8:43 PM Sun 1 Nov 2009 GMT
The La Solidaire du Chocolat fleet, after one week at sea, were approaching the Azores. Race leaders, Tanguy de Lamotte and Adrien Hardy on Initiatives-Novedia were just 15 miles east of the remote archipelago's southernmost island, Santa Maria, on Sunday 25th October.
All the fleet were eyeing a Low Pressure system located 480 miles NNW of the Azores and while the more southerly group would escape the worst of the headwinds, the northern group, led by Thierry Bouchard and Oliver Krauss on Pole Sante Elior-Mistral Loisirs in second place and trailing the leader by 50 miles would have a tougher time, while Stephen Card and Shaun Murphy furthest north in 9th place on ORBIS would have the toughest day ahead.
By Tuesday 27th October, the Low Pressure system had shifted east leaving Tanguy de Lamotte and Adrien Hardy on Initiatives-Novedia with a 55 mile margin over Damien Seguin and Armel Tripon on Cargill-MTTM in second. Meanwhile, 120 miles west of the Azores, Thierry Bouchard and Oliver Krauss in third place on Pole Sante Elior-Mistral Loisirs and Giovanni Soldini and Pietro d'Ali in fourth on Telecom Italia held the windward station in the northern group, remaining in the strongest breeze making fractionally better speeds than the more southerly boats.
The group of three boats opting for the southern route were approaching the Canary Islands where conditions were calmer, but no less stressful with the Franco-Italian duo of David Consorte and Aubry Arnaud on Adriatech in 13th place just south of the Canaries on Tuesday morning, while Erik Nigon and Marc Jouany on Axa Atout Coeur Pour Aides in 14th place opted to leave the Canary Islands to starboard with Mike West and Paul Worswick on Keysource yet to commit to tackling the island group, working south along the coast of Morocco. Midday on Tuesday, news came through to the race office that Thierry Bouchard and Oliver Krauss on Pole Sante Elior-Mistral Loisirs - one of the hotly-tipped boats in the race - were retiring from the race and heading for Horta in the Azores under motor with profound failure to their yacht's mast track.
On the morning of Wednesday 28th October, the northern group were recovering from a cold front delivering winds of 30 knots plus and as the front passed, Soldini and D'Ali in the west were the first boat to tack back south-west on Telecom Italia, dramatically closing down the lead held by Initiatives-Novedia with the Italian duo holding 2nd place, under two miles behind Tanguy de Lamotte and Adrien Hardy and averaging nine knots. Opting for the west proved wise for Bruno Jourdren and Bernard Stamm on Chemin?es Poujoulat who moved up the 3rd having left the cold front and trailed Initiatives-Novedia by 26 miles early on Wednesday. East of the fleet's main body, the two Class40s isolated due to pit-stops in Spain and Portugal had split with Patrice Carpentier and Victor Maldonado on Cr?dit Maritime in 13th place taking a more northerly route towards the Azores, while Yves Eclaret and Lionel Regnier sailed a more south-westerly course in 15th place on Vale Inco Nouvelle Cal?donie.
Meanwhile, the trio of boats taking the southern route were still in search of the non-existent breeze, with David Consorte and Aubry Arnaud leading on Adriatech and Erik Nigon and Marc Jouany on Axa Atout Coeur Pour Aides sailing in light, following breeze along the African Continental shelf, 90 miles off the coast of Morocco. While these two boats were already south of the Canary Islands, the British duo of Mike West and Paul Worswick on Keysource were still sailing between the islands and the African coast.
By the morning of Thursday 29th October, Giovanni Soldini and Pietro d'Ali, on Telecom Italia had taken the lead, extending over Tanguy de Lamotte and Adrien Hardy on Initiatives-Novedia by 35 miles overnight and holding a lead of 51 miles. Heading south-west, a little under 400 miles south-west of the Azores on Thursday morning, Soldini and d'Ali were averaging the highest speed in the fleet at nine knots in westerly breeze of around 16 knots, while de Lamotte and Hardy, further south-east than the Italians, were in stronger breeze in the region of 21 knots, but from the south-west, forcing the French duo upwind averaging eight knots. Strung between the race leaders in a zone of fractionally lighter breeze, Bruno Jourdren and Bernard Stamm on Chemin?es Poujoulat in 3rd trail and Damien Seguin and Armel Tripon in 4th onboard Cargill-MTTM were separated by just five miles with Jourdren and Stamm breathing down the neck of 2nd place Initiatives-Novedia only 15 miles in front on the race leaderboard.
