12.11.07

Superb start !

 

Départ de la BWR 2007 © Stichelabut

You had to have nerves of steel to attend the launch of this first edition of the Barcelona World Race and above all really keep your cool to take the start!

In the minds of the skippers questioned today though, all still visibly caught up in the intensity of these first hours of racing, the send-off was well worth all the effort.

For Michèle contacted early this afternoon, “the start was superb, it was a magnificent sight! We really enjoyed setting off on a race in this manner.”

By all accounts, if you go by the vast number of spectator boats out on the water, this young race, for which this is the first edition, already has an appreciative following. The nine participating monohulls set out through a veritable forest of masts and hundreds of spectator craft, which they had to weave their way through with great dexterity as they proceeded with the little 2 mile coastal section, against the imposing backdrop of the city of Barcelona.

As forecast, the sun was shining and a light S’ly breeze not exceeding 10 knots, waited until the race kick-off at 1300 hours to fill in. Perfect timing!

 

Départ de la BWR 2007 © Bleue Salée

Aboard Temenos II, Michèle was concentrated on the helm in order to make the monohull slip along nicely, despite the large amount of chop kicked up by this unusual concentration of craft.

The only little shadow over the proceedings came with the 0500 hour contact with Dominique this morning who spoke of "several issues with filling the ballast tanks" as they made for the Sitges mark. The few minutes lost here were enough to irritate the tandem, but it was quite a trifling issue on the scale of a round the world race.

 

From the Sitges mark, two options clearly emerged within the fleet, leaving the islands of Majorca and Ibiza to port by hugging the Spanish coast, or skirting around the outside. The latter option proved to be the favourite for the majority of skippers, including Michèle and Dominique.

Although the supporters of this last option seem to be benefiting from the best conditions right now, we’ll have to be wait a while to see how things pan out.

 

Light conditions are definitely settling in on zone in accordance with the previous day's forecast. Michèle confirmed “there is a large area of high pressure without wind ahead and it’s very difficult to work out which way it is going as the grib files don't all agree with each other. What is certain is that we’re in a system where the winds are easing, but we don’t really know with which sauce we're going to be swallowed up!”

 

Départ de la BWR 2007 © Bleue Salée

 

The 18 skippers will have to deal with these baffling conditions for a few more days yet. Some boats are making the most of this though and saying that the Mediterranean sun will make up for it!

.

 

At the 1700 hour ranking local time, Temenos II was in 5th position, 14 miles from the leader Paprec-Virbac..

 

Ranking 1700

 

Rg	Nom	Ecart	Lat	Long	Vit moy
Rk	Boat	Dist to lead	Lat	Long	Average speed
1	PAPREC-VIRBAC 2	0,0	37 54.57' N	1 24.46' E	6,9
2	ESTRELLA DAMM	1,9	37 55.95' N	1 26.29' E	7,3
3	PRB	2,5	37 52.03' N	1 29.16' E	6,3
4	HUGO BOSS	11,4	37 57.47' N	1 38.54' E	3,2
5	TEMENOS 2	14,5	37 58.61' N	1 42.25' E	5,1
6	VEOLIA ENVIRONNEMENT	17,4	39 12.31' N	0 36.08' E	3,7
7	DELTA DORE	17,9	39 12.95' N	0 35.92' E	3,5
8	MUTUA MADRILENA	23,0	39 08.30' N	0 55.54' E	2,2
9	EDUCACION SIN FRONTERAS	91	40 04.67' N	1 45.39' E	5,9

 

 

 

13.11.2007

 

 

A gentle introduction

 

Start of BWR 2007 © Stichelabut

 

It would be hard to imagine a more gentle introduction for a round the world than that of this first edition of the Barcelona World Race. It would be equally hard to wish for better for the 18 sailors, now at sea for two days, other than a few extra knots of wind perhaps. The conditions for the start of this race are idyllic, though they’re certainly getting the grey matter moving. The weather files are just about as reliable as they are changeable, but the sailors are benefiting from the Mediterranean climes to gently get into race mode.

 

As regards strategy, the Mediterranean has been transformed into a veritable chess board, and sometimes there is a fine line between making a winning move and one that isn't quite so good. Now hugging the Spanish coast, Delta Dore has left Véolia Environnement and Mutua Madrilena thirty miles or so in its wake; a great move enabling them to take 4th place. Meantime PRB and Virbac Paprec 2, leaders of the fleet, are continuing to benefit from more favourable conditions and extend their lead. Behind them it’s Estrella Damm, who has a slight lead over the top trio, made up of Temenos II and Hugo Boss. If we believe the weather forecasts the skippers must be patient for a little longer, prior to being able to pass Gibraltar and the opening to the Atlantic, with its more regular wind. This is what the skippers must secretly be hoping for at least!

 

Message from Michèle received at 1440 hours French time today.

 

Pervading calm…

Last tortilla onboard today © Bleue Salée

“After a night spent making a series of gybes and chasing after puffs of airs, sometimes under code zero, sometimes under spinnaker,r and almost as calm an early morning, we hit a little fresh wind an hour ago. It’s nothing spectacular but Temenos II is finally making headway at over 10 knots under spinnaker and on course. That’s always a good thing. You have to be an opportunist in this kind of situation.

 

Life aboard is gradually settling into a rhythm and we’re trying to make space for ourselves but there's not much left! The boat has never been so cluttered. It's not easy to organise yourself in this small space 80% full up with bags, boxes and sails. We're planning to make a little room for ourselves and sort things out as soon as the weather allows. For the time being though, the light weather is forcing us to focus instead on the trimming.

We ate our last Spanish tortilla for breakfast this morning and we’re preparing to begin the first of the dried food, which we’ll be eating for the next three months.

Slight air at least until Gibraltar © Bleue Salée

The emotion from the start has now given way to the enjoyment of being at sea. Getting rid of all this emotion has taken up more time than I imagined. It has to be said that what we experienced on leaving the quay was really special. I couldn't stop myself from shedding a few tears, but I hope I hid it well... We don't leave the world of 'landlubbers' as easily as that. They were there at the start and will accompany us throughout our voyage in a corner of our hearts.

 

Right now it's into race mode! We spent a large part of the night with Hugo Boss and then our routes differed, we stayed further to the right and he headed off to the left. This morning we also caught sight of Estrela Damm. It’s always very good to be in contact with another boat. We’re constantly measuring ourselves against them, which enables us to get the best from boat, even if it's more demanding on the nerves. But that's exactly why we're here!!

Ranking 15h00

Rg	Nom	Ecart	Lat	Long	Vit moy
Rk	Boat	Dist to lead	Lat	Long	Average speed
					>=30' /PtaPt
1	PRB	0,0	36 41.76' N	1 08.37' W	9,1
2	PAPREC-VIRBAC 2	9,8	36 46.77' N	0 57.16' W	7,1
3	ESTRELLA DAMM	31,6	36 51.58' N	0 30.58' W	8,3
4	DELTA DORE	34,4	37 30.08' N	0 46.15' W	4,9
5	TEMENOS 2	38,8	36 47.61' N	0 20.51' W	8,9
6	HUGO BOSS	46,2	36 56.23' N	0 13.16' W	5
7	MUTUA MADRILENA	58,2	37 48.72' N	0 26.56' W	6,6
8	VEOLIA ENVIRONNEMENT	59,6	37 47.32' N	0 22.69' W	7,4
9	EDUCACION SIN FRONTERAS	160	38 32.02' N	1 32.84' E	3,2

 

14.11.07

 

Little respite for the fleet

 

Very tricky race from the start © Bleue Salée

On listening to the first radio sessions of the day this morning, you could sense the beginnings of a certain irritation amongst the skippers. Evidently the sailors are hungry for big surf and long glides, to enable them to eat up the miles, so these first slow days of racing have proven to be quite wearing.

Fortunately this 3rd day has provided them with a little respite. The speedos reveal that the boat's have picked up the pace again, doubtless to the great satisfaction of the skippers, some of them even managing to rack up double figures. The fleet is clearly not out of the woods yet though as the weather situation remains complicated as far as Gibraltar, and even beyond according to certain forecasts. However, today should enable them to release a little of the nervous tension accumulated since the start.

 

Contacted at the start of the afternoon, Michèle looked back at the first days of racing. "It's true, these conditions are pretty laborious and require a state of permanent concentration. We’re keen to get to the other side (into the Atlantic). It was a hard night, constantly trimming. There’s not a minute where you say to yourself that it's okay, I can switch over to automatic pilot. Despite all that, the night went well and we didn’t make any bad tack changes. Since this morning, the wind has filled in and it's now well established. We have between 13 and 14 knots of W'ly, which is likely to fill in a bit more over the course of the afternoon.

We’re sailing close to the wind under jib. For the time being we’re being fairly conservative, avoiding overly extreme options. We’d prefer not to get too close to the coast but for now the wind is favourable on this tack so we don’t really have a lot of choice.

We didn’t have time to eat well this morning, so we made ourselves a copious meal this lunchtime. We’ll try to sleep a bit now to recharge the batteries a little in preparation for whatever awaits us at Gibraltar.”

 

To accompany the beating comes the joys of shifting moveable ballast. “It’s quite impressive the amount of things you can shift around as ballast in the boat. When you've come out of such a session, your arms really ache. The big waterproof bags filled with food are particularly heavy. It’s making us keen to hurry up and eat, but sachets and sachets of dried food weighing 80 g a sachet, are likely to take a while to get through!" (laughs)

 

Whilst the wind is filling in, a slight chop is building again. “It was too wonderful to last” said Michèle. The comfort of dry clothes and the softness of the skin sheltered from the salt spray, don’t necessarily have a place on a round the world race. And for Michèle this small comfort came to an end today. “I got caught by my first bow wave this morning as we were making a sail change. I had my foulies on but I’d forgotten the hood. I was furious at the time, but still, it had to happen sometime.” (laughs)

 

At the heart of the fleet, everyone is now fully into race mode and the boats are fiercely jockeying for position. After sailing in contact with Hugo Boss, then catching a glimpse of Estralla Damm yesterday, it’s now the turn of Delta Dore to cross the wake of Temenos II.

 

At the 1500 hour ranking, Temenos II was in 4th place, 24 miles behind the leader, PRB.

