Veolia Environnement rejoins Barcelona Race

by Event media on 17 Dec 2007 In the wee hours this morning, Veolia Environnement departed from the Kerguelen Islands to rejoin the Barcelona World Race. It was 00:50 GMT when skipper Roland Jourdain slipped his mooring in Port aux Français, to sail out again into the Southern Ocean.

It was a slow beginning as for several hours the boat was sheltered in the lee of the island. But by mid-morning, Veolia Environnement was back up to pace and trying to cut into the advantage held by the leaders. By the 14:00 GMT position report, Veolia Environnement was the fastest boat in the fleet.

The stop was necessary to repair their engine, a critical component in keeping batteries charged and electronics functioning.

Helped by a team of mechanics and technicians, Roland Jourdain and Jean-Luc Nélias worked hard to find the source of the problem: 'Even after working from Friday night, through to Saturday, it still took us seven or eight hours to get the engine started and to recharge its batteries,' co-skipper Nélias explained. 'We then decided to sleep for three hours before setting out again early.we were absolutely exhausted as we'd only been able to sleep for eight hours in total over the past three days.'

They have a monumental task ahead of them as race leader Paprec-Virbac 2 has consolidated its position after a difficult beginning to the weekend. Skipper Jean-Pierre Dick has recovered 30 miles from yesterday to lead Hugo Boss by 150 miles. Veolia is nearly 700 miles further behind.

'Yesterday we were mad, but today we feel a bit better,' acknowledged Jean-Pierre Dick. 'We're using the pilot a little now to try and preserve our energy - there's a long way to go. We just eat, sleep and spend time on deck, only this.'

'We found a good lane, but I expect they'll take some miles back now,' acknowledged Alex Thomson from Hugo Boss this afternoon. And indeed, on the 16:00 position report, Hugo Boss was nearly a full five knots slower than the race leader.

Further back in the fleet, Educación sin Fronteras and Mutua Madrileña are preparing for a powerful low pressure system that is due to hit them in the next two or three days. For today however, they're enjoying good conditions and making some of their best speeds of the race.

Day 36 - December 16, 16:00 GMT - Position report with distance to leader

1. PAPREC-VIRBAC 2 - Jean Pierre DICK / Damian FOXALL - 0
2. HUGO BOSS - Alex THOMSON / Andrew CAPE - 150
3. VEOLIA ENVIRONNEMENT - Roland JOURDAIN / Jean Luc NELIAS - 846
4. TEMENOS 2 - Dominique Wavre / Michele PARET- 1160
5. MUTUA MADRILENA - Javier SANSO / Pachi RIVERO - 1994
6. EDUCACION SIN FRONTERAS - Servane ESCOFFIER / Albert BARGUES - 2688

Abandoned - ESTRELLA DAMM - Guillermo ALTADILL / JONATHAN MCKEE
Abandoned - DELTA DORE - Jérémie BEYOU / Sidney GAVIGNET
Abandoned - PRB - Vincent Riou / Sebastien JOSSE

In Quotes - Jean-Luc Nélias, Veolia Environnement: 'We took this challenge on with the aim of sharing two things: obviously the race itself, which is a long way from over and also to enjoy the adventure side of it, with a capital 'A'! You get that from discovering new places or seeing what surprises nature has in store for you, but you can also enjoy some extraordinary meetings and that's certainly been the case this time.'

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