For the northern boats in the fleet, conditions were forecast to be relatively calm throughout Thursday, but the entire group were watching the development of yet another Low Pressure system 1,300 miles to the west. Centred 300 miles off the coast of North America at 35?S - north of the fleet's latitude - the system was forecast to drop south and rip eastwards, straight into the path of the northern group of ten Class40s, spinning south-westerly headwinds of around 30 knots through the fleet and delivering the sixth upwind battering the boats were to encounter since leaving St. Nazaire 11 days earlier.
On the morning of Friday 30th October, the Low Pressure system was located approximately 480 miles west of the northern group of 11 Class40s south of the Azores as the pack continued to drop down through the North Atlantic away from the depression's track. Giovanni Soldini and Pietro d'Ali on Telecom Italia held the right hand side of the race course making 7.2 knots early in the morning, 61 miles ahead of Tanguy de Lamotte and Adrien Hardy in 2nd on Initiatives-Novedia, furthest south in the northern group and making the pack's best speed at just over nine knots. Taking the middle course between Telecom Italia and Initiatives-Novedia, Damien Seguin and Armel Tripon in 3rd onboard Cargill-MTTM and Bruno Jourdren and Bernard Stamm on Chemin?es Poujoulat in 4th were sailing side-by-side, separated by just a handful of miles with Joudren's Class40 the most southerly while the role of second place was heavily in contention with Initiatives-Novedia, Cargill-MTTM and Chemin?es Poujoulat separated by under 10 miles on the leaderboard.
North of the front pack, British skipper, Tim Wright, and his Australian co-skipper, Nicko Brennan moved into 5th place overnight onboard Sail4Cancer and held a 46 mile lead over the Finnish duo of Jouni Romppanen and Sam ?hman on Tieto in 6th. Trailing the Finns by a little under 40 miles, Peter Harding and Miranda Merron on 40 Degrees held 7th place with a 36 mile lead over Felipe Cubillos and Daniel Bravo Silva in 8th onboard Desafio Cabo de Hornos. Stricken with recurrent mainsail damage 146 miles north of the Chilean team, Jacques Fournier and Jean-Edouard Criquioche on Groupe Picoty were in 9th place, making the slowest speed average in the northern group of yachts at 5.2 knots. For the southern group, the Trade Winds finally arrived and the transatlantic race began in earnest for the three boats with Erik Nigon and Marc Jouany on Axa Atout Coeur Pour Aides in 15th place reporting 15 knots of north-easterly breeze. Leading the southern group in 13th place, David Consorte and Aubry Arnaud on Adriatech were also in the breeze making 10.1 knots, while Mike West and Paul Worswick on Keysource in 16th place - approximately 60 miles south of the Canary Islands - polled the fleet's highest speed at 10.7 knots.
On Saturday 31st October, The breeze finally turned southerly for the northern group after a total of six, brutal, upwind storms and on early on Sunday morning, Tanguy de Lamotte and Adrien Hardy on Initiatives-Novedia took the lead, building a 20 mile advantage over Giovanni Soldini and Pietro d'Ali on Telecom Italia with de Lamotte and Hardy averaging 12.3 knots - three knots faster than Soldini and d'Ali. Trailing the Italian team by 40 miles, 3rd and 4th place, two boats remain separated by three miles, racing side-by-side as Bruno Jourdren and Bernard Stamm on Chemin?es Poujoulat inched ahead of Damien Seguin and Armel Tripon on Cargill-MTTM in the 0800 GMT position poll on Sunday with Jourdren's Rogers Design Class40 averaging 11.3 knots. Meanwhile, the southern group, south-west of the Canaries, are embedded in the North-Easterly Trade Winds, producing the best speeds with the British duo of Mike West and Paul Worswick in 15th on Keysource once again polling the highest speed average in the fleet at 13.3 knots.
