Vendee St-Petersburg - Light winds and a change of leader

by Vendee St-Petersburg on 6 Jun 2010
Vendee St-Petersburg leg two latest report.

There has been a change at the front of the fleet, as the crew of Actual has taken over from Crêpes Whaou ! 3. A small strategic move and slightly higher speeds downwind allowed Yves Le Blévec to gain control from Franck-Yves Escoffier. Behind, those chasing after them have made up a few miles without any real hope of upsetting the rankings. But as far as fourth place is concerned, everything is still to play for.

A short moment of disappointment this morning on Crêpes Whaou ! 3 … For several days, Franck-Yves Escoffier and his crew simply had to accept what was happening. Each day, their closest rival clawed back a few of the miles they had lost in the Baltic around the island of Gotland. Yesterday evening, the leading crew were able to make out the sails of the boat just behind them. A smart tactical move, a little extra speed and Yves le Blévec grabbed the lead in the fleet. No counting their chickens quite yet however: the weather conditions that lie ahead in the race are extremely unpredictable with a high-pressure area trying to take over the English Channel. The forecasts from Météo France seem to suggest that passing the tip of the Cherbourg Peninsula is going to be tricky. All this means that uncertainty rules concerning the ETA for the first boats in Saint-Gilles Croix de Vie. While pessimistic forecasts are suggesting Sunday afternoon, the majority seem to think we could see the first boats home late on Saturday evening or early on Saturday night.

Go placidly
Fighting for fourth place, Lalou Roucayrol (Région Aquitaine Port-Médoc) is warding off what seem like random attacks from those behind him. After Erwan le Roux (FenêtréA cardinal), it is now Anne Caseneuve (Naviguez Anne Caseneuve) who is taking up arms to launch an offensive. Pierre Hingant’s crew (La mer révèle nos sens) has chosen a highly risky option. Knowing too well that they will find it difficult to compete with their opponents, the trio has chosen to move off westwards from the direct route, hoping that this investment will reap its rewards in the coming hours. A bold strategy, which corresponds totally to the temperament of a crew, which since the start of the race has chosen to go their own way. Will they pull it off this time or will they burn their wings? We shall find out more tomorrow.

Further back still, Hervé Cléris and his crew (CLM) have just rounded the tip of Denmark. The crew of PiR2 are waiting patiently. The aluminium boat, which is showing its age, and the arrangements on board are sometimes not really compatible with the quest for performance, such as the 200 kilos of anchors on board, which can only hinder their performance. But Etienne Hochédé knows that he has a boat that can take him all around the world, if he needs to… and he has the determination to complete what he has begun, whatever happens.

From the boats

Yves Le Blévec (Actual): 'It’s true that the rankings this morning cheered us up. A good start to the day. Considering what lies ahead, we know that it’s far from over. At the moment, we’re achieving a better angle than Crêpes Whaou, but we know that the voyage down the Channel is going to be tricky. We took advantage of the wind easing off to get some rest. We all got some sleep, so are in good shape to tackle the Straits of Dover.'

Erwan Le Roux (FenêtréA Cardinal): 'All is well and we’re on the attack. We’re still moving forward at twelve to thirteen knots. It looks like there will be four of us setting off in a race together in a few hours; I think Lalou will stop us getting ahead. But the fight isn’t over yet. I feel that it’s going to be some time yet and it looks like being difficult in the Channel with some thunder conditions. So it’s going to be far from smooth sailing.'

Pierre Hingant (La mer révèle nos sens): 'We’re getting tons of messages from our friends and from Philippe (Laperche). Yesterday evening, we weren’t feeling very relaxed and we could see all our friends were wondering what was happening. It’s funny, as for us, we weren’t giving up whatever happened. Our boat doesn’t like these medium conditions. Our boat is suited to light conditions or very strong winds. We tried to do something about it last night and this morning, it was a bit of a surprise, as we were just downwind of Erwan and Anne’s boats. You can imagine how happy we were.'

Positions in the 1400 hrs rankings GMT
- 1 Actual (Y Le Blévec) 508.8 miles from the finish
- 2 Crêpes Whaou ! 3 (FY Escoffier) 29.5 miles from the leader
- 3 Crêpes Whaou ! 2 (L Féquet) 126 miles from the leader
- 4 Région Aquitaine Port-Médoc (L Roucayrol) 369.6 miles from the leader
- 5 Naviguez Anne Caseneuve (A Caseneuve) 378.5 miles from the leader
- 6 FenêtréA-Cardinal (E Le Roux) 386.9 miles from the leader
- 7 La mer révèle nos sens (P Hingant) 398.4 miles from the leader
- 8 CLM (H Cléris) 452.6 miles from the leader
- 9 p R2 (E Hochédé) 567.4 miles from the leader

For more information please visit: www.vendee-saintpetersbourg.org