At 1000hrs GMT this morning he is now 273 miles ahead, averaging around half a knot quicker than Roland Jourdain.
Brian Thompson rounded Cape Horn at 0315hrs GMT this morning and is focusing on getting through the next 24 hours and the big storm. Dee Caffari is about 170 miles from Cape Horn and spoke this morning about how she and Arnaud Boissieres plan to slow down to let the worst of it pass, while Brian Thompson is about 49 miles from the Le Mairie straits.
A severe weather warning is issued for Cape Horn and the south of the Falklands Islands, with winds to 45/55 knots but gusting over 80 knots. Wave height could reach 9-11 metres at times.
“The highest wind will be in the north of the low, and the northerly wind just at the front of the low will be highest. For Dee and Arnaud the northerly wind is increasing right now. They will cross Cape Horn just before the low and the low will pass over the Cape and the wind will turn to the SW’ly and will start to decrease on Friday afternoon.” Said Sylvan Mondon of Meteo France this morning,
“The low will arrive around three in the morning (GMT) and with the pressure dropping to 958 hPa. The mean wind will increase to 45-55 knots and the gusts could reach 70 to 85 knots. And it will decrease on Friday afternoon.”
Thompson said on the radio vacs this morning:
“ The bottom and east end of Staten Island is now 50 miles away and then it is on to the Falkland Islands which are about another 250 miles.”
“I was not hoping for this, this is the so called ‘good side’ of Cape Horn, the Atlantic side, and so this will probably be the biggest storm of the race. So we are getting all ready for that. Luckily we had a storm on the other side of Cape Horn too so I am pretty well prepared. It is going to hit me up near the Falklands Islands tomorrow (Friday) morning when it will kick in, with heavy airs upwind, up to 40 knots and then you have the cold front comes through when you will get much stronger, very strong westerlies, which will initially cause a very bad sea state, with the northerlies, that’ll be the tough bit, the winds will be very powerful and it will be very turbulent for a while, until it settles.
I guess you have to plan a little bit ahead, because what could happen when you get the cold front is that you could go too fast into the Northerly swell and so just to be prepared to slow down, get the main down perhaps to slow the boat down until the northerly swell dies away. I have the line to pull the head of the main.
“ I think it might be better for Dee and Arnaud. The centre of the low looks like it will go right over the top of them. So I think they would go from light airs to when they exit from Staten Island to heavy airs downwind. And I will be dealing with the heavy airs upwind because I am not in the centre of the low. I’ll get the northerlies before the low and then the strong down wind. As long as the low tracks as it is supposed to, pretty much over Cape Horn, it could actually be reasonably safe for them.
Dee Caffari: “It is actually quite pleasant on Aviva. It is very nice and we will round Cape Horn but the celebrations will have to go on hold until we survive this next storm. I am actually going to slow down, which sounds a bit odd when you are racing, but I have to do whatever I can to avoid the worst of the weather. The centre of the low will pass over, and so the possibility of trying to outrun it has gone because of the light winds in the centre of the low, so we will actually experience the west side with SW’lies and so if I can go slow it will be six or nine hours of nasty winds, but not the worst winds, because the worst winds is in the northern section, and then once I am happy and then I can get going again as much as I can with what is left of my mainsail.
On her mainsail: “It is a cross between a tea bag and a string vest. When I put it up to see if I could get to the Horn before the worst of the weather, on the west side of South America, there is a section now which is just fibres, no cloth at all. And on one section the fibres are damaged. So when you reef the sail it is almost reefing itself it has kind of got a ventilation system going on, the wind does not really get trapped as easily. What I will do for this depression is make sure that when I have got down to the fourth reef, I will ensure the fibres are tucked away as much as possible. At the first opportunity I have to do a serious repair which I am forming how to do in my mind at the moment.”
Norbert Sedlacek has been passed by Raphael Dinelli who has made up more than 200 miles, or rather Norbert’s northerly course has not been very productive but in headwinds so he has little choice.
Here is the summary of what the two French skippers had to say:
Marc Guillemot (Safran): Exhausted after pit stop in Falklands. A huge amount of work to do, so wasn't able to do it all. Managed to work on second and third reef. Had to climb 4 or 5 times. Needed to rest and eat after that today. Mooring was easier than expected Approaching the islands was difficult with tricky seas, but in the bay sheltered and very little wind. At buoy 7-8 knots, so that went well. Departure went smoothly too. Saw a lot of people watching him. Discovered more damage to track when he climbed up. As the wind was getting up, he stopped with repairs up to 2nd reef, so can use 2nd and 3rd reef, but not full mainsail or first reef.
Armel Le Cléac'h (Brit Air): Fairly rough night with thundery low. Lightning, heavy rain and strong gusts with winds around 35 knots. Atmosphere 14th July in France. Switched off electronics as always afraid of being struck by lightning. Afterwards clear skies. It had been forecast and he deliberately went in that area to get some downwind conditions. Boots and oilskins stowed away and now pleasant conditions for manoeuvres. Air temp 26°, sea temp 25°. Clear skies then squalls. Thinks conditions should stabilise with trade winds tonight. By the time he reaches where Michel Desjoyeaux is there should be an easterly wind. Starting to think about finish in Les Sables. When he was feeling a bit down yesterday, told himself he was on home stretch.
