Europa Warm-Up Race complex first night

by Windreport on 21 May 2012 The Europa Warm-Up Race, organised by the FNOB (Fundació Navegació Oceànica Barcelona), first night of racing during which it proved frustratingly easy to find wind holes under stormy clouds, marked by spells of light and variable winds has quickly given way to stiff, tight reaching conditions for the IMOCA fleet.

Some managed to escape the worst of the sticky stuff with seemingly unerring efficiency. Others found themselves virtually rooted to the spot for longer than they would have liked.

It is little wonder that there was already just over 50 miles between first placed Jean-Pierre Dick and his team on Virbac-Paprec 3 and the seventh placed Groupe Bel of Kito de Pavant as the leaders approached the latitude of Capo Palos – the corner of Murcia – after 24 hours and 250 miles of racing.

In particular De Pavant was bitterly disappointed to have paid such a heavy price for the complex first night, especially as the fleet then ran progressively into an increasing breeze which has topped 30 knots at times, making for a wet, bouncy first day at sea. The Laughing Cow crew had chosen an inshore line and found themselves with less wind on average than those who stayed out, but the Mediterranean skipper and his crew reported today that one particularly voracious cloud accounts for much of their deficit so far. In contrast Virbac-Paprec 3 has lead through the day with a margin of between 12 and 15 miles on second placed PRB of Vendée Globe winner Vincent Riou with MACIF of Francois Gabart lying third, nearly 28 miles behind Virbac-Paprec 3. The order established over the first night has remained the same with only small changes in advantage and deficit

Life on board has not been easy in the boisterous conditions today. The space which is usually the lone domain of the solo skipper – sometimes two – is now shared between five. But the positives vastly outweigh any cramped feelings, for the IMOCA Open 60’s are being driven to their maximum, setting a useful benchmark for the solo-ists to aspire to. But, equally, in the choppy waves, a measure of preservation is required. Perhaps not surprisingly JP Dick, the leader, is the only skipper to have sailed a full lap of the planet on his boat.

These tough upwind conditions should hold until Gibraltar where often there are major transitions to be negotiated, while always accounting for the sluicing current. After three days of westerly winds over the west flowing current, it is likely to be choppy and unpleasant, but the current predictions still have only light winds which might make fighting a 3-4kts contrary flow something of a challenge. If the race leaders do get stuck in this scenario then there is every chance for the chasing pack to catch miles back.

They said :
François Gabart (MACIF): 'Last night we went through all the manoeuvres we could always in winds of less than 10kts. Eventually the wind filled in and at one stage we have seen 32kts. There is quite a bit of a sea with small waves which are not easy to deal with. The boat slams a bit. The transition was quite pronounced. At one minute we were under spinnaker in 3kts and then on the horizon you saw something coming and five minutes later we were upwind in 30kts. But I must admit that in these conditions it very nice to have four crew.'

Jean-Pierre Dick (Virbac-Paprec 3): 'Being in the lead is pleasing, despite the fatigue, because we did not sleep much last night. We're happy, we put it together well in the light winds. These conditions very complicated and the gaps opened. Now, we're going to be very even in strong winds, where the speeds of the boats are close to one another. So yes, we got a nice jump. With Bilou aboard, the atmosphere is really laid back, not to mention he is also so talented.'

Kito de Pavant (Groupe Bel): 'We have not had much success with the clouds. We got stuck for several hours under a dark cloud. Obviously, we are not too happy with our position, but that's the way the cookie crumbles sometimes. Such are the pitfalls of racing in the Mediterranean. We tried to miss some current by digging into it. It was good for a bit and then we were trapped.'

Ranking at 18h

Position	Skipper	Boat	Distance / the first (MN)
1	Jean-Pierre Dick	Virbac-Paprec 3	0
2	Vincent Riou	PRB	14,1
3	François Gabart	MACIF	30,3
4	Armel Le Cléac’h	Banque Populaire	35,6
5	Bernard Stamm	Cheminées Poujoulat	59
6	Javier Sanso	ACCIONA 100% EcoPowered	61,2
7	Kito de Pavant	Groupe Bel	62,5

More information here

Europa Warm-Up website