No News Good News?
News
February 16, 2005
Conrad Humphreys took back the controls in the Bay of Biscay yesterday night and has since stretched out his lead to 25.3 miles at 1500 GMT today, the intrigue and intensity of his duel with Seeten as exhilarating as ever after 101 days at sea. Unable to contact the Plymouth skipper once again it is impossible to say for sure the mindset aboard Hellomoto, but clearly Joé Seeten is feeling the pressure to the NW of him in the clutches of a vast sprawling anticyclone. He has a very rough ETA of Saturday night or Sunday. American Bruce Schwab is making good headway to the West of the Canaries already setting himself up for when he heads round Cape Finisterre. At the tail of the fleet nearing the horn of Brazil, Karen Leibovici is more optimistic about her energy problems aboard Benefic today. She is 4184.4 miles from the finish.
Unable to get through to Conrad Humphreys aboard Hellomoto once again
today, Joé Seeten (Arcelor Dunkerque) joked of propaganda aboard the
British boat. The French skipper has lost his lead overnight, Conrad
streaking 25 miles into the lead with more air pressure as the Joé
continues to hold out for a NE’ly windshift, slowed dramatically by a
high pressure system. He has made just 82.3 miles over the past 24
hours, while Conrad has made 121.3 miles with about 3 knots better VMG.
“I have been completely slowed by the anticyclone and I can’t get out of it. I’ve had some very shifty winds that have been making things very difficult so I’ve been zigging and zagging. The seas aren’t very big as there is no wind. I have no more than 4 to 12 knots and it’s irregular both in strength and direction. It’s difficult to anticipate the upcoming wind shift and I zigzagged 3 /4 times yesterday. I’m working the wind right now and keeping an eye on the information from the wand and the autopilot. I have a good pilot which does my job for me so I can spend some time on trimming my sails correctly. As the wind isn’t stable at all I have to calculate and react to the shifts to correct my trajectory. I feel a bit tense. I’m not someone that gets worked up about things and there’s no point as I there’s nothing I can do about it.”
Less than 600 miles behind the duo, American skipper Bruce Schwab on Ocean Planet is enjoying the favourable downwind conditions off the Canaries making good 10 knot averages with the best VMG of the fleet. “It’s sunny now and it was an interesting night. I had many squalls but they weren’t too strong. Conditions were very shifty but I had wind all night which was good. I hope I don’t get stuck now. There looks to be a NE’ly wind kicking in tomorrow and then I’ll be beating. There have been some pretty rainbows and light rain and there was a beautiful sunrise. I’m an opportunist and I was given the gift of this low. I needed a break from the upwind anyway.”
Already looking at the situation ahead Bruce seems to have got things mapped out for the next few days. He is longing to get to Les Sables d’Olonne and is still hoping that an American sponsor is going to jump in and finance his ecological and educational Ocean Planet project. “The boat’s ok I think – there’s nothing in any trouble which is a good thing as it looks like I’ve got several days of upwind ahead. I don’t think I’ll have anything more than 25 knots though. I’m hoping for a better wind angle to get past Cape Finisterre and am not keen to go as far North as Joé and Conrad. I’ll definitely be closer to the continent it depends on what conditions I get in 4/ 5 days time as to whether I point or foot off when heading NE. I’ll either be close-hauled or foot off and then there’s a front to negotiate on the 20th or 21st. If I’m close to the coast I’ll definitely be upwind.”
Quotes from the Boats:
Joé Seeten (Arcelor Dunkerque): “I tried to do a kind of Indian raindance but it didn’t come off. Strategically I don’t really know what to do as the anticyclone is spreading itself out ahead of me. I’ve passed a number of cargo ships and they’re really dangerous as they don’t have there radars on. The French Navy really should work on making it compulsory. I have everything switched on. I have an ENE’ly wind and am trying to track down a NE’ly wind shift to climb up on a port tack. There isn’t much of a difference in terms of VMG between port or starboard tack at the moment. The best course would be straight through the anticyclone but that’s not an option, meantime Hellomoto is SE of me and has more pressure. I only have 776 miles to go. The key now is deciding when to tack – it could be in 5 minutes time, I just don’t know. I’d like to be on a port tack with a better VMG. At sea I’m happy as I’m the king of my world but the shore will bring pressure. It’s possible that my ETA is 1830 GMT on Saturday or maybe Sunday morning.”
