The news fell this lunchtime: Brit Air had dismasted after escaping the Doldrums and was sailing with eased sheets. "It occurred around lunchtime French time. I was down below when I heard a big crack. The mast broke and fell on the side of the deck. I'm a bit anxious about the damage it's done to the deck. There was a bit of wind and sea but it wasn't stormy. I had to try and sort out the mess pretty quickly. I managed to get the mast clear of the boat and it sank fast along with everything else. All I have left is one outrigger so there’s not enough to make up a jury rig. The Cape Verde islands are about 400 miles away so I'll try and head there. I'm currently under motor at a reduced speed because both the wind and the sea is on the nose. My shore crew is trying to find a solution. We're looking at whether there's enough fuel or whether we can rendez-vous with a ship to refuel or organise a tow. I don't understand how it happened. I had about 20 knots of breeze, a bit of chop and not too much sail as I'd reduced earlier this morning. I'm disappointed but I'll have to make do with it for now" detailed Armel Le Cléac'h, contacted at the radio session from the Paris Boat Show.

An escapee and some regrouping

At the head of the fleet, Loïck Peyron (Gitana Eighty) is serene, even if life aboard isn‘t all rosy! "It’s a real joy to be up front! It’s not very comfortable and there's at least three days of this... Gitana Eighty and I have done a good job: it wasn’t an easy doldrums, I didn’t sleep… I'm working hard though under two reefs and staysail. It's wet! The doldrums were pretty active and required a lot of work with each flurry of wind. It's slamming quite a bit. There's water on deck all the time. It's still warm but it's wet so you have to change your clothes quite a lot or sometimes I even helm in the nude… hygiene is important aboard!”

 

Just forty miles astern, three pursuers are on a mission to make up their deficit, including Marc Guillemot (Safran) who is going to give it his all to stay with the leader: "It’s him that has the problem! He is within gunshot and I’m 60 miles West of him… He should be keeping a low profile if he’s got any sense the Peyron! Between here and the Canaries, it’s feasible: I’m in good shape and Safran will be able to settle the argument with guns on this point of sail..."

Indeed, the tradewinds have already settled over the zone to dish out over 20 knots of breeze, which is set to fill in still further over the coming hours as they clock round more to the East: the monohulls will then be able to ease their sheets and accelerate to over fourteen knots. The next two days at least should see the daily averages slightly exceed 300 miles and the Canaries are just a little over 1000 miles ahead now… with a possible approach from Saturday evening! And Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) is still very much on the warpath: "The doldrums were more complicated than I’d thought, that’s the least I can say! I messed up the course a bit it’s true but there’s still a long way to go. It’s not catastrophic but it’s not great. We’ve got sun now though and we’re making fast headway. We're a bit heeled over but it's nice. We're going in the right direction now. We were sailing quite close on the wind this morning but now it's pretty much on the beam. It’s very wet on deck and the boat is fairly at ease in 20/25 knots of breeze. There are still some obstacles ahead and some big winds forecast for Brittany so we'll see what happens!" And for Kito de Pavant too (Groupe Bel), life is good! “All is well. We have a regular 20/25 knot wind. The tradewinds are settled in nicely so we’re making 14/15 knots of boatspeed as we make northing and I’m staying down below under pilot.”

After this leading group which also harbours Yann Eliès (Generali), in a great second place, Mike Golding (Ecover) and Bernard Stamm (Cheminées Poujoulat) seem to have come off the worst from the doldrums! One hundred miles lost in a few hours: it's a heavy sanction... Was it their technical problems (ballast tanks) which prevented them from keeping up the pace: once again impossible to get through to any of our Anglo-Saxons at today's radio session so hopefully all will be revealed tomorrow. Whatever the case, the duo will be keeping their eyes on their rear view mirrors as Samantha Davies (Roxy), Jean-Baptiste Dejeanty (Maisonneuve), Arnaud Boissières (Akena Vérandas) and Yannick Bestaven (Cervin EnR) are not very far behind now and may well be sailing within sight of each other.

As for Dee Caffari (Aviva), Rich Wilson (Great Americain III) and Derek Hatfield (Spirit of Canada), they’re currently in the process of escaping the Inter-Tropical Zone of Convergence and will then be able to accelerate like the rest of the fleet. On the menu for the next two or three days: a long tack in the E’ly trades, that is wind on the beam to traverse the Southern edge of the Azores High which is repositioning itself towards Madeira over the weekend. It is at this level that the weather is more uncertain and there may be a bunching up of the fleet prior to the final sprint, which promises a stiff depression early next week...

Quotes from the Boats

Dee Caffari (Aviva): ‘Well I have definitely made it to the dreaded ‘pot au noir’. That's the doldrums to you and me and they are always full of surprises. The cloud cover has lowered and in between the general white low cloud base there are some huge black ones. These normally deposit large amounts of rain and some give wind with gusto and some take it away. Generally though, there is always a band of wind as you enter the cloud then again as you leave. I sat happily today looking at an ominous cloud about to cover me and I was wondering how much rain and how much wind was in it. As clouds approach I make the changes to a smaller sail plan and prepare for the punch of the cloud. It is safer and easier in the long term than trying to make the changes when 30 knots descends. Even if making the sail changes proves unnecessary, changing back is easier than trying to wrestle with sails and boat in difficult conditions. That said, I jumped up and changed my headsail and then set up the mainsail ready to be reefed. I held back, the first force hit me at 22 knots. So far so good, we just sailed faster. Then the rain turned to hail and just as I looked up a huge fork of lightning struck. I was surprised but I nearly jumped out of my skin when the huge clap of thunder sounded directly above my head. I hate thunder and lightning. The ordeal of reefing was worth it as 30 knots struck. All you can do is wait and change the sails as the wind changes so I grabbed the soap and had a shower and washed my hair. This is the equivalent of a spa day for me out here! Visibility had gone completely and the rain lasted a whole hour, the wind however returned to the normal 13 thirteen knots until the cloud completely passed and then all the wind disappeared. So now I float trying to head north as the quickest passage through, but the wind has different ideas.’

Rich Wilson (Great American III): “Now, in the past early morning hours, an edge of a breeze has sprung up, and I am tacking north, tacking on the shifts, just like a one-design race in Marblehead. You can't just go straight across, even with an easterly wind expectation. It is very bizarre, and the zeros on the instruments were very frustrating. A short time ago, with a crystal clear patch of stars, I saw a light ahead, not range lights of a ship, but a single light. Think it might be Derek who has admirably hung in there with, I think, pilot and computer problems, and come back strongly after being off the position list for a few sessions. If it's him, Go Derek! Onwards. Northward. For both of us.”

Derek Hatfield (Spirit of Canada): Hello from Spirit of Canada. Here we are in the middle of the doldrums with rain showers and wind holes. We, the boat and I are slowly recovering from a rocky first few days and I look forward to being able to perform better. Autopilot issues still plague the steering but we are slowly starting to figure it out. I'm having dinner early tonight as it will be a long night on deck watching for rain squalls. I lost the radar and other antenna from the mast in one of the many accidental jibes that the pilot took us thru so now I must keep vigilance on deck for the many squalls in this area. Take Care

 

Arnaud de Boissiere (Akena Verandas): “It's still a bit hot but it’s nice to be alongside Sam, Yannick and Jean-Baptiste. There's a bit of chop but we're making better headway now and as long as the boat's okay, I'm okay!"