 

Ranking 15h00

Rg	Nom	Ecart	Vmg	Lat	Long	Vit moy
Rk	Boat	Dist to lead	Vmg	Lat	Long	Average speed
1	PRB	0,0	7,3	36 30.29' N	3 31.39' W	9,2
2	PAPREC-VIRBAC 2	4,4	8,3	36 26.99' N	3 24.37' W	10
3	ESTRELLA DAMM	22,0	7,2	36 43.09' N	3 08.01' W	9,3
4	TEMENOS 2	24,6	7,1	36 35.02' N	3 01.06' W	9,4
5	DELTA DORE	28,0	7,0	36 32.40' N	2 55.70' W	9,3
6	HUGO BOSS	38,4	6,8	36 35.76' N	2 43.45' W	9
7	VEOLIA ENVIRONNEMENT	61,0	5,1	36 14.98' N	2 09.74' W	10,3
8	MUTUA MADRILENA	61,6	6,1	36 30.15' N	2 11.98' W	9
9	EDUCACION SIN FRONTERAS	173,4	8,7	37 38.98' N	0 15.78' W	8,8

 

15.11.07

 

The Atlantic, at last

 

' hellish night' onboard Temenos II © Bleue Salée

It was with global relief amongst the fleet, that the skippers have successively bid farewell to the Mediterranean. Last night Paprec-Virbac led the way through the gateway of Gibraltar at 0225 hours GMT, closely followed by PRB (0245 hours), then Estrella Damm (0733 hours) and Temenos II (0959 hours).

With the Gibraltar Straits now in their wake, each of the participants are hoping to leave behind them the capricious weather, which has brazenly toyed with their nerves with little let-up since the start. Of the 500 miles or so which separate Barcelona from the Straits of Gibraltar, the average speeds haven’t exactly been anything to write home about, but they may well have a deciding role during the boats' return. Though it’s fairly rare to see the final ranking turned upside down during the final sprint of a finish decided on the Atlantic coast, we can well imagine that in the Mediterranean, the hegemony of the leader may be contested all the way to the finish line in Barcelona, unless they have a very comfortable lead.

 

This morning, a number of skippers were hoping to quickly put thoughts of their final night in the Mediterranean behind them. This was the case for Jérémie Beyou aboard Delta Dore, trapped on the approach to the Spanish coast, who conceded over 60 miles to the leaders, PRB and Virbac Paprec, authors of a great start to the race. Situated at the front of the fleet, these two monohulls are continuing to reap the benefits of more favourable conditions, which should enable them to stretch out their lead.

 

Aboard Temenos II, the night also brought its fair share of manœuvres, shifting of moveable ballast, becalming, violent and unexpected gusts, and counter currents. Even though the latest forecasts show a small depression stirring things up as far as the Canaries, the exit from the Mediterranean is still viewed as a ‘deliverance’ for Michèle, contacted early this afternoon. With the help of a wind which finally looks like it’s going to establish itself, and prior to tackling the umpteenth change of tack, the sailor provides us with a bit of news from onboard.

“We’ve just finished eating. I’m going to try and sleep a little as nearly 12 hours have gone by since my last stretch of sleep. It was a hellish night! We were becalmed for a large part of it and the current even made us go backwards at one point. Later we found ourselves with 30 knots of wind on the nose in boat-breaking seas, even though the grib files were showing 20. The seas were bad and the boat was slamming violently. We've struggled to extract ourselves from the Straits of Gibraltar and it looked like the Med had decided not to let us go. We’re happy to be back in the Atlantic again; it's a real deliverance. We haven’t stopped since yesterday, concentrating simply on making tack changes one after the other according to the current and the wind variations. If I were to add up all the moveable ballast we've shifted, it wouldn't be far off a tonne! For the time being it's rather like a souk on board. We’ll leave the tidying up till later! For now, we’re focussing on negotiating the passage of the depression on zone, either rounding to the North of it or cutting through it…”

 

PRB and Paprec-Virbac have clearly adopted two different strategies and we can see their courses have been diverging since this morning. Prior to being able benefit from the tradewinds, the boats will first have to find them, as for the time being, it looks like another meteorological brain teaser is emerging before the skippers in the Barcelona World Race…

 

Ranking 15h00

 

Rg	Nom	Ecart	Vmg	Lat	Long	Vit moy
Rk	Boat	Dist to lead	Vmg	Lat	Long	Average speed
1	PRB	0,0	1,5	35 33.81' N	7 08.26' W	5
2	PAPREC-VIRBAC 2	7,1	9,4	35 53.53' N	7 21.59' W	9,9
3	ESTRELLA DAMM	52,8	7,7	35 56.92' N	6 04.86' W	9
4	TEMENOS 2	66,3	8,1	35 54.15' N	5 40.29' W	8,5
5	VEOLIA ENVIRONNEMENT	82,8	3,1	36 01.41' N	5 22.08' W	7,1
6	MUTUA MADRILENA	85,8	7,1	36 05.22' N	5 20.28' W	9
7	DELTA DORE	87,4	2,6	35 58.03' N	5 14.51' W	6,4
8	HUGO BOSS	95,1	7,4	35 51.75' N	5 05.44' W	9,3
9	EDUCACION SIN FRONTERAS	176,4	6	36 21.77' N	3 28.17' W	6,1

 

16.11.07

 

 

 

Mediterranean, Atlantic, same battle?

 

The sun rises over the Atlantic, but still no wind! © Paret-Wavre

The Mediterranean clearly doesn't have the monopoly on convoluted, tricky weather situations. A number of skippers in the fleet must be feeling disappointed after these first 24 hours in the Atlantic, particularly as the forecasts for the next few days don't seem any the more cheerful. Slowly, sometimes very slowly if we look at the averages racked up by the nine monohulls, the boats are slipping along on an Atlantic, which is just as calm as its little sister the Mediterranean.

 

When discussing the developments over the coming days with Dominique, rapidly contacted this afternoon, the skipper couldn't hide his pessimism having just been pouring over the latest grib files.

“We’re becalmed and it’s set to last for a good while. Normally we drop down towards the tradewinds under spinnaker but here we're upwind in the calms.

We really feel like we're on a razor's edge. We know that in these types of conditions, 10 to 15 miles separation can make all the difference. The files are continuing to contradict themselves and provide us with a multitude of different routing. We’re ending up having to improvise a bit! According to certain files we’re even going to get hit by a fine little depression forcing us to sail close-hauled near the Canaries.

 

The routes of all the boats seem to have converged (Temenos II in red) ©

We’re spending our time at the helm trying to get the most out of each little breath of air or at the chart table trying not to miss any weather links. Conditions are more tiresome emotionally rather than anything else. You ask yourself ten thousand questions and sometimes you end up losing sleep over it!"

 

As regards the monohull’s slight S’ly separation, the skipper doesn’t seem to be particularly worried by it. In fact, since this morning, the routes of all the boats seem to have converged. Temenos II is continuing to tail Estralla Damm, the latter positioned just 8 little miles ahead.

 

At the 1500 hour ranking, Temenos II was in 4th place, 87 miles from the leader.

Life onboard Temenos II

 

Temenos II Off Morocco © Paret-Wavre

Frugal meal for Michèle with a constant eye on the trimming © Wavre - Paret

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ranking 15h00

Rg	Nom	Ecart	Vmg	Lat	Long	Vit moy
Rk	Boat	Dist to lead	Vmg	Lat	Long	Average speed
1	PAPREC-VIRBAC 2	0,0	6,0	34 31.13' N	10 45.23' W	6,4
2	PRB	17,7	6,0	34 28.23' N	10 00.01' W	7,4
3	ESTRELLA DAMM	79,9	6,4	35 02.65' N	8 49.80' W	6,5
4	TEMENOS 2	87,6	7,0	35 06.43' N	8 40.48' W	7
5	DELTA DORE	109,7	1,5	35 28.17' N	8 30.45' W	8,4
6	MUTUA MADRILENA	111,1	7,0	34 57.85' N	7 45.30' W	7
7	VEOLIA ENVIRONNEMENT	115,6	7,4	35 32.77' N	8 25.91' W	8,4
8	HUGO BOSS	129,7	10,2	35 44.68' N	8 16.49' W	10,7
9	EDUCACION SIN FRONTERAS	248,1	7,6	35 54.82' N	5 10.83' W	8,7

 

 

 

17.11.07

 

 

Temenos II gains a place

 

Still no wind for Temenos II © Paret-Wavre

Ensnared in decidedly light conditions in the Atlantic, the 9 duos in this Barcelona World Race have no option other than to be patient. Invariably, the weather situation remains twisted, and though there doesn't seem to be much hope of anything positive on this front, Michèle and Dominique can always count on the ranking to brighten their spirits. At 1300 hours, Temenos II had gained the upper hand in its duel with Estralla Damm and now occupies 3rd place. The two boats have been neck and neck for several days, and even though they've adopted different courses at times, they do seem to get together again later.

Behind them the battle continues to rage and the fleet have bunched right up together again over the past day, to the benefit of the pursuers. Situated 122 miles from the leader at 1300 hours yesterday, 8th placed Hugo Boss today had a deficit of just 72 miles at the same time.

 

There’s been no contact with the Temenos II duo today, but an email received last night from Michèle, sums up life onboard fairly well.

 

Dominique focused © Paret-Wavre

"0100 hours, Temenos II slipping along past African soil.

The proximity of a new zone of high pressure ahead of our bow is making us even more attentive, but we are fairly powerless nonetheless. We are suffering a little, especially as the weather models are camping out in different positions once again.

The wind is very flukey, but at least there is some because there wasn’t supposed to be any at all! One minute you have 15 knots, the next 7, not easy tonight… As an added bonus we have no stars, which is a shame as we were beginning to get used to them.

Once again, I’m eternally thankful for the instruments on this pitch black night, without a horizon, without sea, without sky and with the unpleasant sensation that we're going around in circles.
I’m ending my watch with the instrument dials incrusted in my pupils and I shall sleep with the numbers continually flashing through my head… constantly in search of gaining a few tenths of a knot and a few extra degrees...."

 

Ranking 13:00

Rg	Nom	Ecart	Vmg	Lat	Long	Vit moy
Rk	Boat	Dist to lead	Vmg	Lat	Long	Average speed
						>=30' /PtaPt
1	PAPREC-VIRBAC 2	0,0	7,5	33 14.88' N	12 45.45' W	8,3
2	PRB	14,0	3,9	33 15.82' N	12 05.99' W	6
3	TEMENOS 2	52,0	2,4	33 26.08' N	10 56.84' W	2,5
4	ESTRELLA DAMM	52,8	1,7	33 30.54' N	11 03.17' W	1,9
5	MUTUA MADRILENA	70,3	5,3	32 58.96' N	9 42.52' W	5,7
6	VEOLIA ENVIRONNEMENT	72,0	0,2	34 12.29' N	11 46.37' W	1,3
7	DELTA DORE	72,2	0,3	34 12.53' N	11 46.47' W	1,3
8	HUGO BOSS	72,6	3,1	34 07.32' N	11 32.34' W	3,6
9	EDUCACION SIN FRONTERAS	186,5	4,4	35 25.28' N	9 39.81' W	4,5

 

 

18.11.07

 

 

A day to quickly put behind you!