Bruce Schwab (Ocean Planet): “I’m certainly looking forward to getting to Les Sables soon. I feel pretty good but I’m low on treats and goodies. I’ve just got regular food left with a few dried fruits like plums left. After that I’ve got some freeze-dried food. I’ve got enough fuel if I don’t have the radar on all the time and I’ve got 25 gallons in my keel. It’ll be a hassle to get it out of there but at the moment I don’t think I’ll need it as I’ve got about 60 litres left. Mentally I think I’m totally crazy but I’m as good as could be expected. I’m happy because the boat is in good shape and I’ve got good conditions. My placing is good. I practised the guitar a bit yesterday for Denis (Race Director) and I hope he likes the song I’ve composed. When you have the sun and a guitar what more do you need?!”
Benoît Parnaudeau (Max Havelaar Best Western): “I’ve got an ENE’ly wind of 20 knots so I’ve put up a bit more sail area. It’s a bit chilly, the skies are rather grey and there are no cumulus clouds. There’s a tropical depression off Mauritania and I don’t know what I’m going to do with all that. The wind is less shifty and the seas are better so the boat is slamming less and I can spend some time looking after it. I am reading a bit too and today I found a flying fish on the deck. I prepared a marinade with it straight away so as to make a good sauce for the pasta. With regards the weather conditions it’s not wild and I’m heading upwind now and I’m still enjoying helming. I’ve never experienced such conditions and it’s quite interesting dealing with that and spending time trimming the boat. I’ll be really happy to get to the finish though and see the people I love; my girlfriend and my friends. The solitude has been weighing on me since just before the Horn. Till then I’ve got quite a big job list on the boat. I’m not using my engine as my generator and my water propeller and my solar panels work well and I think that’s something interesting for the environment in the future. I’m not using my water propeller at the moment though as I lose about 0.2 to 0.3 knots of boat speed with it on, two of them might work better.”
Karen Leibovici (Benefic): “I’ve got about 30 knots of wind right now. I will try to repair my water propeller for producing energy as I few spare blades. When I had my diesel leak I tried to bottle some of it. It’s all different colours as it was collected on different days at various times but I think it’s clean. I don’t think I’ll need it but if I do I’ll have to filter it. The day before yesterday I emptied the tank and managed to get just less than 10 litres worth of diesel. I imagine I’ve got a total of around 20 litres which will last for about 10 recharging sessions. At the moment I’m reducing the amount of power I need by turning everything off. To boost power supply I really need to get into upwind conditions in less messy seas. I’ve had some sun since this morning. There are a few clouds around and I’ve had a few little squalls but nothing major. Last night the skies were quite clear, I even managed to see some stars. The solar panels are effective so I feel quite positive about my energy problems now though I’m remaining careful. I am exhausted and even fell asleep in the cockpit without intending to do so. Last night was a good night though and I had a bit of downwind which enabled me to recuperate.”
Author Kate Jennings
“I have been completely slowed by the anticyclone and I can’t get out of it. I’ve had some very shifty winds that have been making things very difficult so I’ve been zigging and zagging. The seas aren’t very big as there is no wind. I have no more than 4 to 12 knots and it’s irregular both in strength and direction. It’s difficult to anticipate the upcoming wind shift and I zigzagged 3 /4 times yesterday. I’m working the wind right now and keeping an eye on the information from the wand and the autopilot. I have a good pilot which does my job for me so I can spend some time on trimming my sails correctly. As the wind isn’t stable at all I have to calculate and react to the shifts to correct my trajectory. I feel a bit tense. I’m not someone that gets worked up about things and there’s no point as I there’s nothing I can do about it.”
Less than 600 miles behind the duo, American skipper Bruce Schwab on Ocean Planet is enjoying the favourable downwind conditions off the Canaries making good 10 knot averages with the best VMG of the fleet. “It’s sunny now and it was an interesting night. I had many squalls but they weren’t too strong. Conditions were very shifty but I had wind all night which was good. I hope I don’t get stuck now. There looks to be a NE’ly wind kicking in tomorrow and then I’ll be beating. There have been some pretty rainbows and light rain and there was a beautiful sunrise. I’m an opportunist and I was given the gift of this low. I needed a break from the upwind anyway.”
