This time last Sunday, the leaders in the fleet were about to enter what is usually thought of as the ‘southern highway’, leading to the St. Helena junction. This section of the route is normally sailed without incident, but this year the weak trade winds — in addition to a high that was freely roaming over the course area — upset the week's schedule. The skippers had to follow the only route possible, right down to the gateway to the Forties, before they could turn left.
As expected in such unusual conditions, the fleet took different routes — some preferred to take the outside track, like Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia); while others, like Jean Le Cam (VM Matériaux), opted for the inside — without any major upsets in the rankings this Sunday. Quite the contrary in fact, as the leading group remained bunched up after three weeks of sailing. In the top ten, one has been forced out — Delta Dore, since retired with rig problems — while the leaders have switched around.
Marc Guillemot, last week in tenth place, has put his foot down on his Safran and regained a lot of the ground he had lost from the leaders. Foncia has made a remarkable recovery, only 250 miles behind the leader this morning, as opposed to 385 last Sunday. At this frenetic racing pace — which is more akin to that of a coastal sprint — the weeks ahead in the southern seas are bound to be exciting. Let’s look back, day by day on a very special week.
??Monday 24th. Dominique Wavre (Temenos II): “Physically and mentally, I feel very good. During the night I crossed paths with Jérémie (Beyou) and when you look at what destiny has done, I feel privileged and pleased to be here.” The previous day, Delta Dore began making her way for the coast of Brazil, as her starboard spreaders had come away from the mast. It clearly looked like the problem was serious. ??
Tuesday 25th. Cheminées Poujoulat crossed the Equator at 17 h 35'. It took Bernard Stamm just four hours more to cover the voyage from Les Sables to Latitude zero than Loïck Peyron (Gitana Eighty), who is still in the lead. After setting sail again from the Vendée on 13th November after repairs, the Brittany-based Swiss sailor is back in the race and has already overtaken the tail-enders. ??
Wednesday 26th. Once Jérémie Beyou reached Brazil, he officially declared he was retiring from the race. It was unfortunately wholly expected. Delta Dore became the fifth boat to retire from the race, and the first since the initial punishing conditions of the start — 25 out of the 30 entries were still in the race.
??Thursday 27th. Facing a huge high to their south-east and thundery conditions, the boats were clocking up very different speeds from one ranking to the next. On the evening of this 17th day of the race, Sébastien Josse (BT) grabbed the lead from Loïck Peyron (Gitana Eighty), who got stuck under a huge cloud.
??Friday 28th. In spite of a few tacks as the wind shifted, the group of leaders remained remarkably tightly bunched. Sébastien Josse: “Just a few tiny miles separate the 7 leading boats at the moment, which is incredible knowing that they have already covered more than 5000 miles.” Yann Eliès (Generali): “I saw Bilou (Roland Jourdain, Veolia) with the binoculars and called him up. He seemed to be in the best of form. He said he had seen an albatross, which was lost in the area. There are signs that are clear: we are close to the gateway to the deep south, which is on the other side of the high...”. Dominique Wavre (Temenos 2): “Since yesterday, the weather has cleared, and we can feel that the air is very different, and indeed much cooler. We've started to change clothes. I've put fleeces on and got out the boots.”
Having set sail a week late from Les Sables, Jean-Baptiste Dejeanty (Groupe Maisonneuve) crossed the Equator too after 11 days and 13 hours of sailing — this was the best time achieved over this stretch of the race. ??
Saturday 29th. It was time for Yann Eliès (Generali) to take first place. He was the furthest east in the leading group, along with Jean Le Cam (VM Matériaux). They were stuck between a rock and a hard place — between continuing on their long tack south to reach the downwind conditions or try to cut the corner and be slowed down.
Armel Le Cléac’h (Brit Air): “The rankings don't mean much at this point, as we're not really getting closer to the finish. Once we have passed the high, things will be different. I've Vincent (Riou) alongside me and it's nice to be sailing with each other.” Vincent Riou (PRB): “I need to tidy up and stow everything. There's already a cold wind blowing. We're entering the wintry weather… It's going to be tough. It will be sometime tomorrow, but it's a very unusual transition, as it's very sudden. I need to do a spring clean. Get the boat and myself clean.” ??
Sunday 30th. The southerly option seems to be the right one. Sébastien Josse, still in the lead, is down at the 39th parallel. In the 1100h rankings, his speed was faster again, but he remains cautious as he heads towards the south-east. Loïck Peyron is following right after him. The two sailors have extended their lead over the pack chasing them. A bit more patience before they can change gear and accelerate away. ??
Statistics: In the 11h rankings this Sunday morning, Sébastien Josse was 19,273 miles from the finish. In a week he covered 1618 miles towards the finish at an average speed just below 10 knots. In reality, he covered many more miles and so his speeds have been much higher. All because of that wretched high, he has been following a route a long way from the most direct one. In 21 days, the leaders have covered one fifth of the course, and are behind the best times set in 2004. Jean-Baptiste Dejeanty, still at the rear of the fleet, is now only a few miles from the Canadian Derek Hatfield, some 1488 miles from the leader, or around a hundred miles less than last week. Desjoyeaux and Stamm are also making an astonishing comeback showing a burst of energy. They have narrowed the distance from the leader by 130 and 157 miles respectively. ??
Patrice Carpentier