TEMENOS II © DPPI / Barcelona World Race

 

 

The first ranking of the day must have been very hard for Michèle and Dominique to digest, after they had kept Temenos II at the front of the fleet since the start and are now suddenly relegated to 7th position and 160 miles from the leader. Caught up in a windless zone, the skippers of Temenos II have been battling hard to make headway, but they haven’t been able to fend off the comeback by their pursuers, who further West, have been sailing with a fresh breeze since yesterday evening.

 

Temenos II has covered just 108 little miles over the past 24 hours, at a slim average of just 4 knots. Such mediocre boat speed is more reminiscent of the particularly slow start to this race, but more damaging now is the fact that these light conditions are only affecting part of the fleet. A friend of misfortune, Estrella Damm, is also enduring the same condition as Temenos II, it too on a median course closer to the direct route. The same is also true of the Spanish boat Mutua Madrilena, who by closing on the African coast, also seems to have given up on any hope of a rapid escape from this crisis…

 

Contacted at noon, Dominique found it hard to conceal his disappointment but gave us this quick analysis of the situation. “We are very frustrated. We have been caught up by this zone of light winds, which we thought we'd succeeded in sailing past and we’re now enveloped by calm conditions. We dived South too soon, trying to save on miles away from the direct course, but we've been too greedy.”

 

There is still a long way to go though and the opportunities to make up the deficit will certainly be numerous. The situation at the approach to the Canaries promises to be complicated, but prior to hooking back with the leading boats, Temenos II will have to find enough wind to extract itself from this blasted zone. For the time being Estrella Damm and Temenos II look to be struggling to take off again, whilst the rest of the fleet is continuing its descent towards the Canaries, 4 to 5 knots quicker.

Ranking 13:00

Rg	Nom	Ecart	Vmg	Lat	Long	Vit moy
Rk	Boat	Dist to lead	Vmg	Lat	Long	Average speed
1	PAPREC-VIRBAC 2	0,0	9,9	29 58.34' N	15 02.57' W	11,2
2	PRB	22,9	11,8	30 20.58' N	14 40.97' W	12,4
3	VEOLIA ENVIRONNEMENT	93,2	11,5	31 30.42' N	14 31.64' W	12,2
4	DELTA DORE	96,5	11,4	31 33.76' N	14 31.50' W	11,5
5	HUGO BOSS	130,6	10,4	32 06.04' N	14 13.31' W	11,9
6	ESTRELLA DAMM	158,0	10,5	32 14.95' N	12 55.23' W	11,2
7	TEMENOS II	160,6	7,4	32 07.07' N	12 29.29' W	7,4
8	MUTUA MADRILENA	170,7	7,1	31 33.95' N	11 16.30' W	7,9
9	EDUCACION SIN FRONTERAS	364,5	2,2	35 03.81' N	10 27.24' W	2,3

 

 

 

19.11.2007

Canaries in front of Temenos II

 

TEMENOS II © DPPI / Barcelona World Race

It is at the cost of several changes of tack in a seemingly more regular S’ly air flow, that the fleet is making its way towards the Canaries. At 1700 GMT this evening, solely the leaders, Virbac-Paprec and PRB had made it through the second course gate, situated between the islands of Gran Canaria and Fuerteventura. On the outskirts of the archipelago, the conditions are changeable and the wind is fluctuating, disturbed by the land rising steeply out of the water, sometimes in excess of 2000 metres. Clearly, patience is required as the boats try to extract themselves. Fortunately for the two frontrunners, they weren’t really slowed during their passage early this morning, but this didn't seem to be the case for Veolia Environnement and Delta Dore, the duo reduced to just 2 knots at 1700 hours. 

Just 60 miles from there, the playing field is wide open amidst the chasing pack, with Hugo Boss separated off to the West, Mutua Madrilena positioned out to the East, and Estrella Damm and Temenos II, adopting a more central option.

We can suppose that Hugo Boss, currently 5th  and forced to make the waypoint, may now suffer from the wind shadow of Gran Canaria, but only time will tell…”

 

Contacted at the end of the day, Dominique already seems to be taking this into account given the trajectory of Temenos II.

 

“We’re making around ten knots of boat speed, the seas are a little choppy but there’s nothing really nasty. The conditions are pleasant, and the temperatures are beginning to climb. Since this morning, we’ve been on a big 140 mile layline across the Canaries and we’ve still got around 80 miles or so to go. We’re not going to set out on an overly direct course so as to try to avoid the wind shadow of the islands as much as possible.”

 

The tradewinds are still just a sweet dream for the sailors in this Barcelona World Race as more upwind conditions lie in store for the next few days. There are more meteorological difficulties shaping up on their horizon and there will certainly be some new options emerging within the fleet.

Ranking 17:00

 

Rg	Nom	Ecart	Lat	Long	Vit moy
Rk	Boat	Dist to lead	Lat	Long	Average speed
					>=30' /PtaPt
1	PAPREC-VIRBAC 2	0,0	26 49.17' N	15 33.73' W	9,6
2	PRB	36,5	27 22.65' N	15 17.04' W	10,8
3	VEOLIA ENVIRONNEMENT	93,1	28 22.19' N	15 08.82' W	6,5
4	DELTA DORE	93,4	28 22.59' N	15 08.91' W	5,6
5	HUGO BOSS	130,8	29 00.68' N	15 37.82' W	11,6
6	ESTRELLA DAMM	139,3	29 08.15' N	15 01.19' W	9,8
7	TEMENOS 2	158,1	29 28.99' N	15 18.49' W	10
8	MUTUA MADRILENA	158,9	29 16.01' N	14 22.42' W	9,1
9	EDUCACION SIN FRONTERAS	435,6	33 59.64' N	13 58.30' W	8,9

 

**********

 

 

 

20.11.2007

The fleet in search of the tradewinds

 

TEMENOS II © DPPI / Barcelona World Race

The passage of the gateway in the Canaries has caused the fleet of boats in the Barcelona World Race no end of trouble. Whilst the two frontrunners slipped between Gran Canaria and Fuerteventura virtually without being slowed, the rest of the boats have had to battle through calm conditions followed by strong winds, in order to make good their escape.

 

On this tenth day of racing, the distances between the boats in the chasing pack have reduced considerably, less than 37 miles separating Hugo Boss, currently 3rd, and Véolia Environnement 7th. Although the two leaders have a comfortable lead, in the midst of this second group nothing has been decided and to further complicate predictions, the boats are currently adopting different routes.

“It was a hard night with a tricky passage where we had long spells of calm or got stuck with a very fluky wind coming from all directions, with our sails flogging and backing. And then suddenly, without warning, the wind kicked back in at 25 knots, and we ended up in a right jumble with too much sail aloft. We quickly had to bear away big time and drop the sails so as to avoid breaking the gear. Between the islands, the wind accelerated sharply, and we found ourselves with a good 30 knots on the nose, in fairly nasty seas. We really got a good pasting" said Michèle when contacted earlier this afternoon.

 

The situation wasn't helped by two cargo ships passing a little too close for comfort, and only added to what was already a particularly eventful night: “We passed two cargo ships a little closer than we'd have liked. Thank you to the AIS! The system enables you to identify cargo ships and to call them up by name on the VHF. The fact that you are using their name makes them more attentive, because they know that the call is directly aimed at them. The first replied and changed course fairly quickly, but the second gave us a real fright. They never answered and it was quite a long time before they modified their course. You're never very pleased with yourself in that type of situation.”

 

Different strategy in the fleet ©

Since the start, certain boats have been sailing in pairs virtually non-stop. These tandems follow a similar course, join together in the choice of options, often sailing within sight of each other and separated by a few miles at most. This is the case with Virbac-Paprec and PRB, Delta Dore and Véolia Environnement, as well as Temenos II and Estrella Damm.

“We found ourselves back with Estrella Damm early this morning. In fact we saw a light downwind of the island last night. When we saw the dark sails we initially thought of Hugo Boss. It's nice to see our traveling companion again!“ joked Michèle

 

For want of being quicker, this first section of the race has at least seen fit to keep up the suspense. Though everyone is hoping to hit the tradewinds quickly, the routes adopted in order to reach them differ according to the boats. The majority of the duos, including Michèle and Dominique, seem to have been tempted by the promise of a N’ly wind generated by the zone of high pressure at the approach to the African coast. This differs from the analysis made by the skippers of Delta Dore and Véolia Environnement, who have opted for some W'ly separation since exiting the Canaries archipelago.

“We have decided to continue southwards. It wasn‘t an easy decision to make and we racked our brains for a long time over it, but the models were in agreement for once. We’re going to play with the edge of a zone of high pressure, with the risk that it may shift. We're hoping we have more luck with this system than the previous one!”

 

The die is cast… answer in two days time if all goes to plan.

 

Ranking 15:00

Rg	Nom	Ecart	Vmg	Lat	Long	Vit moy
Rk	Boat	Dist to lead	Vmg	Lat	Long	Average speed
1	PAPREC-VIRBAC 2	0,0	2,7	24 33.56' N	16 37.49' W	8,2
2	PRB	26,1	3,9	24 44.60' N	16 00.69' W	4,7
3	HUGO BOSS	95,2	7,8	25 41.54' N	15 17.05' W	9,5
4	DELTA DORE	108,1	9,0	26 37.22' N	16 30.06' W	10,1
5	TEMENOS 2	122,1	6,3	26 11.72' N	15 15.27' W	8,9
6	ESTRELLA DAMM	122,8	6,7	26 12.56' N	15 15.23' W	8,9
7	VEOLIA ENVIRONNEMENT	131,9	4,5	27 20.83' N	17 16.71' W	9,4
8	MUTUA MADRILENA	180,7	8,3	27 17.43' N	15 11.72' W	9,8
9	EDUCACION SIN FRONTERAS	403,9	8,3	30 53.08' N	13 53.04' W	8,7

 

 

**********

21.11.2007

 

 

 

High pressure for Temenos II

 

the weather is continuing to tease the skippers © Bleue Salée

No big upsets for the skippers in the Barcelona World Race on this the 11th day of racing. The race continues, still as intense as ever and bitterly contested. The various options taken by the boats yesterday have gently reshuffled the ranking in the chasing pack once again.

The small W’ly tack at the exit from the Canaries doesn’t seem to have come off too badly for Delta Dore, which has managed to get ahead of Hugo Boss. But it is Véolia Environnement, which really seems to have struck gold after following its own W'ly option all the way through to the end. As shown in the 1700 hour ranking, the latter was continuing its southward descent without being slowed too much, contrary to some of its rivals who have been plagued by light winds throughout the day.

