LATEST NEWS

Into the final hours for the fleet leaders

13/11/09

At 0800 GMT this morning, the race leaders Tanguy de Lamotte and Adrien Hardy on Initiatives-Novedia, are off Cape Catoche, the eastern tip of the Yucatán Peninsula, with 152 miles of sailing along the coast remaining to the finish line off Progreso. Over the past 24 hours, Lamotte and Hardy managed to extend their lead over Telecom Italia and Cheminées Poujoulat, but the chasing pair of boats have found a stronger band of northerly breeze off the western tip of Cuba and with around 12-13 knots of wind speed, both boats are averaging nine knots while the race leader, 117 miles ahead, is polling six knots on a starboard reach in around eight knots of breeze. Lamotte and Hardy first took the lead after six days at sea as the fleet approached the Azores. The French duo dropped down the leaderboard temporarily as the fleet dived south, but as the charge west across the Atlantic to St. Barts began, Initiatives-Novedia took the lead on 1st November and has held the front spot ever since. However, the fight between Giovanni Soldini and Pietro d’Ali on Telecom Italia and Bruno Jourdren and Bernard Stamm on Cheminées Poujoulat has been intense since the middle of the Atlantic and currently just 14 miles separate the two Class40s after 25 days at sea.

In 4th place, Damien Seguin and Armel Tripon on Cargill-MTTM have extended their lead over Tim Wright and Nicko Brennan in 5th on Sail4Cancer by a handful of miles in the past 24 hours and 70 miles currently separate the two boats. Throughout Thursday, both Class40s averaged around six knots until the evening when Wright and Brennan slowed to below five knots and Seguin and Tripon are now averaging eight knots - around one knot better speed than the British duo. Meanwhile, Felipe Cubillos and Daniel Bravo Silva on Desafio Cabo de Hornos in 6th and Peter Harding and Miranda Merron on 40 Degrees in 7th managed to avoid any major drop in speed as they passed through the Jamaica Channel and have made gains on Sail4Cancer. At 0800 GMT, the Chileans on Desafio Cabo de Hornos are 133 miles behind Wright and Brennan – a gain of 22 miles in 24 hours – while Harding and Merron have chipped away at the lead held by Cubillos and Bravo Silva and 40 Degrees and Desafio Cabo de Hornos are separated by just one mile.

At around 2100 GMT yesterday, Jacques Fournier and Jean-Edouard Criquioche in 8th place on Groupe Picoty gybed onto starboard and ended their descent south through the Caribbean and maintain a 144 mile lead over 9th place Erik Nigon and Marc Jouany on Axa Atout Coeur Pour Aides who are growing weary of the relentless, volatile conditions. “The nights are becoming pretty identical,” commented Nigon earlier. “The constant storm activity keeps us on our toes and awake the entire night,” he continued. “The good news is there is more wind in the squalls. The bad news? After the squalls there’s no wind at all and it is a constant fight to try and reduce the miles west.” In the latest poll, the French duo have picked up speed to a little over eight knots, but Nigon remains dissatisfied. “Where is the wind the GRIB files promised us?” he asks. “I really hope that the software in the Virtual Solidaire du Chocolat game includes these squalls and all those online skippers are having sleepless nights as well.”

Late on Thursday night, the tenth Class40 in the fleet made the hard decision to retire. “It makes good sense for us to take the decision to finish the competitive part of this voyage,” Yves Eclaret, skipper of Vale Inco Nouvelle Calédonie, told the race office last night. “Out of respect to you all – and particularly those that have supported us – we are forever in your debt.” Without any efficiently working sails on board, Eclaret and his co-skipper, Lionel Regnier, are heading for the island of St. Martin.

The pack of five boats in a private regatta towards the eastern end of the Caribbean are currently separated by 48 miles and led by Denis Lazat and Frédéric Nouel on PLAN in 10th place with the backmarkers, Patrice Carpentier and Victor Maldonado on Crédit Maritime in 14th, currently making the best speed in the entire fleet at just over ten knots. Within the group, two options are developing: the pack leader, PLAN, with Crédit Maritime and the British duo of Mike West and Paul Worswick on Keysource in 13th place, have split south, while David Consorte and Aubry Arnaud in 11th on Adriatech and Stephen Card and Shaun Murphy on ORBIS in 12th have taken a more northerly route. However, any tactics are only effective if a boat can race efficiently and most boats in the fleet are suffering. “Our mainsail is leaving us,” reports Davide Consorte. “It is seriously unseamed right below the first reef,” he confirms. “We tried to repair it, but it keeps on opening relentlessly and we start seeing a big, enormous opening all across it.  Two spinnakers gone, now our mainsail, I start thinking somebody hates us!” For the Franco-Italian team on Adriatech, retiring from the race is not an option. “We're here and on the go,” says Consorte. “We're going to keep on fighting. We have some food and water - not much - but we'll survive.”




← Actualités précédente - Actualités suivante →