with energy
problems in the Caribbean, notorious for unstable conditions. Full of energy,
in every sense of the term, they are charged up for the last week of racing in
the waters off the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Cuba, before heading up
towards Mexico. The Solidaire du Chocolat is moving into relatively unfamiliar
waters and should be exciting and full of surprises as the top four boats start
to feel that victory is within reach !
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