 

Positionned on a S’ly course since escaping the Canaries, Temenos II has come off fairly well for the time being. By reeling in a little Westing, the boat has managed to get away from its travelling companion Estrella Damm, which it was sailing alongside the previous day. It has also made up some ground on Hugo Boss, the latter nearly 35 miles ahead yesterday at 1700 hours.

 

However, we know only to well that the reliability of the weather models in the light airs leaves a lot to chance, and things can change rapidly, as a result of the slightest shift in the zone of high pressure. A few miles can be enough to upset this precarious hierarchy and solely the tradewinds will be able to lift this feeling of uncertainty.

 

At the point where contact was re-established with the shore crew midway through this afternoon, Dominique admitted that at that very moment they had penetrated the zone of high pressure.

TEMENOS II (red) ©

The boat had slowed considerably, as the leaders had been before them. Dominique was nevertheless hoping that the separation they’d gained last night would enable them to limit the damage.

 

“Seeing the others stuck on the coast, we decided to get a bit of westing in our course. For the time being it’s very light. We have less than 5 knots of breeze, but with the swell coming from astern, we’re managing to gently make headway. The weather forecasts change from one file to the next so it's difficult to draw any conclusions from them. At the moment we have a fine covering of cloud over our heads and we’re right inside a zone of high pressure. We’re hoping that we can get going again fairly rapidly. We can feel the influence of Africa. It's beginning to get really hot and with the lack of wind, it's becoming stifling, so we're trying to get a little current of air running through the boat. Things will get better once we've found a bit of air again.”

 

Clearly the tradewinds are still something which is on everyone’s lips and in everyone’s minds in this Barcelona World Race, but for now the weather is continuing to tease the skippers…

 

Ranking 17:00

 

Rg	Nom	Ecart	Vmg	Lat	Long	Vit moy
Rk	Boat	Dist to lead	Vmg	Lat	Long	Average speed
1	PAPREC-VIRBAC 2	0,0	5,8	22 08.80' N	17 10.83' W	9,3
2	PRB	27,7	4,2	22 27.22' N	16 45.59' W	4,4
3	VEOLIA ENVIRONNEMENT	44,4	10,5	24 09.79' N	19 34.81' W	10,7
4	DELTA DORE	83,5	1,2	23 23.30' N	16 29.55' W	1,5
5	HUGO BOSS	96,6	5,0	23 43.30' N	16 38.83' W	6,8
6	TEMENOS 2	101,2	4,1	23 51.78' N	16 44.85' W	5,9
7	ESTRELLA DAMM	113,8	3,3	23 58.48' N	16 30.01' W	5,8
8	MUTUA MADRILENA	125,9	10,3	24 57.47' N	18 02.92' W	10,7
9	EDUCACION SIN FRONTERAS	384,4	4	28 15.63' N	14 46.79' W	4,1

 

 

**********

 

 

 

22.11.2007

Tradewind for Temenos II

 

Reunion with Hugo Boss © Bleue Salée

Since this morning, the spinnakers have been hoisted again aboard the boats in the Barcelona World Race and the averages are finally picking up again. However, for those in the chasing pack hoping to get back with the race leaders, this isn’t such good news as all they can do is sit and watch the frontrunners getting richer.

 

A long W’ly tack has enabled Véolia Environnement to snatch 3rd place on this twelfth day of racing and they are now leading the hunt for the leaders. By being the first to enter the calm conditions, the top duo, Virbac-Paprec and PRB, saw their pursuers close in on them, but the comeback was only short-lived. The first out of the high pressure were consequently the first to hit the tradewinds, the leaders managing to stretch away again over the past 24 hours. With averages sometimes 5 to 6 knots in excess of their closest rivals, today’s analysis promises to be a heavy one for the chasing group, who must now count on a tricky passage of the doldrums in 3 days time, before they can hope to make up some of their deficit.

Cap and shorts on board Temenos II © Paret - Wavre

 

Between fishing nets and wind holes, last night wasn't at all restful aboard Temenos II. The positions from the onboard Sat C early yesterday evening left no doubt as to the conditions that Michèle and Dominique were encountering. With their speed polled as 0.0 knots, we feared today’s first ranking. Fortunately, in the meantime, the wind kicked back in and Temenos II continued to battle along, neck and neck with their new travelling companion Hugo Boss, as Michèle told us in an email sent to Race HQ this morning.

 “The nights go by, each different than the one before. We've changed our neighbour, yesterday it was Estrella and tonight Hugo. We've had some great battles which keep the on-watch sailors on their toes. For a while we almost have a little bit of difficulty relaxing as we’re constantly trimming in this fluky wind. We passed Hugo at nightfall and have managed to keep them behind us.

I’d barely dropped off when there was an unusual noise and the voice of Dom definitively pulled me out of my rest period. Sh… Temenos was caught up like a large fish in a net and had stopped. Everything came together very quickly as if we had rehearsed the scene. We rolled in the gennaker and went right around the boat with a torch. We were dragging a line with floats... we reverse... the line comes away, we unroll the gennaker but there's nothing we can do. The boat heels over but we don't make headway. Dom asks me to be careful. He has spotted another line near the keel which is fully tensioned. I rush for the sharp knife in the cockpit and hanging over the guardrails, I try to cut it once, twice and the third time it comes away. Temenos finally gets free of its trap and we come out of it unscathed.
Hugo is still behind but now is barely 150 metres back. We haul on the sails and head off more motivated than ever and a tad more edgy!

We certainly looked behind us a lot last night as Hugo monopolised our attention, but we also looked ahead and the net in which we got caught up wasn’t signalled at all. This reminds us that we are sailing close to the African coast and that the fishing methods used here will be a little more ‘rustic’ than the European methods, so we’d better watch out!

After all that, it’s doubtless going to take a bit longer to fall asleep so I’m hoping that I wake up in a couple of hours time with Hugo in our wake...Dom is ‘on the case’ ;-))
Mich, aboard Temenos II”

 

Pasta quick swallowed directly in the cockpit © Paret - Wavre

Contacted mid afternoon, Michele adds: “We’ve just left Hugo Boss. We gybed and they continued on another tack about 2 hours ago. We’re following the little oscillations in the wind, which is still pretty unstable for us. The waves are slightly abeam of us, catching the side of the boat and destabilising it a bit. The spinnaker isn't holding so well, so to make up for that we're spending a fair amount of time on the helm. We're having shorter watches so as we can freshen up more often and be at 100% during our sessions on the helm.

 

There are still a number of manoeuvres in view for this group then, who find themselves with the wind directly on their tails, having to gybe, whilst the leaders are slipping along quickly on a single tack. Unfortunately, this current situation is unlikely to see the deficits reduced.

 

Ranking 17:00

Rg	Nom	Ecart	Lat	Long	Vit moy
Rk	Boat	Dist to lead	Lat	Long	Average speed
1	PAPREC-VIRBAC 2	0,0	19 01.55' N	22 00.62' W	17
2	PRB	31,0	19 19.96' N	21 23.67' W	16,6
3	VEOLIA ENVIRONNEMENT	99,1	21 10.66' N	23 01.97' W	13,2
4	DELTA DORE	172,2	20 42.00' N	18 42.37' W	12,4
5	MUTUA MADRILENA	176,3	21 56.15' N	21 18.19' W	13
6	TEMENOS 2	192,4	21 14.20' N	18 14.92' W	10,2
7	HUGO BOSS	193,3	20 46.91' N	18 05.65' W	12,5
8	ESTRELLA DAMM	233,7	21 24.39' N	17 48.70' W	12,1
9	EDUCACION SIN FRONTERAS	487,5	25 52.70' N	17 07.48' W	9,8

 

*********

23.11.2007

Hot up front!

 

TEMENOS II © DPPI - BWR 2007

The tradewinds, or the motorway as we are used to calling it, is something everyone had been dreaming about. Instead they had been left frustrated close hauled in light winds for too long. Listening to the skippers at the Friday morning radio session you could be forgiven however for thinking that they were missing those light airs. “We’re always happy to reach the trades and then when we get there it’s never great” recalled Roland Jourdain aboard Veolia Environnement with humour.

 

It was the same scenario for all the skippers questioned today. The conditions are fast but demanding and fatigue is setting in right across the fleet. The skippers have just reduced their watches in order to avoid long sessions on the helm, but still they have nearly 12 hours a day there, so they'll be more than happy once they can rely on their automatic pilots again.

“The seas are quite messy and you can’t afford to leave the helm as our boats wouldn't be able to hold course under automatic pilot in these conditions. Temenos II is being shaken up in every direction and conditions are anything but comfortable. We have around 20 knots of breeze, which isn't fully established, so we have light patches from time to time" said Dominique contacted this lunch time.

 

The flying fish have resurfaced again now that they’re in the tradewinds, a godsend for the crew on Veolia Environnement since who prepare it with a little lemon juice, but just the contrary for Dominique, victim of a head-on collision.

“A flying fish hit me smack on the face last night. He targeted me like a heat seeking missile! (laughs) The upshot of that was that he bounced back into the sea, which prevented him from hitting the deck.”

 

Cape Verde archipelago ©

At the head of the race, it's decision time for the leaders. Whilst Paprec-Virbac has made a daring gamble to try and defy the wind shadow of the Cape Verde archipelago, PRB has opted, with its W'ly separation, to round the islands. In 3rd position, Veolia Environnement also seems to have gone for the latter option.

 

Dominique seems to share this view: "That way we avoid the wind shadow and line ourselves up nicely for the Doldrums. From a tactical point of view, it could be a good thing to have more westing, because when the wind begins to drop off, we can then luff up."

 

Contacted during her watch as the positions came in, Michele recalled the sailing conditions. “We've got a steady pace but it can be pretty tricky to have the large spinnaker hoisted as there's really a lot of sail up. You have to be really focused on the helm. In this situation you can’t afford to go off course. As a result we’re stuck on the helm and have set an hourly timer to take it in turns to rush off to sleep without wasting a second."

 

Avoiding breakage without sacrificing performance is the challenge that lies ahead of each of the tandems for the next few hours, before the forecast calm spell on Saturday.

