Stamm finds wind but Safran still leads TJV

by Véronique Guillou (RivaCom) on 6 Nov 2007 Cheminées Poujoulat has finally found some wind. Matching the leading boats tack-for-tack, Bernard Stamm and Tanguy Cariou are now in hot pursuit of Safran. Bernard looks back on a hectic, sometimes complicated, but ultimately successful start to the race.

Having left the becalmed English Channel behind, Bernard Stamm and Tanguy Cariou have finally found some real wind in the Bay of Biscay, and by mid-afternoon, Cheminées Poujoulat was making 13 knots under spinnaker as part of the leading group.

'The wind is coming back bit by bit, which is great', says Bernard Stamm. 'We're now in the ocean proper and no longer under the influence of the tidal stream; a stream that has messed around with us over the last couple of days. In the Raz Blanchard, Cheminées Poujoulat was going wherever the tidal stream took her. The little wind we did have was in the other direction, and was cancelled out by the wind created by our movement on the tide (apparent streamwind, ed.). Things were also complicated at Ushant. We'd planned to round the tip of Brittany through the Le Four channel between Ushant and Le Conquet, but the sea and the tide forced us northwest of Ushant.'

These conditions demand total unbroken concentration. 'This introductory section has been very concentrated. These light airs mean you have to get into the race very quickly. Anyone who doesn't get in there is immediately buried.'

And Bernard and Tanguy have been able to be 'get in there'. Since leaving Le Havre, Cheminées Poujoulat has been in constant contact with new boats like Gitana Eighty, Groupe Bel and Generali.

'We're happy, because we don't need to worry about speed. In light airs and medium-strength downwind conditions, we're on an equal footing with the more modern boats. For the time being, the whole fleet is on a westerly tack to escape a ridge of high pressure heading towards us. We now have to focus on identifying the precise moment when we'll make the gybe that'll take us south.'

Bernard Stamm and Tanguy Cariou are pretty happy with the start they've made, tinged with just the slightest regret that they didn't have enough time to tweak the boat to their liking. 'The boat is fantastic, but Cheminées Poujoulat needs a bit more fine-tuning to make her 100%. For example, we could really do with a second tack position on the spinnaker pole. Not having it means we can't make spinnaker-in-spinnaker changes. It's this kind of detail that costs energy, time and crucial boat
lengths. But we plan to sort all of that as soon as we're back in Europe.'

Currently seventh, Cheminées Poujoulat is right there in the pack, chasing Safran, the breakaway boat at this early stage of the Transat Jacques Vabre.