Already looking at the situation ahead Bruce seems to have got things mapped out for the next few days. He is longing to get to Les Sables d’Olonne and is still hoping that an American sponsor is going to jump in and finance his ecological and educational Ocean Planet project. “The boat’s ok I think – there’s nothing in any trouble which is a good thing as it looks like I’ve got several days of upwind ahead. I don’t think I’ll have anything more than 25 knots though. I’m hoping for a better wind angle to get past Cape Finisterre and am not keen to go as far North as Joé and Conrad. I’ll definitely be closer to the continent it depends on what conditions I get in 4/ 5 days time as to whether I point or foot off when heading NE. I’ll either be close-hauled or foot off and then there’s a front to negotiate on the 20th or 21st. If I’m close to the coast I’ll definitely be upwind.”
Quotes from the Boats:
Joé Seeten (Arcelor Dunkerque): “I tried to do a kind of Indian raindance but it didn’t come off. Strategically I don’t really know what to do as the anticyclone is spreading itself out ahead of me. I’ve passed a number of cargo ships and they’re really dangerous as they don’t have there radars on. The French Navy really should work on making it compulsory. I have everything switched on. I have an ENE’ly wind and am trying to track down a NE’ly wind shift to climb up on a port tack. There isn’t much of a difference in terms of VMG between port or starboard tack at the moment. The best course would be straight through the anticyclone but that’s not an option, meantime Hellomoto is SE of me and has more pressure. I only have 776 miles to go. The key now is deciding when to tack – it could be in 5 minutes time, I just don’t know. I’d like to be on a port tack with a better VMG. At sea I’m happy as I’m the king of my world but the shore will bring pressure. It’s possible that my ETA is 1830 GMT on Saturday or maybe Sunday morning.”
Bruce Schwab (Ocean Planet): “I’m certainly looking forward to getting to Les Sables soon. I feel pretty good but I’m low on treats and goodies. I’ve just got regular food left with a few dried fruits like plums left. After that I’ve got some freeze-dried food. I’ve got enough fuel if I don’t have the radar on all the time and I’ve got 25 gallons in my keel. It’ll be a hassle to get it out of there but at the moment I don’t think I’ll need it as I’ve got about 60 litres left. Mentally I think I’m totally crazy but I’m as good as could be expected. I’m happy because the boat is in good shape and I’ve got good conditions. My placing is good. I practised the guitar a bit yesterday for Denis (Race Director) and I hope he likes the song I’ve composed. When you have the sun and a guitar what more do you need?!”
Benoît Parnaudeau (Max Havelaar Best Western): “I’ve got an ENE’ly wind of 20 knots so I’ve put up a bit more sail area. It’s a bit chilly, the skies are rather grey and there are no cumulus clouds. There’s a tropical depression off Mauritania and I don’t know what I’m going to do with all that. The wind is less shifty and the seas are better so the boat is slamming less and I can spend some time looking after it. I am reading a bit too and today I found a flying fish on the deck. I prepared a marinade with it straight away so as to make a good sauce for the pasta. With regards the weather conditions it’s not wild and I’m heading upwind now and I’m still enjoying helming. I’ve never experienced such conditions and it’s quite interesting dealing with that and spending time trimming the boat. I’ll be really happy to get to the finish though and see the people I love; my girlfriend and my friends. The solitude has been weighing on me since just before the Horn. Till then I’ve got quite a big job list on the boat. I’m not using my engine as my generator and my water propeller and my solar panels work well and I think that’s something interesting for the environment in the future. I’m not using my water propeller at the moment though as I lose about 0.2 to 0.3 knots of boat speed with it on, two of them might work better.”
Karen Leibovici (Benefic): “I’ve got about 30 knots of wind right now. I will try to repair my water propeller for producing energy as I few spare blades. When I had my diesel leak I tried to bottle some of it. It’s all different colours as it was collected on different days at various times but I think it’s clean. I don’t think I’ll need it but if I do I’ll have to filter it. The day before yesterday I emptied the tank and managed to get just less than 10 litres worth of diesel. I imagine I’ve got a total of around 20 litres which will last for about 10 recharging sessions. At the moment I’m reducing the amount of power I need by turning everything off. To boost power supply I really need to get into upwind conditions in less messy seas. I’ve had some sun since this morning. There are a few clouds around and I’ve had a few little squalls but nothing major. Last night the skies were quite clear, I even managed to see some stars. The solar panels are effective so I feel quite positive about my energy problems now though I’m remaining careful. I am exhausted and even fell asleep in the cockpit without intending to do so. Last night was a good night though and I had a bit of downwind which enabled me to recuperate.”
Author Kate Jennings
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