Skandia skips away as Hellomoto becalmed
by Offshore Challenges on 11 Jun 2004
After eleven days of intense sailing, twenty-four of The Transat 2004 competitors have yet to finish the world’s premier, single-handed transatlantic race.
Last night Giovanni Soldini crossed the Boston finish line to take eighth place after a frustrating few final hours crawling along at 3 knots, followed by Philippe Monnet on Sopra Group three hours later.
The third and final wave of ORMA 60ft trimarans are spread over 354 miles west/east, with Gitana XI (Fred le Peutrec) at the front, 194 miles from the finish, trailed by Banque Covefi (Steve Ravussin) 171 miles astern and slightly to the north, with Yves Parlier on catamaran, Mediatis Region Aquitaine, furthest south - a little under 550 miles from Boston.
The front-running IMOCA 60ft monohulls are all around 500 miles from the finish; Mike Golding (Ecover) continues to lead the fleet west 34 miles ahead of Dominic Wavre (Temenos).
Overnight, Swiss skipper Wavre – the most southerly of the front pack – leapt into second place in front of Mike Sanderson (Pindar AlphaGraphics) and is currently 11 miles ahead of the New Zealander.
Sanderson chose to reveal the loss of his starboard daggerboard early yesterday and this is now clearly beginning to affect the yacht’s performance. Pindar AlphaGraphics shattered her daggerboard a week ago – a structural failure, rather than a collision with an object – in extreme conditions during what has become known as The Virbac Storm amongst skippers alluding to the 360° roll and dismasting suffered by Jean-Pierre Dick, the monohull’s skipper.
With this damage in mind, it is a testament to Sanderson’s drive and skill that he has managed to keep pace with the blistering performance delivered by Golding.
Behind the leading three 60ft monohulls the second knot of Open 60s is lead by Nick Moloney (Skandia), currently 77 miles ahead of Conrad Humphreys (Hellomoto).
Humphreys reports that he has been becalmed for eight hours and will now be hunting for the next weather pattern to keep Moloney in sight.
To the south of Humphreys, about 70 miles further east, French monohulls Pro-Form (Marc Thiercelin) and UUDS (Herve Laurent) are in seventh and eighth position, close together and continuing their chase of the Anglo-Swiss-Kiwi-Australian leaders.
In the 50ft multihull class, Trilogic (Eric Bruneel) has increased his lead over second place GiFi (Dominique Demachy) to 196 miles during the night and Great American II (Rich Wilson), in third place, is keeping pace with Demachy’s cruising catamaran. Meanwhile, the 50ft monohull, all-American leadership struggle continues as Joe Harris (Wells Fargo – American Pioneer), to the south, has lost 30 miles overnight to Kip Stone (Artforms); now leading the class by 59 miles with 865 miles to the finish line in Boston.
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