Radio Session Quotes from 16.12.07

Sam Davies (Roxy): “Right now the wind is pretty unstable with between 11 and 23 knots of breeze. I'm under one reef and staysail, solent. I passed a group of fishing boats this morning in the mist and I’m right on the shipping lane now having to keep watch for traffic. It’s difficult upwind. My flying fish Godfrey is still strapped onto the boat and will be in need of a hat and scarf soon. My preparateur is really looking forward to meeting him – not! I’m hoping to make it in to port as quickly as possible but my course is going to be a real zigzag with a possible tack at Ushant. There’s going to be a lot of stacking in store so this last stretch is likely to be very physical."

 

Yannick Bestaven (Cervin EnR): “It's not the nicest of days: upwind, it’s banging, it’s slamming, it’s wet, it’s cold. A pure joy! After a series of zigzags taking me up to Ushant, I should make port tomorrow morning. I've got small halyard issues again so it’s difficult to drop the staysail. I hope the wind will stay with us as the boat isn't going very well and it’s annoying because I can do nothing to change that at the moment. It's been cold for about 24 hours now. What's been most interesting about this race is that the new boats have really gone up a notch in terms of technical level."

 

Jean-Baptiste Dejeanty (Maisonneuve): “It’s a bit hard going, upwind in an icy breeze with a chop. The fleeces are out but it’s not easy as the wind is so shifty. I’ve just come out of a light patch and now I have been 5 and 18 knots of wind. I'm constantly having to helm, which means a lot of time in the cold. I'm looking forward to regular wind. Unfortunately I'm unlikely to make port in a single tack, most likely is a manoeuvre tomorrow afternoon. I'm keen to finish but it seems the closer we get the further the ETA seems to be! Meantime my genoa is half torn to pieces and the head of my mainsail traveller has ripped out. It's frustrating not to be able to finish cleanly. I'm looking forward to a good shower, a good beer and to forget about all my hassles!"

 

Derek Hatfield (Spirit of Canada): “I’m doing fine but I'll certainly be happy to get in. We've got good wind right now but sadly it's from the South so it's downwind. I've got about 15 knots of breeze right now under gennaker. This particular sail is a real given that I don't have a genoa any more, but I'm right on its limit. I saw a ship 30 minutes ago so it’s much more active as we approach Cape Finisterre. There's a big rolling swell and the sun is shining so it's hot down below still, you just need a fleece on deck. The wind is set to pick up tonight and possibly back slightly, which will enable me to miss Finisterre and all its shipping. The next 24 hours should be fairly easy before the low pressure hits us with 35/40 knots..."

 

Night messages 16.12.07:

Sam Davies (Roxy): “Hello! It is a cold black night out here.

I've got 2 pairs of socks on, hat gloves, the works! It's freezing!

Especially as we're going upwind in 20 knots of wind - that adds a reasonable wind chill factor! The wind is still super unstable and it is impossible to leave Roxy sail alone for more than a few minutes. As it is too cold (and black) to steer, I am steering by adjusting the autopilot with each gust or windshift. Very tiresome work, but necessary! Often, I have to ease the mainsheet (and then trim it back in) so the sheet is in the cleat just inside the door so that it is easy to reach. To keep myself busy, I've been playing solitaire and minesweeper on my computer, but the trouble is that each time we leap and slam off a wave, I click in the wrong place and I keep loosing!!!! I'm hoping that the wind will stabilize a little so that I can get some rest because I'm pretty tired, and it is always good to be alert on the final landfall! My eta is in around 24 hours, depending on the wind direction between now and the finish! 189 milles to go and counting...”

