Tacking, tacking, more tacking for Multi Cup fleet

by Event media on 13 May 2006 For everything there is a season and the surfing season has come to an early halt in the Londres-Alpes Maritime yacht race. A moderate breeze blowing head on means that now it is time to tack. Each time there is a change in wind direction. The leaders are still within sight of one another, Michel Desjoyeaux seeking to pull away from Franck Cammas and Pascal Bidégorry avoids sailing the same tack. Gitana 11 and 12 are still a little offset with no choice but to battle on as far as the Balearics.

Since the Strait of Gibraltar, the Nice bound fleet has no choice but to continue their zig-zag course for at least 200 miles of the 550 remaining. Short head seas are boat breakers for boats like these, and generally give both man and machine a hard time. Both boat and nerves are given quite a shaking.

According to the weather files, a 10-15 knots easterly flow is forecast for today as far as Cape Gata (SE point of Spain), which the first four boats reached mid-morning today.

The next system of wind remains at about 10-15 knots but will be backing NE, so still head on. Nothing much will change until the fleet hits the Balearic Islands where the wind will be falling off altogether. So, still two hundred miles or so of changing tack, the fleet must leave the archipelago to port even if that means covering a greater number of miles than if they were to sail inside the islands. But the weather is just not leaving them with much choice in the matter. There is almost no wind at all off the coast of Spain right now.

However, the boats will be in for a bit of wind on Monday in the Gulf of Lion, not much out to sea though. Lots of tacking in store this weekend and we can expect to see the top three positions changing a lot too (Groupama 2, Banque Populaire IV, Géant), with Gitana 11 not far behind with Gitana 11 hot on her heels. Sopra Group, should be crossing the Strait of Gibraltar this afternoon and making the most of the leaders changes of tack to make up for lost time. For the first time since the start in London, Antoine Koch and his young crew are actually sailing in more favourable conditions that the leaders, which gives the morale a lift!

Throughout the weekend, the position polls will indicate variable distances to the finish, depending largely on the navigators’ ability to choose the right tack. In a steady NE headers, the starboard tack takes them onto a heading of 15° (close to North) and the port tack onto a heading of 105° (close to East) for a direct route over to Nice on a heading of 50-55°. The problem in hand is therefore quite simple. Each time the wind shifts by more than 5°, the boats will have to change tack to stay on track. Temperatures have risen and the sea is choppy. Crews will be heavily solicited from a physical point of view and will be manoeuvring a great deal.

Conditions like this mean having to stay in phase with the variations in wind, otherwise, you can easily lose five miles. At this stage in the race, gaps between the boats will be chopping and changing all the time. Winds are variable in strength and direction depending on whether it is day or nighttime! Expect to see a lot of changes although being in the lead at the Balearic Island sis likely to be a bonus before having to make a run for it through the zone of light air between the Islands and the French coast, no doubt by Monday morning. Not easy and lots of potential for stress.