 

Ranking 17:00

Rg	Nom	Ecart	Lat	Long	Vit moy
Rk	Boat	Dist to lead	Lat	Long	Average speed
1	PAPREC-VIRBAC 2	0,0	15 11.81' N	25 27.89' W	17,4
2	PRB	50,4	16 22.66' N	26 33.62' W	16,7
3	VEOLIA ENVIRONNEMENT	94,2	16 57.97' N	25 54.43' W	12,4
4	DELTA DORE	139,6	16 59.44' N	23 30.84' W	15
5	HUGO BOSS	182,3	17 58.12' N	24 07.48' W	16,9
6	MUTUA MADRILENA	191,0	18 11.89' N	24 21.34' W	14,4
7	ESTRELLA DAMM	229,1	17 39.45' N	21 14.65' W	14,6
8	TEMENOS 2	236,3	18 52.53' N	23 58.88' W	14,6
9	EDUCACION SIN FRONTERAS	574,5	23 50.72' N	20 58.41' W	10,2

 

**********

24.11.2007

 

Another day at the helm !

 

TEMENOS II © Mochet / AFP

The pace of this Barcelona World Race has not dropped off on this fourteenth day of racing. Contrary to that of the Canaries archipelago, the passage of the Cape Verde islands, won't generate any big separation. Even though it's conceded a few miles whilst crossing the archipelago, Paprec-Virbac is still controlling the fleet. The averages remain high, the boats continue their dive southwards towards the formidable inter-tropical convergence zone, which the leaders will begin to feel the effects of from tomorrow.

With a little W’ly separation nevertheless, Temenos II was still suffering from a light drop in the pace, most likely due to the influence of the Cape Verde islands as Dominique indicated to us earlier. “For the past 3 hours, the wind has dropped off a lot. We have less than fifteen knots of breeze but we've still got big seas. It is preventing the boat from getting into a rhythm, the spinnaker still barely holding. There's not thirty-six ways to get round it so we’re being forced to continue on the helm. We should come out of this zone soon and find a little more wind.”

Next difficulty the Doldrums ©

 

This infernal pace imposes a minimum amount of service aboard the boats, and with 12 hours spent at the helm each skipper must eat into their periods of sleep in order to look into the weather files. For almost 24 hours, the skippers have been trying to work on the next course obstacle, crossing the Doldrums, and in view of the various trajectories, not all of them have decided to pass in the same place.

“It’s intriguing, even though the Doldrums are shaping up to be fairly inactive, the slight East West separation within the fleet may generate a few differences at the exit. I would have preferred it to be a little more difficult for the frontrunners," jokes Dominique, “but there will doubtless be some more opportunities to make up the delay later.”

 

With over 22,000 miles left to race, this should indeed be the case!

Ranking 15:00

 

Rg	Nom	Ecart	Vmg	Lat	Long	Vit moy
Rk	Boat	Dist to lead	Vmg	Lat	Long	Average speed
1	PAPREC-VIRBAC 2	0,0	16,5	10 01.09' N	27 04.33' W	16,7
2	PRB	51,1	15,0	11 07.07' N	27 48.66' W	15,4
3	VEOLIA ENVIRONNEMENT	107,3	13,7	11 54.16' N	27 06.98' W	14
4	DELTA DORE	173,8	13,0	12 34.40' N	25 34.68' W	13,2
5	HUGO BOSS	229,9	12,7	14 00.20' N	27 03.03' W	12,8
6	MUTUA MADRILENA	257,5	12,8	14 25.33' N	26 49.64' W	12,8
7	TEMENOS 2	291,3	14,0	15 04.89' N	27 08.90' W	14
8	ESTRELLA DAMM	321,7	17,0	15 03.38' N	25 11.42' W	17,1
9	EDUCACION SIN FRONTERAS	646,7	10,9	20 13.12' N	23 27.64' W	12

 

**********

 

 

 

25.11.07

‘Hypnotic' sessions on the helm

 

Michèle and Dominique © BLEUE SALEE

Leader of the fleet, Paprec-Virbac was the first today to penetrate the inter-tropical convergence zone, as confirmed by the 1300 hour ranking. Normally a zone feared by sailors, there nevertheless seems to be a certain feeling of relief amongst the skippers in the Barcelona World Race at the idea of bringing these long, demanding sessions at the helm to a close. Questioned at midday at the point of attacking the umpteenth watch rooted to the helm, Michèle joked: “we’re certainly going to get a certain pleasure from putting the spinnaker back in its bag!”

 

Still under spinnaker in steady tradewinds, Temenos II and its skippers continue to be put through the mill. In already testing conditions, the heat fortunately doesn’t seem to be affecting Michèle and Dominique. “We have a permanent salt water atomizer on deck, and with the wind the heat is bearable.

Everything’s fine aboard, Temenos II is in good shape. We have performed a few little maintenance jobs, a small hydraulics leak, lashing adjustments to the transmission cable, nothing serious, which is fortunate as with the amount of time that we spend at the helm, the navigation and the weather to take care of, we don’t have much time for anything else.

We’re even avoiding making proper meals to prevent the person on the helm from spending to long on watch.”

 

The hours pass by but the rhythm aboard Temenos II hasn't changed a jot. “Coming off watch, we end up with the black from the neoprene on the helm incrusted in the lines on our hands" joked Michèle. The skippers are constantly on the helm and the weariness generated by these innumerable repetitions, has now given rise to the fatigue engendered by a heightened state of concentration and vigilance. “It requires a huge amount of attention. We luff and we haul on the sails as much as possible in order to go as fast as we can. In fact, it’s just before you're about to go over on your ear that you have the most speed. There is no margin for error, a wave on the beam can be enough to send you into a broach. When you come off watch it's like you're hypnotised. You go to sleep on your bunk and your brain has been stretched so much that you can't get off to sleep straightaway. You keep saying to yourself, I must sleep, I must sleep, but you can’t switch off for 20 minutes. We’re in a kind of secondary robotic state. Sometimes Dom and I cross paths without saying a word but our look says it all!”

 

The tandem is likely to have to endure these sessions at the helm for another few hours, prior to reaching the Doldrums. It will then be time to face up to the lines of squalls and flat calm, nothing very joyful on paper, but at least it will bring an end to this relentless routine.

 

Ranking 13:00

Rg	Nom	Ecart	Lat	Long	Vit moy
Rk	Boat	Dist to lead	Lat	Long	Average speed
1	PAPREC-VIRBAC 2	0,0	5 06.09' N	27 33.06' W	5,3
2	PRB	22,9	5 44.41' N	28 06.36' W	15,5
3	VEOLIA ENVIRONNEMENT	95,5	7 02.66' N	28 11.08' W	15,4
4	DELTA DORE	184,4	8 13.48' N	27 03.58' W	13,7
5	HUGO BOSS	195,6	8 45.40' N	28 05.41' W	15,3
6	MUTUA MADRILENA	240,3	9 26.23' N	27 45.59' W	15
7	TEMENOS 2	258,3	9 53.63' N	28 19.00' W	15,9
8	ESTRELLA DAMM	331,8	10 27.60' N	26 00.77' W	15,4
9	EDUCACION SIN FRONTERAS	706,7	17 02.28' N	26 01.62' W	14,1

 

 

26.11.2007

 

 

The doldrums living up to their reputation

 

TEMENOS II © MOCHET AFP

Though we’ll have to wait for the fleet to be right out of the inter-tropical convergence zone before we can really analyse the situation on the water, for the two leaders this is clearly the case given the noon position report. Since yesterday evening PRB has snatched back the reigns in the Barcelona World Race to the detriment of Paprec-Virbac.

Slowed, sometimes halted but never for very long, the majority of the boats were continuing to make headway in relatively mild doldrums if we look at the progress of the fleet since yesterday. However, mild does not mean accommodating and can be even more relaxing as Dominique confirmed when rapidly contacted mid afternoon today. There are squalls about, broken up my periods of flat calm and such conditions require continual patience on deck. Sometimes it's time for manœuvres to quickly adapt the sail area on their steeds with the abrupt arrival of a squall, sometimes it’s trimming in order to get the most out of any little veins of wind, so the duos certainly aren’t lacking jobs.

Aboard Temenos II, last night was fairly hectic, whilst this morning was quite the contrary.

“We’ve had a difficult night, with non-stop manoeuvring under driving rain, with a vast amount of reef taking and sail changes. We got hit by a big line of squalls, with gusts at 30 knot, and a wind which has gradually been backing as we make headway. We ended up virtually upwind, under jib and with 3 reefs in the main. This morning we found ourselves in a totally calm zone for nearly 3 hours and had to hoist everything. We then saw another front coming, with some more 30 knot gusts so we just haven't stopped! There are messy seas so as soon as the wind dies it shakes the boat every which way. This morning in the calm conditions, you really had to hang on to be able stay on deck. The boat felt like it had mad cow disease! (laughs). The doldrums are really living up to their reputation with shifty wind, violent squalls and a huge amount of manœuvres to be done.” Dominique concludes on the advantages of double-handed sailing “it’s really good that there’s two of us!”

 

Ranking 15:00

Rg	Nom	Ecart	Lat	Long	Vit moy
Rk	Boat	Dist to lead	Lat	Long	Average speed
1	PRB	0,0	1 43.58' N	29 21.97' W	11,2
2	PAPREC-VIRBAC 2	25,3	1 55.37' N	28 46.17' W	10,5
3	VEOLIA ENVIRONNEMENT	94,2	3 12.89' N	28 51.76' W	2,3
4	HUGO BOSS	155,2	4 17.65' N	28 51.30' W	7,1
5	DELTA DORE	159,0	4 06.42' N	28 11.25' W	4,4
6	MUTUA MADRILENA	175,5	4 41.70' N	28 59.97' W	14,1
7	TEMENOS 2	192,7	4 56.25' N	28 48.90' W	11,5
8	ESTRELLA DAMM	257,3	5 29.49' N	27 16.00' W	8,1
9	EDUCACION SIN FRONTERAS	613,3	11 48.94' N	27 20.26' W	12,4

 

**********

 

27.11.2007

 

Fine day aboard Temenos II

 

Michèle rids Temenos II of its flying fish © WAVRE

Step by step, weather obstacle after weather obstacle, gateway after gateway, the fleet in the Barcelona World Race is continuing on its way to the next compulsory passage mark situated close to the island of Fernando de Noronha. For the majority of the boats, the doldrums are now but a memory, bad for some like Paprec-Virbac, which lost its leadership, and better for others like Temenos II who gained a place. The doldrums have certainly given Michèle and Dominique some worries but the duo’s efforts have not been in vain.

Free of the clutches of the inter-tropical zone of convergence, Temenos II was sailing close-hauled in 6th position, carried by the tradewinds of the Southern hemisphere. Conditions aboard are hot and it’s wet on deck, but spirits remain high on this 17th day of racing. The duo is happy to be out of the doldrums and it was a happy Michèle who contacted us at midday to tell us about the last few hours of racing.

