Battle rages in Open 60's Transat Jacques Vabre

by Offshore Challenges on 18 Nov 2005 Through the night and today, the two leading Open 60s Sill et Veolia and Virbac-Paprec have been locked in a close and fraught battle for first place in the two-handed Transat Jacques Vabre 4,340 mile race. Sailing in a south-easterly breeze of around 25 knots with a TWA (True Wind Angle) just forward of the beam at around 80 degrees, the boat speeds are high on this point sail averaging around 15 knots.

The battle has been raging for days but the tension is reaching its peak as the two teams of Roland Jourdain and Ellen MacArthur on Sill et Veolia and Jean-Pierre Dick on Virbac-Paprec get closer to the Brazilian coastline where the ‘Last Chance Saloon’ awaits...

Jourdain and MacArthur will be hoping that the final 350-mile stretch of this race along the Brazilian coastline to the finish port of Salvador de Bahia, will give them their final reprieve. Sailing closer to the land will effect the current stable conditions found in the South-Easterly Trade Winds – offshore of Recife (currently 100 miles away) tomorrow night the winds will start to rotate into the east and once passed Recife could turn further into the north-east. Combined with the thermal effects caused by the difference in the land and sea temperatures, the breeze can at times become patchy both in strength and direction. If Sill et Veolia can get passed Virbac-Paprec this will be the time.

For now, Dick and Peyron’s Open 60 is faster than Sill et Veolia – not only does she sport a taller rig (thereby increasing her sail area) but the current wind angle is suiting her perfectly allowing her to sail at times 3 knots faster. At every position report since 0300 GMT this morning, Virbac-Paprec keeps pulling away by another mile or two.

Jourdain and MacArthur are going to have to sail out of their socks to hang on to this ‘rocket ship’, at least until they are within sight of land. Other possible scenarios are if Sill et Veolia can stay further to the east for longer than Virbac-Paprec, on a faster point of sail, or take a radical option to stay well offshore until the final possible moment but then they will be sailing a slightly longer course and will ultimately let their rival out of their sights. However, desperate times sometimes call for desperate measures.

Whatever the outcome, the winning boat, barring any disaster, looks set to smash the current monohull course record of 16 days, 13 hours and 23 minutes set by Roland Jourdain onboard the old Sill in 2001. Arrival before 0323 GMT on Saturday (19.11.05) will see an incredible three days stripped off the current record time.

OPEN 60 MONOHULL POSITIONS 1500 GMT 17/11/05:

1. VIRBAC-PAPREC 431.2 miles to finish
2. SILL ET VEOLIA / +28 miles
3. BONDUELLE / +97.6 miles
4. ECOVER / +153.6 miles
5. SKANDIA / +197.5 miles