 

Derek Hatfield (Spirit of Canada): "Hello from Spirit of Canada 15 December 15, 2007. The wind is back! Finally we have some decent wind, albeit from the south it is a welcome change from that heinous area behind us that held us for so many hours. I’m sailing a direct course to the finish line at speed so it feels great. Congratulations to all of those skippers that are in port, what a fantastic job they did. The situation on board is very static at the moment and as I mentioned before, I am anxious to be finished and move on to the next stage. The family is on their way to France and will be flying overhead in about 6 hours from now. I’ll keep an eye for the light in the window. The radio interviews from the media center are always a highlight of the day. It’s great to talk with the folks and let them know what is happening on board. I wish I could speak French better. That’s one of those projects that never seem to be finished. Take care.”

 

Dee Caffari (Aviva): “Aviva and I are moving again and it’s awesome. We have around 15 knots of breeze that is set to increase throughout the day. It is set to stay until the depression comes over us and we have 35 knots of wind to deal with all the way to the finish. It’s been all or nothing in this race, either too much or too little but at least it’s blowing in the right direction now. It means I will be home for Christmas for the first time in seven years which is exciting. This race has been hard so I am looking forward to just going home and catching up on my sleep and eating a lot. Having five days in between the finish of the Transat Jacques Vabre and the start of this race to repair the damage on the boat meant I didn’t get any rest and that combined with the fact that this race has been really hard means that I am overly tired. This time next year I will be doing a lap of the world so I’m going to make the most of the home comforts and especially my bed! Dee has made no secret of the difficulties she has experienced on this solo voyage as she puts in the miles and the hard graft in preparation for her assault on the Vendée Globe trophy next year. Her lowest times, she says, have been eased by the flow of morale boosting messages sent through my friends, family and fans. The most helpful messages have been the ones reminding me that this is a training run, that this is all about going out on the boat and learning the ropes. If it was really easy, I wouldn’t have learned anything so it is good that it has been difficult.  Even though I know what this race is all about, it is good to have it confirmed by other people that this is the next step on the learning curve. I’ve also learned a lot about myself in this race, about how I am under pressure and hopefully I can use that knowledge and experience to do justice to the new boat.”

 

Rich Wilson (Great American III): “Finally escaped Azores' doldrums. Making steady progress northeast. Preparing for strong winds.”

 

Arnaud Boissiere (Akena Verandas): “Hello, Speed: 6 knots, Course: 81 deg.

UTC Time: 16th December 2007 01:40, Position: 45,0.98N , 13,48.92W

At the start of the night, I had a long period of transition where the wind varied from 4 to 25 knots with a 60 degree shift in direction.  Otherwise all is well aboard, lots of manoeuvres and the night isn't over yet.

 

Press Release 15/12/07

A weekend without

 

After the arrival last night of Marc Guillemot and Bernard Stamm, the seven solo sailors still racing are sufficiently far away that there aren't likely to be any more arrivals this weekend. Samantha Davies and Yannick Bestaven are the next competitors expected in Port la Forêt, NW France, but more likely early Monday morning.

It was a very cold final night for Marc Guillemot (Safran) who laboured to complete this 4,120 mile course between Salvador de Bahia and Port la Forêt, the wind having shifted round to the East during Friday, forcing him onto a beat from nearby Penmarc'h. The local sailor finally made the finish on Friday at 22 h 25' 44''UTC after 15 days 08 hours 25 minutes 44 seconds at sea. The skipper of Safran was visibly fatigued due to a very shifty wind, which opted to drop off gradually as he made towards the Beg Meil signal station. Handicapped by the failure of his hydraulic actuator rod serving to cant the keel, the solo sailor had to attempt to make headway in a much less powerful boat and less at ease in what are still big seas, which are reigning off Brittany.