Felipe Cubillos (skipper Desafio Cabo de Hornos):
'At 0200 this morning, when it was blowing around 40 knots, I decided to try and grab some sleep and put on my MP3 player to try and block out the endless noise of the storm. Then a strange sound occurred. First I thought it was something James Blunt was producing in the headphones, but I went up on deck and both Daniel and I could hear a very loud foghorn very close, but no lights. It was very like the sound we heard in the Fastnet Race rounding the famous rock. I kept looking to leeward under the sail expecting to see a wall of steel blocking our path, but nothing. It was one of the most terrifying times of my life. I can only think that perhaps the halyards or some part of the boat's structure was resonating and producing the foghorn sound.'
Nicholas Brennan (co-skipper Sail4Cancer):
'Moderate short sea - slamming. No boats in sight. No damage to report. Busy night tacking through squalls and resisting the temptation to drop into Punta del Guarda for a beer!'
Jean-Edouard Criquioche (co-skipper Groupe Picoty):
'So, this is how it goes. You come off watch and have to hunt around for the kettle which has flown off the stove in the last jump from the top of a wave. You find it.and the handle is broken.great. Then you have to hand pump water from the tank into the kettle which takes two hands while you have to hang onto something, so gripping or wedging your knees to maintain balance is important. You then try and light the stove and the lighter is damp.****! After 20 trips around the boat searching for a lighter in numerous bags, the kettle gets airborne again and you're back to square one! Finally, the water is hot, but where are the two cups? On deck, obviously, stuck in a tail bag. Then pouring the water, it spills on your hand and you realise that it is really, really hot!'
Thierry Bouchard (skipper Pole Sant? Elior-Mistral Loisirs):
'It is with tears in my eyes that I have to confirm we are retiring from the race. We are now heading for Horta under motor and do not require any assistance. I had been planning to spend about ten days in Progreso with the family, so I'll be there at the finish, but the method of getting there will be slightly different.'
Bernard Stamm, (co-skipper of Chemin?es Poujoulat):
'Right now, we are in the heart of the cold front and there is between 28-38 knots of wind. I am at the chart table trying to type an understandable message. I'm forced to check every sentence very carefully, otherwise nothing will make sense!'
Yves Eclarat (skipper Vale Inco Nouvelle Cal?donie):
'Attention all you nautical web-surfers: we want to reveal a big internet scandal. For ten days, a certain Monsieur GRIB - who runs a website for single-people who don't get out much - has sold us a dummy. Exploiting our enormous naivity, Monsieur GRIB has taken our dollars while enticing us with all sorts of tricks and promising us vast wealth, good looks, superior intelligence, meetings with beautiful women and - most importantly - arranging to put us in touch with the Trade Winds. In brief, Monsieur GRIB is dangerous and exploits the ignorance of people like us and often preys on the elderly - My poor friend Lionel [co-skipper] isn't that young anymore and has been caught in this trap for ten days now and refuses to leave the computer!'
Jean-Edouard Criquioche (co-skipper Groupe Picoty):
'Finally, our first really beautiful day of the race. A huge sun, steady breeze and a gentle swell. We were able to dry our clothes, clean ourselves up and shave and - extreme joy! - put on some dry boxer shorts.'
Daniel Bravo Silva (co-skipper Desafio Cabo de Hornos):
'It hasn't all been torture over the past two weeks. We have both enjoyed the adrenalin rush of being on the limit of control in 40-50 knot headwinds, encased in a drysuit with just your eyes uncovered as a wave crashes down on you every five seconds. Right now, I've removed my drysuit hood for the first time in days and I've got Pearl Jam on the MP3 player. I no longer need to wear diving apparatus in the cockpit, there's a beautiful moon astern of us and with the Code Zero up, the boat feels really stable. As Felipe always says, no weather lasts forever and in moments like these, the hardship of the past days is a small price to pay.'
by Oliver Dewar
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Sailing
