WOW Cap Istanbul 4th leg - Lobato leads at Samos gate

by WOW Cap Istanbul/Sail-World.com on 9 Oct 2010 The fourth leg of the WOW Cap Istanbul race is the 185 miles from Didim to Bozcaada. Samos, Khios and Lesbos islands to the east of the Aegian will serve as marks for the leg.

The fleet made a good start. Francisco Lobato (Roff Tempo Team), Eric Drouglazet (Luisina) and Mikaël Mergui (TPM Hyères) left the start line pretty well. Jeanne Grégoire (Banque Populaire), Sébastien Josse (Vendée) and Gildas Morvan (Cercle Vert) chose to hug the starboard of the course.

The northern winds are increasingly difficult, the temperature is rapidly falling, the cheerful and eager expressions on the racers faces are quickly turning into worried and tense ones. As they consider the challenges awaiting them, the solo racers of the WOW Cap Istanbul fleet are beginning to put on sour faces. Concentration and endurance will be the two crucial assets for the Didim-Bozcaada leg.

As the northern winds get stronger, the size of the waves and the effect of the showers on the sails are putting a real strain on the racers. The last minute preparations were all for strong weather. The weather reports were examined, the equipment was checked one last time. There is no place for luck on this leg.

Some expect this tough race to turn to their advantage. Who knows, if the favourites are left behind, others might have a chance to improve their ranking. So the racers will give their complete attention to find opportunities to get ahead. At the same time some sailors choose to stay quiet. They are the ones who like the storm. They keep their strategies of how to survive stormy weather to themselves.

This much is certain, none of them are eager to face strong headwinds. But there is no other way. The course is clear, the weather conditions are evident. The race committee suggests this to be a low performance race where the fleet keeps together. Because it won't be easy to keep track of all of them in 40-knot winds. Besides it is likely that unneccessary risks may create undesired results, so they have to be just as careful as the racers.

Francisco Lobato (Roff Tempo Team) was polite enough to give the bouquet of flowers he received for placing second in the Athens-Didim leg to one of the ladies working for the race organisation. He is such a gentlemanly player that he respects and appreciates the achievements of others, especially François Gabart (Skipper Macif 2010) who snatched the victory off of his hands in the final seconds of the last leg.

Once they cross the start, this sociable and civilised manner will become much more aggressive. In fact this is exactly what's been happening - masterfully rising against 30-35 knot winds, peeling away from his rivals and turning the mark before anyone else.

In spite of his rivals' proficient skills, it didn't take long for Lobato to leave the fleet behind. It seems obvious that Portuguese Lobato's name will be much talked about in Figaro Bénéteau class.

As for the others... It's hard to say their performance is as bright as Francisco's. Jean-Pierre Nicol (Bernard Controls) had to withdraw from the leg due to a technical problem on his boat, even before the start procedures were complete. Jean-Pierre will try to catch up with the race at Gelibolu start. Eric Péron (Skipper Macif 2009) was not able to keep up his performance after a strong start. After three attempts at solving the problem of a fuse popping out of its tap, he finally managed to put it together but by then he was behind the rest of the fleet.

But still, it's a long way to Bozcaada.

The fleet passed the Samos gate sailing into the wind.

The ranking is:

1. Roff Tempo Team (Francisco Lobato)
2. Cercle Vert (Gildas Morvan)
3. Banque Populaire (Jeanne Grégoire)
4. Espoir Région Bretagne (Anthony Marchand)
5. TPM Hyères (Mikaël Mergui)
6. Senoble (Arnaud Godart-Philippe)
7. Skipper Macif 2010 (François Gabart)
8. Vendée (Sébastien Josse)

Jean-Pierre Nicol (Bernard Controls) announced that he will withdraw from the race after a mishap in his equipment he encountered in the first few minutes of the fourth leg. Nicol reported to the race committee that he will return to the marina.

It's been established that one of the diagonals on his boat has been broken and he had to withdraw from the race. After repairing his boat, the skipper of Bernard Controls will use his motor to get to Bozcaada for the final leg.

Jean-Pierre Nicol is in 17th place in the general ranking.

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