For Bernard Stamm (Cheminées Poujoulat), the beat was even more onerous since the Swiss sailor had to begin his tacking frenzy off Raz de Sein considerably further down the French coast… In addition, the onshore breeze in the middle of the night with little moonlight, was even more shifty and it wasn't until 06h 24' UTC that the skipper made it into the sparkly new basin dedicated to deep draft boats. Bernard Stamm thus completed a great race in a time of 15 days 16 hours 24 minutes 34 seconds, on his 2003 Farr yacht design boat, formerly Jean-Pierre Dick’s Virbac-Paprec. With a few ballast and computer problems, Cheminées Poujoulat nevertheless demonstrated that the skipper-boat duo were well in phase on this South-North transatlantic course, which was raced predominantly in close-hauled conditions or with eased sheets, two points of sail where the potential of the new prototypes is considerable. Indeed this is the first of the older generation boats to make it home, albeit in less favourable weather conditions at the tail end of the race in particular and consequently 1 day 07 hours 09 minutes 09 seconds after winner Loïck Peyron.

For the seven other competitors still racing, the weather situation has finally stabilized and the fear of a nasty depression arriving from Newfoundland and settling off Spain looks less ominous now. For Samantha Davies (Roxy), the sailing conditions are still pleasant: "I am happy: the boat's going well with 20 knots of wind from the East but there is as much as 90 degrees of variation in the true wind. The grib files don't correspond entirely with what I have on zone but at least I should have wind all the way to the finish. It’s difficult to give a precise ETA as we’ll have a lot of tacking to do: Monday morning? The seas are pretty difficult at the moment and chaotic with a big W’ly swell… In any case, it will be cold and even though I’m English, I don’t like that!”  Relegated to forty miles astern of the young solo sailor, Yannick Bestaven (Cervin EnR) has lost ground over the past 24 hours, due partly to his more direct course, whilst Sam has opted for more northing.

For the next two skippers, the end of the race promises to be Tuesday. "There is already a big swell which is preceding the coming depression and above all, there are lots of objects floating in the water! I got a big warp stuck around my rudder last night. The Bay of Biscay won't be easy for me since I no longer have the staysail you need for an E'ly headwind as forecast "indicated Arnaud Boissières (Akena Vérandas). As for Jean-Baptiste Dejeanty (Maisonneuve), the end of this race has also turned into a delivery: "This race has taught me a lot, even though it’s dragging on a bit now off Spain. It is more likely that the homeward straight will be transformed into a zig-zag!... Without a stay and hence without a solent or a staysail, it’s going to be long! I can't say I'm feeling fine and dandy given that I'm recovering from an infected hand and the antibiotics have made me drowsy. I'm alright though: I'm already envisaging the winter work. There's nothing major but my mind is full of little details I want to optimise... "

And for Canadian Derek Hatfield (Spirit of Canada), the pace has finally changed with the return of the breeze from the South. "I’m finally going a bit faster today: 15 knots of wind, sun and I’m hand steering. The nights are superb with very clear skies full of shooting stars! As regards the chill at the finish: well I guess I'm kind of used to that in Canada so I'm really looking forward to arriving in Brittany... " The whole fleet has stepped up the pace a bit then, with more pleasant speeds and Dee Caffari (Aviva) and Rich Wilson (Great American III) have really been focussing on pushing their boats as hard as they can and are now likely to escape the Azores depression. The American skipper has just this minute informed us that he was "glass becalmed yet again” however, but hopefully this is only temporary!! Life onboard is going to very cold however, with a lively E'ly wind accompanying them to Brittany and Christmas!

Quotes from the Boats

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! "

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)

“It took until 8am this morning before Aviva started to move convincingly. It felt like freedom and as the daylight descended upon us I could see that it was going to be a different day. The low clouds and bands of rain looked ominous but when I have only seen blue skies sunshine and no wind for so long, these clouds looked great. Before long I had dropped the Code 0 and hoisted the gennaker in its place. The change was just in time for twenty knots and rain to hit us and last for an hour. The swell was from the west and everything was indicating to me that I had escaped the dreaded hole that had captured me for so long. The weather files today indicate that it may still catch up with me but it will only last for about half a day. Then in comparison to that, by Monday I will meet a depression that will beast me with in excess of 35 knots all the way to the finish, it certainly will be an all or nothing affair.”

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. "

Translation KJ