Sail-World.com : Gitana Eighty dominates, Gitana 13 Asian Tour
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Gitana Eighty dominates, Gitana 13 Asian Tour |
Yesterday’s speed runs gave way this Sunday to a long coastal course off Douarnenez and then the Iroise Sea. In the capricious airs which marked this third day of the Grand Prix Petit Navire, Gitana Eighty’s crew dominated proceedings in today's 54 mile race.
Author of a good start at the foot of the Rosmeur port jetty, Loïck Peyron and his men rapidly took control of the fleet of Imoca monohulls. The lead acquired during the very first stretch of the course was to remain undefeated throughout the coastal course. At around 1700 hours, Gitana Eighty crossed the lined followed by Safran and then Foncia.
'Once again this course was an opportunity to put Gitana Eighty to the test in some varied wind configurations: upwind, reaching… The wind progressively filled in throughout the day and we had up to 18 knots. At the end, we were slightly over-canvassed but that enabled us to see how our new mast performed under a bit of pressure. It was a great warm-up. The crew was essentially comprised of members of the Gitana Team, which was particularly important given that this season will be predominantly 'single-handed' so there won't be many opportunities to sail together' reasoned the skipper of Gitana Eighty.
Tomorrow windy conditions are forecast in Douarnenez Bay.
The crew of Gitana Eighty: Loïck Peyron (skipper), Jean-Baptiste Levaillant, Cyril Dardashti, Antoine Mermod, William Fabulet and Didier Le Vourch'
The monohull Safran obtained the best time in the speed runs by just a few seconds… 11 minutes and 46 seconds for Marc Guillemot and his crew, whilst Loïck Peyron and his men completed an equivalent sprint in a time of 11 minutes and 58 seconds: 'The 12 seconds separating Gitana Eighty from Safran hinged on the start. In the end, we covered the compulsory 3 miles at an average of 15.04 knots. A fine average given that the wind sadly proved to be rather shy. Besides the performance, the day was interesting on a technical level as it enabled us to continue with adjustments to our new mast, as well as honing the preparation of Gitana Eighty just a few days from the start of The Transat' declared Loïck Peyron on Saturday evening on his return to the port of Rosmeur.
Gitana 13 ready for Asian Tour
In a few days time, Lionel Lemonchois and his men will bid farewell to Japan to continue with their 2008 record campaign. The next stopover for the maxi-catamaran equipped by Baron Benjamin de Rothschild is the town of Dalian, 1,432 miles away in China.
Sylvain Mondon (Météo France) details the weather scenario required to set off on this latest record attempt: 'To leave Tokyo Bay in optimum conditions, we're after E to SE’ly winds, which could be generated by a low climbing up from the S or SW in a similar fashion to the low encountered by Gitana 13 during its arrival in Japan. The goal is essentially to set off on this course with some sufficiently regular downwind conditions, ideally in excess of 25 knots. If these conditions come together, Gitana 13 may be able to minimise the number of manœuvres and thus make Dalian in three or four days.'
In 2006, the English sailor, Ellen MacArthur, raced a similar circuit to that of Gitana 13. Over certain destinations, Lionel Lemonchois and his crew will be able to attack the time set by the skipper of B&Q (a 22.9 metre trimaran).
Gitana 13’s Asian stopovers: Dalian, Qingdao (China), Taipei (Taiwan), Hong Kong, Macao (administrative regions with a special status in China).
Gitana 13's records
North Pacific Crossing (San Francisco – Yokohama):
Record broken: 11 days 12 minutes 55 seconds, improving on the reference time set by Olivier de Kersauson and his crew (Geronimo) by over 3 days.
Record held since 9th April 2008.
Route de l’Or (New York – San Francisco, via Cape Horn):
Record broken: 43 days 3 minutes 18 seconds (time approved by the WSSRC), improving on the reference time set by Yves Parlier by over 14 days.
Record held since 28th February 2008.
http://www.gitana-team.com/
by Gitana Team media
1:33 PM Mon 28 Apr 2008 GMT
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