“The conditions are fine, Temenos II is slipping along well. It’s very pleasant after the doldrums and the days spent under spinnaker. It's good to get back to normal. We're happy to be out of the doldrums and be back with our playmates. Last night we were expecting conditions to be as difficult as the previous night with repeated lines of squalls, because we could already see some big swathes of cloud ahead of us at nightfall. However, given that the boat had little pace we managed to zigzag past them and avoid them. We certainly adopted some rather strange trajectories but finally it all seems to have paid off.

As there weren‘t any squalls, we didn’t need to both be on stand-by on deck, which enabled us to get some sleep. At the moment we’re under automatic pilot and applying ourselves to the trimming. In these conditions you recuperate quickly, you don’t get tired manœuvring and that’s a real plus.

It’s a bit of a bouncy ride but the sea state is not preventing Temenos II from keeping up a good pace.

In the boat, it is beginning to get hot and it's fairly wet. It's a bit like an oven down below at 32°C.

We have rigged up a little ventilator near the bunk which helps you sleep. Without that you end up covered in great beads of sweat so it prevents us from slipping on the imitation leather as soon as the boat heels over! (laughs)”

The SE’ly tradewinds should go smoothly, building gradually as the fleet progress, enabling the boats to step up the pace. The two leaders are clearly into the fair weather already as their speeds indicate in the latest ranking. Now sadly is not a very good time for the chasing pack to make up their deficit…

 

Ranking 15:00

Rg	Nom	Ecart	Lat	Long	Vit moy
Rk	Boat	Dist to lead	Lat	Long	Average speed
1	PRB	0,0	2 57.15' S	31 12.86' W	14,9
2	PAPREC-VIRBAC 2	37,7	2 29.44' S	30 44.78' W	15,2
3	VEOLIA ENVIRONNEMENT	172,9	0 18.18' S	30 04.93' W	14,1
4	DELTA DORE	256,5	0 53.29' N	29 19.98' W	12,3
5	HUGO BOSS	277,9	1 23.01' N	29 34.90' W	13
6	TEMENOS 2	293,9	1 33.64' N	29 18.45' W	10,9
7	MUTUA MADRILENA	294,9	1 46.85' N	29 52.03' W	12,3
8	ESTRELLA DAMM	428,9	2 56.48' N	27 08.29' W	8,7
9	EDUCACION SIN FRONTERAS	618,9	7 01.24' N	28 32.26' W	10,6

 

**********

 

28.11.2007

 

 

 

Temenos II approaching the Fernando de Noronha gateway

TEMENOS II © Stichelbaut / DPPI

Slipping along at a cracking pace on a nice reach, the fleet are continuing their southward descent of the Atlantic. The skippers seem to be adapting to this change of pace, the slowness of the first days of racing now seeming far behind them. The monohulls are devouring the miles on this particularly fast point of sail.

Benefiting from some particularly stable sailing conditions, the duos can now rely on their automatic pilots again, and thus freed from the helm can concentrate on trimming their boat.

Trimming, recuperation and weather tactics form the programme of this 18th day of racing for the skippers questioned at today's radio session.

This was also the case aboard Temenos II, as Dominique confirmed when contacted this afternoon: “We passed the equator last night without even realising. We’re rediscovering the pleasures of life heeled over, accelerating according to the flurries of air and the passage of the clouds. The conditions are stable and we are benefiting from our off-watch to rack up some sleep, which hasn’t been the case for a good while.

We’re beginning to look at the long term scenario for the next part of the course. The models agree with each other and for the time being it doesn’t look as if we have got any calm patches dotted across our path. The Saint Helena High is very far South, practically level with Cape Town, which will mean that the playing field will be fairly open throughout the Northern part of the South Atlantic."

However, before taking these high pressure zones into consideration in the choice of their trajectory, Michèle and Dominique first have to get through the Fernando de Noronha gateway. This passage is likely to take place at the end of this afternoon.

 

Ranking 15:00

 

Rg	Nom	Ecart	Lat	Long	Vit moy
Rk	Boat	Dist to lead	Lat	Long	Average speed
1	PRB	0,0	9 08.83' S	32 34.95' W	16,7
2	PAPREC-VIRBAC 2	7,5	8 42.51' S	32 14.09' W	15,4
3	VEOLIA ENVIRONNEMENT	122,2	5 50.07' S	31 39.00' W	14,9
4	DELTA DORE	201,5	4 12.68' S	31 41.16' W	14,3
5	HUGO BOSS	215,8	3 50.84' S	31 35.54' W	14,4
6	TEMENOS 2	258,5	3 09.16' S	31 23.46' W	13,7
7	MUTUA MADRILENA	275,3	2 51.87' S	31 31.65' W	12,2
8	ESTRELLA DAMM	478,7	0 44.24' S	28 31.08' W	14
9	EDUCACION SIN FRONTERAS	661,4	3 17.99' N	29 35.99' W	9,7

 

**********

30.11.2007

 

 

Southbound

 

Temenos II along Brazil © WAVRE

Concentrated on speed, the crews are trying to get the most out of their monohulls. Sometimes sailing within contact of each other, such as Hugo Boss and Delta Dore yesterday, the sailors are benefiting from these improvised mid ocean speed tests in order to measure themselves against the others and weigh up their boat's capacities. However, it is very difficult to make these comparisons with the whole fleet, which is so spread out that it doesn't always encounter the same conditions; far from it sometimes in fact. The weather continues to smile on the two leaders though, who are making the most of the situation to greatly increase their lead over the fleet.

Since escaping the doldrums, the sailing conditions have been particularly pleasant aboard Temenos II and Michèle certainly isn’t complaining:

“It was a fairly quiet night, with some gentle wind that changed direction, but since this morning the wind has filled in again and Temenos II is accelerating well. As soon as we go up on deck we get a good drenching, but the sailing conditions are still fairly pleasant and easy. Outside we’ve got glorious sunshine and blue skies, the temperature is beginning to drop, which is particularly noticeable at night."

 

Bathroom hastily improvised on life raft © WAVRE / PARET

As regards race strategy, Michèle made a point about the difficulty of defining a long term trajectory. For the time being the whole fleet seem to be geared on making southward descent as quickly as possible, with the frontrunners hoping to hop into the first class carriage of the train of depressions in the roaring forties.

“The situation is tricky so we're studying what’s happening up front. There are some little calm zones and some other areas where the wind is a little stronger, but we’re hesitant about distancing ourselves too far from the direct course as that’s the angle where the boats go the fastest. By distancing ourselves we know that we’re bound to slow down. It’s hard to give up speed whilst we’re currently lengthening our stride. However, as soon as a situation presents itself over a shorter term, with a better reliability, we’ll adjust our strategy. For the moment though we only have long term forecasts, with high pressure sweeping right across the zone and making the models more random."

 

Since the first day of racing, the two leaders have sailed a faultless race and a number of the chasing pack would like to see the wind change in their favour for once. Michèle agreed: "we hope that the two frontrunners don’t get away with the little depression situated along the coast of Brazil and leave us floundering. If they catch the train of depressions before us, they will end up in the next weather system and that will prevent us from getting back with them. They've got some small calm zones ahead of them too though, and it would be good to see the situation reversed a bit this time."

 

New video of Michèle on board Temenos II (in french) http://www.dominiquewavre.com/p/fr/multimedia/video/301107/index.php

 

Ranking 17:00

 

Rg	Nom	Ecart	Lat	Long	Vit moy
Rk	Boat	Dist to lead	Lat	Long	Average speed
1	PAPREC-VIRBAC 2	0,0	20 31.93' S	28 22.28' W	13,3
2	PRB	8,7	21 06.21' S	29 16.90' W	13,7
3	VEOLIA ENVIRONNEMENT	170,6	17 50.04' S	29 44.71' W	11
4	HUGO BOSS	307,6	15 58.34' S	31 09.50' W	14,4
5	DELTA DORE	330,2	15 23.41' S	31 04.53' W	11,9
6	TEMENOS 2	413,0	14 08.14' S	31 45.89' W	11,8
7	MUTUA MADRILENA	448,4	13 28.34' S	31 54.60' W	12,1
8	ESTRELLA DAMM	607,6	10 01.86' S	31 57.12' W	13,1
9	EDUCACION SIN FRONTERAS	842,9	4 50.30' S	31 39.99' W	10,6

 

**********

02.12.07

 

New zone of calm for Temenos II

 

Michèle doing odd jobs on board Temenos II © WAVRE

Since the start, the days where the weather has been favourable for the chasing pack have been few and far between. Once again the two leaders are displaying speeds in excess of an average of 4 extra knots compared with those of the rest of the fleet. A real frustration weighs heavy over certain skippers as the message sent to the race organisation by Jérémie Beyou bears witness. Clearly the hunters are tired of seeing all their efforts going unrewarded.

 

With the exception of the two leaders, the fleet is evolving in light winds, and to make matters worse certain boats like Delta Dore, Temenos II and Mutua Madrilena have been trapped by a zone of calm. It’s a very familiar situation in this Barcelona World Race, in that the front of the fleet are benefiting from a steadier NE’ly breeze to increase their lead.

 

Questioned midway through the afternoon, Michèle explained their helplessness against this weather situation. “This morning wasn’t brilliant, we were completely becalmed. Aboard Delta Dore, they’ve suffered even more apparently, penalised by their trajectory in the middle of the Martin Vaz islands. Perhaps it was the right decision but it's hard to be sure. For our part, we didn’t want to tempt the devil, instead preferring to go to the trouble of luffing in order to avoid them. 

There were some light patches on the course as we’ve known for several days, but as their movements are still very random, it's difficult to anticipate anything. The grib files gave us 9 knots at worst, but we ended up instead with 2 knots of wind, which came from pretty much every direction. We did what we could but in this type of situation we’re fairly helpless.”

 

Now is not the time for regrets aboard Temenos II then, where they are making the best of a helpless situation. “It’s fairly symptomatic; at the head of the fleet they have more than 14 knots whilst we’re barely making 10-11 knots. That’s how it is though, so we are simply making the best of it.”

 

Since yesterday the duos have had to rule out any ideal conditions.“Today, everything around us is grey, the sea, the sky, but not the spirits!" concludes Michèle, retaining her good humour.

 

Michèle is thirsty © WAVRE

Message from Michèle

"Every time there is an island, you can be sure it will be in your way...As we didn’t have this stop over in our race plan, we had to luff in order to avoid this land (and if someone can tell me more about this island, I will be very happy because I am really wondering what it is...)

Usually a quick look on Internet, on Google Earth and presto, I'll have satisfied my curiosity, but here, it’s not really possible...

It’s 4.00 am and again we can’t see anything. If we were to leeward of the island, we could have get some smell from the land but here, upwind, there is no way...

