The Maxi-Cat Orange with bare poles in the Southern Ocean

by Pierrick Garenne / Mer & Média Agency on 24 Mar 2002 The Indian Ocean remains true to form. Winds of 45, 50 then 55 knots faced the maxi-catamaran Orange overnight as she came close to speeds of 40 knots in some of the surfs. The amount of canvas up depended largely on the wind god.

Breaking waves submerge the cockpits, big dipper type waves, the winds whistle and sea spray stings our facesƒWelcome to the Roaring Forties !

We'll not forget
Friday-Saturday night in a hurry. It's not every day you
find yourself under bare poles on a 34 metre boat. «
Even crew who have done The Race have never seen
that before, said Bruno during the radio chat session.
We only shortened sail gradually. One reef in the main,
then two, three until finally there was nothing left at allƒ
Same thing with the foresails. None of this stopped us
from making 20 knots with just the mast ! What surprised us most of all was the force of the
sea. Some of the series of waves really were best avoided. We managed to have a life raft
torn away from the aft beam overnight ! ». In other words, imagine a wave as high as a thee
storey building catching up with you from behind, picking you up and carrying you in a surf
for a while, as knowing that how it all works out in the end, depends on the helmsman's
concentration. « Easier said than done comments Bruno. We can see the wave coming
about 500-700 metres off. We take avoiding action, which turns out not to work and we find
ourselves at the foot of a wall of water. Speed, no speed, go through it, cut across it ? You
have to make your mind up quickly. Once you have decided what you're going to do, there's
no going back on it. You're generally in for a wet, violent downhill ride. With no guarantee as
to how you're going to land.' That's what is known as a surf, performed on a 20-ton boat
which looks pretty much like a cork on the surface of the ocean. « I've never sailed down
waves so fast, added Gilles Chiorri. The speedometer had freaked but we must have been
doing not far off 40 knots in those surfs ! Right now, with our ski goggles on, we look more
like characters out of Star Wars than sailors ! ».

Luckily, during the daily radio chat session, the deepest part of the low had passed over
and the wind had 'fallen' to a SW 30 knots. Orange had two reefs in her main and her
staysail up, and the waves were still large. The wind should remain S/SW at 30 knots and
should lessen before Monday.

Quote-Unquote :

Bruno Peyron : « Florent (Chastel) has got a lot of shut-eye and is much better. He really
wanted to get up but Vlad (Dzalda Lyndis) and Benoît (Briand) insisted that he stay in bed.
Anyway, they're stronger than he is ƒ (laughs). This morning he's been for a quick run round
the grounds and is really very much better now ! ».

Bruno Peyron continued : « Don't forget to keep your fingers crossed for the French rugby
team this afternoon. Tell them that we're thinking of them ! ».

Nick Moloney (in French) : « C'est « completely » superbe à la barre* ! ». [*at the helm]

Gilles Chiorri : « I don't think the situation is going to change much. We're now in the tail
end of the low. We mustn't be overtaken by it — we have to get away from this system.
This should take us east towards the Kerguelen Islands (lying about 1300 miles off at
13h00).