Will Crèpes Whaou! be first to in Bahia in TJV?

by Rivacom on 19 Nov 2007 The wind finally veered south-east for the front runners Imoca, allowing the skippers to ease the sails and switch from heading to reaching. They eased the ropes to release the horsepower of the boats, hitting 14/15 knots!

As the wind is building, the benefit of this fresh air went to the four leaders of the class that jumped on this occasion to dig the gap with their pursuers. However two things could still modify the rankings: the ability of VM Materiaux to reach the Recife way point without tacking, and the weather conditions along the Brazilian coast. These two things could be the gateway that ultimately shakes up the top seven ranking of the Imoca Class. Crèpes Whaou! should arrive within two days in Bahia ahead of the first Imoca?

MONOHULLS Imoca and Class 40

The wind veered and built to the benefit of Foncia who increased her advance on Cheminéés Poujoulat, who is digging the gap with Safran and so on. As VM Materiaux is in a different sailing configuration (more at the North West and closer to the wind) she cannot be included in the lot.

At the moment after a few hours of sailing in these conditions the numbers are showing that Safran is 'containing' Foncia's acceleration and is faster than Cheminées Poujoulat. At 4:00 pm poll Marc Guillemot had even reduced his deficit on Safran by 6 miles (Cheminées Poujoulat closed her deficit on the leader by only 3 miles). The sea is fuming in front of the bows of the boats!

At the audio session today, Sébastien Col (Groupe Bel) had an identical comment on Ecover's speed potential, mentioning he thought that the wind conditions could be different as they could be stronger ahead.

In the next few hours VM Matériaux will be under close watch. If she has to tack then she leaves the door open for someone else to grab fourth place but who? Or...will the Brazilian coast be the next race gateway that will redistribute the cards? As they approach the coasts the skippers will meet shifty conditions (the wind strength and direction along the coast is variable with gales and calms to deal with). Mike Golding said today that till there they would have no other option to close in.

A bit further in the ranking Generali (ninth) is coming out of the doldrums with only a seven mile deficit to Gitana Eighty whilst Roxy is now in tenth. She is 17 miles behind now and on the hunt of Yann Elies's boat.

Aviva, some 600 miles behind the leader Foncia, is now going through the doldrums accompanied by lightening and gales looking ahead to gain miles on Akena Verandas (or not losing any) and watching Cervin EnR position to be able to cover her.

Novedia Set Environnement bows have hooked sixth since this morning (Appart City in fifth – is not polled at 4 p.m.). Tanguy and Nick did a great job nibbling mile after mile on the competitors in front of them, they just passed 40 degrees choosing to go into the Cape Verde Islands and are clearly now aiming for Appart City. ATAO Audio System crunched Chocolats Monbana to take second.

For all competitors (if no weather option is at hand) the challenge is standing in and managing perfectly the wind variations, displaying perfect manoeuvers and making the most of the boat which means paying attention to the tiniest detail. It can go as far as dealing with a few inches of rope and see the speedometer gain a tenth of a mile.

Twenty eight of the 26 boats in Class 40 are seeking to put more west in their route as they descend in north-easterly winds toward the doldrums. However at least two are separating from the pack. Sidaction who passed into the Cape Verde Islands is definitely pushing to the west rather than heading South, and Pindar 40 who has pointed her bows slightly to the east of the rest of the fleet. Since they know that they will not find any output in following the pack Jo and Alexia are choosing their own path.

Telecom Italia is still controlling her pursuers with a lead of 69 miles (4 p.m.). They are all seeking the best point of entrance to the potential knock-out zone which they should reach in 24 hours.

Will the cats be able to catch up with the mouse?

MULTIHULLS 50 footer

Back with a huge miles deficit (280 miles at 4:00pm) is Laiterie de St Malo who is having a hard time getting out of the doldrums whilst Crèpes Whaou! is happily reaching at 15 knots (with slides at up to 22 knots). The leader is on a direct route to the arrival line in well established south-easterly trade winds. At the rear, Croisières Anne Caseneuve is entering the doldrums while Nim Interim Management is closing the road of the Imoca 60 class. Négoceane sails along with Telecom Italia.

Mike Golding – Ecover
'The conditions have been quite steady in the last 24 hours so we have 16/17 knots breeze from the SE and slowly the wind is veering and building. Well at the moment because it is straight downwind there is little we can do we are just trying to maintain the speed and see what is up on the coast. It seems that the boats ahead are getting much more pressure, so there is a big gap developping with thoses boats. But there could be some compression again when we get to the coast. There are not many options till we get to the shore. We are sailing under mainsail and solent. We're doing okey with the food. Water is not a problem. The only problem is the engine. Just looking forward to getting to the shore.

Nigel King - Aviva
'We've been pretty busy for the last 24h with a lot of sails changes with very light patches and quite a lot of rain and winds from all points of the compas. We've had a big storm over for the last three or four hours and big winds of 25 knots. At the moment we are under spinnaker and we've got ten knots of winds just from the north of east under a clear sky. We've both been up for most of the night so Dee is driving at the moment and I am going to take over but I think we're going to be busy this night also with sails changes.

'For the next 24 hours we are aiming to try and close the gap with Akena Verandas. Cervin EnR is only a few miles behind us so we need to make sure we keep some distance for the next 24h and get to the South as fast as possible to get clear of the doldrums and get into the gradient
southeasterly trade winds.

'We are talking throught the weather situations, we fortunately agree most of the time. We're kind of on the same path when it comes to what we think we should do. It has been frustrating on certain occasions, but that's what sailing is all about and that's how you learn. But we are still close to the two boats we were seeking to be close to so there is still a long way to go and a chance to get some good results. I am hoping we will be out of the doldrums tonight or tomorrow morning at the latest and we can do some proper sailing!

'We left the dock with not enough food that's for sure but I would not survive if we had not enough food onboard...we ran out of treats but everything else is OK I think.'

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