The Bridge Centennial Transat – British sailor reveals change of tack

by The Bridge on 28 Jun 2017 Samantha Davies, the only British sailor racing in The Bridge Centennial Transat revealed that the race between the Queen Mary 2 and four of the greatest trimarans in the world will be unforgettable for her in more ways than one.

As the crowds lined the harbour walls of St Nazaire – and the decks of the QM2, to see the boats cross the start line, Davies, the navigator on board the 30 metre-long trimaran, Actual, and the four other crew, had to perform a last minute manoeuvre to avoid being run over by their vast rival.

“At the time we didn’t have time to take the whole thing in,” said Davies, one of Britain’s best sailors but adopted by France, where she has long-lived and honed her trade. “It’s actually quite stressful sailing these machines in a very confined space, because the big trimarans are more designed to be sent across the Atlantic than short tack in a river with a huge liner. We had quite a close call with them just off the start line and had to tack with a bit urgency to get a way from being run down by the Queen Mary. It was quite stressful but a once in a lifetime experience and I don’t think I’ll ever forget that.”

Now in the fourth day of the race, the QM2, which is more than halfway to New York, has disappeared far over the horizon on as the trimarans battle with upwind conditions and the crew with the correspondingly tough living conditions. “We were jumping waves and the movement is pretty violent,” Davies said, “so trying to get any kind of sleep is tricky because you just get thrown out of your bunk. They’re noisy and there’s a lot of vibration as well. There’s not much respite but luckily we go quite fast so it doesn’t last for long.

“It’s pretty interesting and funny to have the Queen Mary on our race report screen. We can see them hooning across the Atlantic at 24-25 knots in a nice straight line and every time I look at their position on the chart I think about all the people in their nice comfy beds eating nice meals in the restaurant.”

The QM2 could probably spare one or two of its 146 chefs, but the trimarans will have to close the gap of 500 miles first. After the strong northwesterlies that saw them begin to fly at up to 35 knots yesterday, they were upwind in lighter westerlies on Wednesday. At the 16:00 ranking (French time), MACIF (François Gabart) had retaken the lead from IDEC Sport (Francis Joyon), with both making under 20 knots. Sodebo (Thomas Colville) has closed the gap in third place by 10 miles to 70 miles. All three have now tacked north.

Actual, still reaching in norhtwesterlies, was the fastest of the four, averaging 20 knots and had reduced the gap to the leader to under 200 miles. But Davies revealed that despite knowing their rivals were in the faster boats it was hard to seeing them go. “It’s tough on Actual because we’re the slowest boat of the four and we can see the other boats sailing away from us right now,” she said. “We knew that was going to happen so it’s not a surprise, but that doesn’t change the morale on board.”

Meanwhile, for the QM2, which will arrive on Wednesday night at the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, famous for their fishing and dense fog, conditions could not be better. “Smooth seas and not much swell, so, not favourable conditions for our competitors, but perfect conditions for us,” QM2’s Captain Chris Wells noted during his midday announcement, before adding that at 06:00 (French time) the QM2 will pass 175 miles north of where the Titanic sank in April 1912.