Too bad, we will have only the smell from on board...I won’t do any comment on a sailor’s sense of smell, but note that there are many different smells, good or really bad!

Yesterday, the big South - the southern ocean - started to pull on me; a lot of souvenirs came back in my mind of this fascinating and very different world, which in the coming days will be the playground for all the fleet...

We all think about it with a lot of respect and reserve...and it is here just in front of us, unchangeable. This a parallel world where we are barely tolerated...but there are still a few days to go and to get ready and everybody will follow his own path even thought we are all sailing there together...

There is a small moon tonight and it might disappear soon...

Lot of kisses from near Martin Vaz Island...

Michèle on board of Temenos II"

**********

Footage sent by Dominique on board Temenos II :

http://www.dominiquewavre.com/p/fr/multimedia/video/021207/index.php

**********

Ranking 15:00

 

Rg	Nom	Ecart	Lat	Long	Vit moy
Rk	Boat	Dist to lead	Lat	Long	Average speed
1	PRB	0,0	28 30.01' S	22 10.00' W	14,6
2	PAPREC-VIRBAC 2	34,0	27 54.34' S	22 26.43' W	13,4
3	VEOLIA ENVIRONNEMENT	254,0	25 03.75' S	25 06.02' W	11,7
4	HUGO BOSS	376,0	23 44.01' S	26 47.63' W	12,4
5	DELTA DORE	421,8	22 37.00' S	26 46.90' W	11,1
6	TEMENOS 2	496,3	21 39.84' S	27 39.19' W	11
7	MUTUA MADRILENA	560,1	21 00.64' S	28 33.84' W	8,5
8	ESTRELLA DAMM	696,0	19 18.44' S	30 09.72' W	11,5
9	EDUCACION SIN FRONTERAS	998,4	12 46.44' S	30 28.76' W	10,7

 

**********

03.12.07

 

An aftertaste of the doldrums

 

An aftertaste of the doldrums © PARET

For several days now, each ranking is a repeat of the previous one. The wind is now blowing favourably over the course of the frontrunners and the deficits of those in the chasing pack continue, irremediably, to open up. Even if the Saint Helena High slowed the dazzling pace of the two leaders for a while, their comfortable lead has provided them with a cushion of protection from their pursuers. Whatever the scenario in the weather models, the leaders are likely to be the first to benefit from the downwind conditions of the roaring forties, and once again be able to lengthen their stride ahead of the rest of the fleet.

Conditions aboard Temenos II are now more reminiscent of the doldrums than the deep South.

“The day started out fine though, with a beautiful sunrise" wrote Michèle in an email sent last night “but as usual there wasn’t enough wind in the sails for our bluebird. She continued to plod along slowly, the weather alternating between windless squalls and lots of rain. During that time, up front, the others managed to get away... that's the nature of the game though and we accept that."

 

Since the previous night the situation has visibly not improved if we listen to Dominique, contacted midway through this afternoon.

“We are being deluged by rain squalls; it's very light and we still only have around ten knots of breeze. We've making headway a little more regularly than last night, but it's still not great.”

 

The Swiss skipper seems rather fatalistic about the scenario. “There’s not really anything we can do. It feels like we’re being severely punished. The leaders went through the same zone with wind, but the high pressure has filled in that corridor of wind. We’re making the most of the little sniffs of wind and it's certainly not for lack of trying on our part, but rather the lack of wind" laughed the skipper. “It really feels like we’re in the doldrums, with heavy, leaden skies and big static clouds, which for lack of wind are sending rain down on us instead. It is fairly heavy so conditions are surprisingly similar, and I think it is worse still for those behind us!”

 

Ranking 17:00

 

Rg	Nom	Ecart	Lat	Long	Vit moy
Rk	Boat	Dist to lead	Lat	Long	Average speed
1	PRB	0,0	33 50.64' S	18 59.62' W	11,6
2	PAPREC-VIRBAC 2	35,3	33 26.20' S	19 31.05' W	13,4
3	VEOLIA ENVIRONNEMENT	245,1	30 12.93' S	21 52.14' W	14,6
4	HUGO BOSS	375,4	27 48.27' S	22 50.09' W	15,9
5	DELTA DORE	432,3	26 25.90' S	22 59.21' W	13,5
6	TEMENOS 2	540,9	25 09.71' S	24 20.31' W	12,2
7	MUTUA MADRILENA	659,6	24 03.64' S	26 10.99' W	10,1
8	ESTRELLA DAMM	782,1	22 52.27' S	28 01.02' W	11,5
9	EDUCACION SIN FRONTERAS	1063,7	17 00.33' S	28 46.58' W	11,4

 

**********

04.12.07

 

 

Temenos II escapes the calms

 

Michèle's looking for her morning muesli © WAVRE

Whilst the frontrunners are currently negotiating their rounding of the Saint Helena high, there must be fresh hope aboard Véolia Environnement, Hugo Boss and Delta Dore for making up their deficit. For once, the latter are under the influence of a cold front and have been benefiting from steadier downwind conditions than the leaders since yesterday. Clearly their goal will be to make hay whilst the sun shines.

For Temenos II, which has yet to encounter the same winds as its predecessors, it is impossible to hope to make up the miles for the time being. Michèle and Dominique aren’t managing to extract themselves from this zone of light winds and once again windless squalls have accompanied them throughout the night.

 

The gentle pace coupled with the pleasure of being at sea makes you almost forget the notion of time aboard Temenos II, to the extent that these past three and a half weeks at sea, feel like just one to Michèle.

“It’s crazy, time just flies by without you even realising. Your life revolves around the watch sequences; you see day and night go by but you don't count them.

It’s only when you take out the boxes of food each week that you really grasp what’s going on. You could tell me a week had gone by and I wouldn’t know any different. The time on board is so dense that you can't get bored. Time just zips by! If it carries on like that we'll get to Barcelona and say to ourselves 'already?' (laughs)"

 

The 1700 hour rankings were encouraging too, Temenos II’s speeds finally seeming to have taken off again. We can but hope that they have found the exit from this sluggish zone of calm.

 

Ranking 17:00

 

Rg	Nom	Ecart	Lat	Long	Vit moy
Rk	Boat	Dist to lead	Lat	Long	Average speed
1	PRB	0,0	38 09.82' S	15 14.45' W	15,7
2	PAPREC-VIRBAC 2	31,3	37 43.14' S	15 42.30' W	13,7
3	VEOLIA ENVIRONNEMENT	178,0	34 43.95' S	17 06.83' W	13
4	HUGO BOSS	287,3	32 52.83' S	18 16.14' W	15,6
5	DELTA DORE	371,9	31 21.89' S	19 01.50' W	15,5
6	TEMENOS 2	532,1	29 02.25' S	20 49.90' W	14,7
7	MUTUA MADRILENA	782,2	27 03.82' S	25 07.12' W	11,3
8	ESTRELLA DAMM	841,3	25 30.68' S	25 04.05' W	13,5
9	EDUCACION SIN FRONTERAS	1152,6	19 44.66' S	26 49.12' W	6,9

 

**********

05.11.07

 

 

A miraculous cold front

 

Michèle and Dominique © Bleue Salée

For the past 2 days, the future has been clearer for the chasing pack. Whilst the frontrunners prepare to round the Saint Helena High, which is barring their route and forcing them to bend their trajectory southwards, the rest of the fleet which is currently escaping the influence of this high pressure, are making the most of the situation to take a shortcut. There are fewer miles for this group to cover and they also have better speed due to the influence of a cold front, which only concerns the top three.

 

Aboard Temenos II, in contrast to Véolia Environnement, where they threw off their T-Shirts during the day’s visio-conference, the foulies and harnesses were out. Relieved above all else to have found some new wind, Michèle certainly wasn’t complaining about the wet atmosphere which reigned aboard. The boat was accelerating once again and that was surely all that counted in the eyes of the sailor, questioned this afternoon by the race organisation.

“We have finally hit some wind like our little friends and that gives you a boost and inspires you to accelerate even more. Since yesterday evening we have been in a front and we’ll be trying to cut the corner, so as not to drop further South in order to try and hold onto the wind. We hope that the front will carry us along to the next gateway on a direct course.

The wind is fairly fluky. We have between 18 and 32 knots, forcing us to gradually adapt the sail area as we hit the flurries of wind."

 

The proximity of the roaring 40’s means that they are having to make a few adjustments aboard the boats, such as clothing for starters: “We have stowed the sails down below, which we were using as moveable ballast on deck. Only two are left on deck now in order to prevent us, in a big wipe out, from putting ourselves in danger by pulling out the guardrails and stanchions.

Down below everything is safely stowed away. It’s already a shaky ride and we’re expecting it to get a lot more bouncy. The warm clothes are out as are the tethers and the harnesses.”

 

With a total of 8 circumnavigations to the credit of these two co-skippers, we can bet that there will be no concessions on safety aboard Temenos II.

 

Ranking 17:00

 

Rg	Nom	Ecart	Lat	Long	Vit moy
Rk	Boat	Dist to lead	Lat	Long	Average speed
1	PRB	0,0	41 27.47' S	9 06.71' W	14
2	PAPREC-VIRBAC 2	33,9	40 53.87' S	10 17.79' W	13,7
3	VEOLIA ENVIRONNEMENT	177,8	38 48.26' S	11 56.65' W	14,5
4	HUGO BOSS	257,9	38 00.95' S	13 21.18' W	15,6
5	DELTA DORE	318,0	35 56.93' S	13 21.91' W	18,1
6	TEMENOS 2	506,4	33 34.32' S	16 08.72' W	17,4
7	MUTUA MADRILENA	806,7	30 02.37' S	20 17.36' W	6,3
8	ESTRELLA DAMM	813,0	29 29.56' S	19 56.15' W	16,6
9	EDUCACION SIN FRONTERAS	1270,3	22 18.38' S	24 05.27' W	10

 

**********

06.12.07

 

 

Slight fright aboard Temenos II

 

Dominique © Bleue Salée

Since this morning, we can bear witness to a certain homogeneity of speeds within the heart of the fleet. The boats are sailing before a front and all of them have stepped up the pace since yesterday. In the lead, the gaps have remained the same, with the exception of Hugo Boss, which is benefiting from a excellent predisposition to reaching, to make up ground on the 3rd placed Véolia Environnement. Nevertheless, with the differences in speed displayed in favour of Alex Thomson’s monohull, it shouldn't be forgotten that in a round the world race, the potential for speed of each boat is only one parameter among many. Weather tactics and reliability also have a decisive role to play here.

 

The top four are now sailing in the roaring 40’s, the introduction to which will probably be delayed for their pursuers, who have opted for a more direct course, with considerably less S’ly than the leaders.

