The Transat Ecover-BtoB dished up a few fastidious final miles for the Swiss Breton: the last ten miles taking him all night to complete amidst multiple tacks and biting cold! Bernard Stamm thus completes what has been a very fine course on his 2003 Farr yacht design, ex-Virbac-Paprec of Jean-Pierre Dick. Despite a few ballast concerns and problems with his upperworks and computers, Cheminées Poujoulat showed that the skipper-boat tandem were well in phase with this 4,120 mile South-North course, which comprised in the main a point of sail which involved being closed hauled or sailing with eased sheets, two areas where the potential of the new prototypes is more considerable. In fact his is the first of the former generation boats to complete the course and though his time was 1 day 07 hours 09 minutes 09 seconds behind the winner Loïck Peyron, this reflects above all the fact that the leaders benefited from more favourable sailing conditions, especially over the end of the course and in the Bay of Biscay.

We’ll have to wait a while for the next arrivals however: Samantha Davies (Roxy) and Yannick Bestaven (Cervin EnR) still have over 400 miles to go so it is likely to be late on Sunday night or early Monday. In the meantime, the British sailor has clawed back an advantage overnight in a weakening E’ly. At over 650 miles from the goal, Arnaud Boissières (Akena Vérandas) and Jean-Baptiste Dejeanty (Maisonneuve) should follow them in a day later and will most likely have around 15 knots of E'ly with which to make for the finish, then 20 knots at the beginning of the week. For the three Anglo-Saxons, Derek Hatfield (Spirit of Canada), Dee Caffari (Aviva) and Rich Wilson (Great American III), the end of this Transat Ecover-BtoB will be far from easy!

Still stuck in light, variable winds to the South of the Azores, the trio will have to wait till Sunday morning for a S'ly wind to kick in, enabling them to lengthen their stride at the end of the weekend, but forcing them to close on the Spanish coast. The reason for this is the arrival of an Atlantic depression causing a beefy E’ly air flow in the Bay of Biscay and a bumpy ride home. The latter group should easily make the deadline for the closure of the line however, which is scheduled for nine days after the arrival of the winner, that is Sunday 23^rd December at 00h 13' 25'' French time...

Bernard Stamm (Cheminées Poujoulat)

" Laborious! I thought I was going to be able to sail in a straight line from Spain, drop the sails and head off to the bistro... Unfortunately the wind turned and I ended up on a heading taking me to the Raz de Sein and with this onshore breeze, it was very shifty and I had to make a number of tacks! You wonder if you still know how to sail upwind... This race was the opposite of the Transat Jacques Vabre: it favoured the powerful boats and I just had to sit back and watch them go at the start. In addition I wasn’t very successful in the Doldrums but I managed to get going again. I didn’t do too bad! And now I’m qualified for the Vendée Globe... I’ve never completed a qualifier so far in advance! I didn’t really know if I should qualify or not, but it’s done now! Cheminées Poujoulat is fine but I had some ballast tank issues and problems with my computers level with Recife. It was broken until the exit from the Doldrums so I set a way-point, and sailed for three days without really knowing if it was the right course! The new prototypes go fast, but we’ll see what happens after the winter work! "

Arrivals in Port la Forêt:

1-Loïck Peyron (Gitana Eighty) in 14d 09h 13' 25''

2-Kito de Pavant (Groupe Bel) in 14d 12h 22' 49'', 3 hours 09 minutes 24 seconds from the first place

3-Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) in 14d 13h 43' 24", 4 hours 29 minutes and 59 seconds from the first place

4-Yann Eliès (Generali) in 14d 19h 22' 02'', 10 hours 07 minutes 37 seconds from the first place.

5-Marc Guillemot (Safran) in 15d 08h 25' 44'', 23 hours 12 minutes 19 seconds from the first place

6-Bernard Stamm (Cheminées Poujoulat) in 15d 16h 24'34'', 1 day 07 hours 09 minutes 09 seconds from first place

Marc Guillemot (Safran)

“As soon as the keel actuator rod broke, I just had one thing in my mind: focus on safety and finish the race at all costs. At the time it was very frustrating to be cut off in full flow, as even if the essential things is qualifying for the Vendée Globe, you’re still caught up in the race with the desire to play hard! Evidently, I lost a bit of ground on the others, but I managed to stay in the match a few miles behind Generali. The main thing was to trim the boat as best I could so that it didn’t affect the keel. Once again I really enjoyed sailing aboard Safran, which proved to be a real racing machine. We had some difficult conditions but crossing the Atlantic still remains a fine adventure. I'm very lucky to be able to do this job, my passion.”

Dee Caffari (Aviva)

" Finally, we are moving and as the day has developed the movement has even been in the right direction. I do not think it is over yet so I am trying my hardest to get away from here before the dreaded wind hole swallows me up for a final time. By contrast today the weather has been low cloud cover, drizzle and rain and an obvious temperature drop. The swell has been coming from the west and I am guessing that this is all a precursor to the big even that will beast us from Monday onwards. First we complain of no wind and I am sure I will soon be complaining of too much wind. "

 

Derek Hatfield (Spirit of Canada)

" Overall it’s been a good sailing day but still not a lot of wind. On average about 8 knots of wind from the southeast so we are going off the wind for a change. I have continued to hand steer to get the maximum from the gennaker and boat speed. There was a great sunset tonight and each night has been clear with millions of stars. As the boats start the finishing process, it always gets anxious for those further back to get in and finished. I am starting to feel the anxiety now with over 1000 miles to go. Here’s hoping for a quick finish from here but unfortunately the winds are not playing fair so far. "

Samantha Davies (Roxy)

 

 

 

“Hello everybody. It’s been very difficult since last night with a very shifty wind and confused seas (WSW'ly swell, E’ly waves...). The wind is between 10 and 25 knots and the shifting 40 degrees, so the choice of sail is complicated, and you really have to be on the ball the whole time. I'm tired and in addition Roxy is not happy! I hope all that will improve during the day as I distance myself from Cape Finisterre. I’ll be able to rest later, once Roxy has decided that she can make headway on her own! Right now I’m eating my porridge, which is doing me good because it is warming me up - YES – to end, IT IS VERY COLD!!! Too cold because the honey I bought in Brazil is completely frozen! See you later…”

Translation KJ