 

Aboard Temenos II, emotions have been running quite high over the past few hours, with electrical problems leaving the two co-skippers in a cold sweat. This was not the only cause for concern though as Michèle explained.

“We really believed that we’d been caught up by the calm conditions yesterday night. All of a sudden we saw the sky clear, and the wind dropped to 8 knots. Fortunately we managed to extract ourselves from this zone, but it was really dicey. Since then, we’d had a good, well established breeze, which is fairly favourable. Now suddenly we've ended up a little above the rhumb line and right now we're trying to drop down a little further to the South. We should continue to make headway with this front for a little while yet, then a big depression should kick in and accompany us during our tricky passage around South Africa.

We had an electrical black-out this morning. Without warning everything shut down including the automatic pilot. Fortunately, I was trimming in the cockpit and I lashed out at the helm when I felt the pilot switch off, but we weren’t far off broaching. Dominique is in the process of looking into the electrical installation at the moment. I hope we can resolve the problem quickly.

We're still reaching in 20, 25 knots but with a slightly wider angle to the wind than yesterday so the atmosphere is a little less wet onboard all of a sudden. Yesterday it was like having a permanent shower on deck. We’ve made the most of these new conditions to put on a completely new set of clothes. It feels good to be warm and above all dry again, which is a habit we'd almost forgotten.”

 

Ranking 17:00

 

Rg	Nom	Ecart	Vmg	Lat	Long	Vit moy
Rk	Boat	Dist to lead	Vmg	Lat	Long	Average speed
1	PRB	0,0	16,6	42 50.88' S	2 07.47' W	16,7
2	PAPREC-VIRBAC 2	38,6	15,3	42 41.54' S	2 58.50' W	15,3
3	VEOLIA ENVIRONNEMENT	171,7	17,6	42 04.19' S	5 51.71' W	18
4	HUGO BOSS	206,3	20,1	41 50.65' S	6 34.93' W	20,6
5	DELTA DORE	298,0	17,8	39 49.12' S	7 46.73' W	18,6
6	TEMENOS 2	483,6	16,7	37 03.05' S	10 24.84' W	16,8
7	ESTRELLA DAMM	762,9	16,0	33 58.99' S	14 47.58' W	16,1
8	MUTUA MADRILENA	815,1	16,6	32 46.91' S	15 02.28' W	16,9
9	EDUCACION SIN FRONTERAS	1373,6	11,2	24 38.53' S	21 01.04' W	11,3

 

 

**********

07.12.07

 

Temenos II had it a floating object :

Michèle’s account

 

Michèle tell us about the incident © Bleue Salée

Still subject to a steady, established N’ly in excess of 25 knots for the frontrunners, the fleet is continuing to dive down into the roaring forties in building seas. A new record for the greatest distance covered in 24 hours, (set as 492 miles and currently awaiting ratification) has just gone to Alex Thomson's formidable boat.

 

After this news, Dominique signalled in the early hours of this morning that they had hit a floating object last night and Michèle gave us further details about the incident at noon. Though the impact doesn’t seem to have affected the integrity of the rudder, an initial analysis which still needs to be confirmed, the incident has had some consequences aboard Temenos II.

“I was on watch on deck and Dominique had just got into his bunk, when I heard a loud noise and immediately felt something hit the port rudder. I quickly got out the torch to have a look. It was still night, but I could see a big dark zone without being able to make out if it was a piece of rudder that was missing, or if there was still something hooked onto it. I quickly went down below to get Dominique. Inside in these kinds of conditions there is always an infernal racket and half asleep he had heard the noise but didn't realise straightaway. He thought it was the sound of a winch.

It felt like we were dragging a piece of broken rudder behind us. We decided to drop the gennaker so as not to risk any further damage on the boat. However the sail refused to be furled in. We've been having problems with it for several days already but yesterday it was really extreme. We think it is down to poor pre-stressing level with the stay, but the conditions over these past few days have not enabled us to get on deck to try and resolve the problem.

We managed to drop the sail and put it in the sail locker at the front of the boat, but we really struggled on deck. During these moments you must give it your all if you want to recuperate hundreds of square metres of loose material which is flogging in the wind. It's right on the extreme this kind of manœuvre and there’s always a big risk that you will get carried away with the sail if a gust or a big wave catches up with you. And on the other side, you have to avoid ending up in the water at all costs, otherwise there is little chance you can be recuperated and in that case you're often forced to cut everything away.

When you are in a crew, it’s not a problem because there are enough hands to recuperate the canvas, but in double-handed configuration, two of our four hands are busy gently easing the halyard so you're not very efficient.

Once under mainsail alone, we sent the boat into reverse and fortunately the rudder was freed in a single move.”

 

The gennaker which is refusing to be rolled in is no less than 300 square metres of material to be dropped in 25 knots, on the deck of a boat regularly swept by the waves, a situation that we can imagine is already sufficiently stressful without adding more to it, and yet: “I was in the sail locker in the process of stowing the material gradually, whilst Dominique struggled to drop the rest of the gennaker and when I poked my head out again to take another fold of material, I couldn't see Dominique anymore. I yelled his name three times without reply in the pitch black night with 25 knots of wind. It was an absolute nightmare and I immediately feared the worse. The time it took to turn my head he had reappeared on the other side and with the noise of the wind and the sail flogging he hadn't heard. I've certainly had my share of emotion for a while.”

 

And we can well imagine the flood of emotion that invades your mind at those times, particularly when your co-skipper is also your life partner. Michèle recognised this, “it’s unavoidable. You’re constantly in fear that something will happen to the other, though this is felt to a considerably lesser degree with another crew."

 

At noon the tension from the night had eased and we could sense slight a disappointment in the voice of the sailor, who had expected to lose some ground on the whole fleet. “At the time we were positive about it, saying to ourselves that it was lucky that the rudder hadn't broken on impact, and that we could very easily be in the process of changing a rudder at that time. Of course though, when you see the speed of the boat drop, it makes you angry. We will be penalised for a few more hours yet, until the wind increases a little.”

 

Whilst waiting for the conditions to enable the two co-skippers to lean their monohull over even more upwind, so they can get a full view of the rudder and give it a more thorough examination, Michèle and Dominique have immediately set Temenos II going again. Given the two good hours lost on various manœuvres and the now under-powered boat, Temenos II can no longer attain the same averages as yesterday. However the situation could come good thanks to the arrival of a depression over the fleet from tomorrow. The strong wind then forecast should enable the monohull to carry the right sail again.

 

As regards the gennaker, though the sail is out of use for the time being, this should only be the case temporarily. Once they have good calm conditions, the tandem should be able to get the sail out on deck again and roll it in little by little. Given that the duo is currently in the roaring 40's right now though, it may be a little while yet...

 

Ranking 15:00

 

Rg	Nom	Ecart	Lat	Long	Vit moy
Rk	Boat	Dist to lead	Lat	Long	Average speed
1	PRB	0,0	43 56.97' S	6 57.56' E	17,3
2	PAPREC-VIRBAC 2	9,9	44 07.06' S	6 43.62' E	18,5
3	VEOLIA ENVIRONNEMENT	103,3	43 53.35' S	4 34.29' E	19,7
4	HUGO BOSS	109,8	43 58.55' S	4 24.88' E	21,3
5	DELTA DORE	259,9	42 45.85' S	1 04.10' E	19,7
6	TEMENOS 2	518,1	39 55.49' S	3 31.41' W	15
7	ESTRELLA DAMM	787,9	36 54.58' S	7 56.35' W	16,2
8	MUTUA MADRILENA	839,0	35 25.82' S	7 56.86' W	16,2
9	EDUCACION SIN FRONTERAS	1501,4	28 08.67' S	17 43.51' W	13,3

 

 

**********

08.12.07

 

The imminent arrival of a depression

 

Michèle © Bleue Salée

As the days go by, the competitors in the Barcelona World Race have endured mixed fortunes. Yesterday we celebrated the establishing of a new record aboard Hugo Boss, and today we're lamenting the retirement of PRB, whose masthead has broken and the damage is so severe that the crew have been forced to withdraw from the competition.

 

Aboard Temenos II, Michèle and Dominique were awaiting the imminent arrival of the depression. The latter, progressing a little slower than forecast, should concern the tandem over the course of the afternoon. Everything is ready aboard as Dominique confirmed when contacted early this afternoon. *

“The depression has kicked in later than forecast; the weather models announced them last night but its progress has slowed a little. The biggest gale should pass to the South of us, but we’re still expecting some gusts of 40 knots. We’ve reduced to the fourth reef and put the storm sail in place.

Last night the wind was unstable, dropping to 15 knots in places. Some little light zones are being created between the two fronts. The lack of large gennaker has penalised us, but it did enable us to have a fairly good night and to be able to rest a little in view of the gales.

For the matter of trajectory we are trying to get as far South as possible, and that isn't giving us the best angle in relation to the wind. After this depression there are some high pressure zones which will settle over the area; this is why we’re trying to drop South as far as possible.”

 

Inevitably the lack of large gennaker is penalising the performance of the monohull, but Michèle and Dominique will have to wait a bit longer before they can get the sail back out of the sail locker. The manœuvre is a tricky one, requiring virtually no wind.

 

“We’ll have to get the sail right out, finish unrolling it on deck and hoist it again in order to be able to add some pre-stressing. It's a manœuvre which will require some time as we will have more than 300 square metres on the deck, without protection, so we really can’t have any wind that day.”

 

Such calms may well lie ahead of the tandem if they don't manage to escape the coming high pressure, but it’s out of the question nevertheless for Dominique to go and lie in ambush in the calm zones, the risk of being trapped for several days on end much too great.

 

Ranking 15:00

 

Rg	Nom	Ecart	Lat	Long	Vit moy
Rk	Boat	Dist to lead	Lat	Long	Average speed
1	PAPREC-VIRBAC 2	0,0	45 08.66' S	16 30.00' E	12
2	VEOLIA ENVIRONNEMENT	76,6	44 52.84' S	14 35.10' E	20,1
3	PRB	84,2	44 09.66' S	15 02.95' E	10,8
4	HUGO BOSS	100,3	44 15.24' S	14 30.51' E	17,9
5	DELTA DORE	266,2	43 26.70' S	10 36.59' E	17,8
6	TEMENOS 2	593,5	41 01.79' S	3 51.83' E	16,4
7	ESTRELLA DAMM	845,5	39 31.45' S	1 37.00' W	18,4
8	MUTUA MADRILENA	910,8	37 46.96' S	1 32.56' W	17,3
9	EDUCACION SIN FRONTERAS	1594,6	30 52.05' S	12 33.61' W	14,2

 

 

**********