MAPFRE have so far been unable to make any further impression on the lead of Virbac-Paprec 3 as the Barcelona World Race’s two leading IMOCA Open 60’s play their angles downwind towards the Mid Pacific ice gate, now over half way from Wellington NZ to Cape Horn. 

Though the two leaders had become increasingly isolated at the head the fleet, with nearly 1200 miles now between Virbac-Paprec 3 and third placed Renault Z.E Sailing Team, the third to fifth placed peloton were back up to full speed this afternoon after extricating themselves from a persistent zone of light winds emerging into stronger northerly and NW’ly winds this morning.

 The lead of Jean-Pierre Dick and Loick Peyron shrunk to as little as 8.3 miles this morning as Spanish duo gybed and headed SE but after Virbac Paprec 3 gybed later the long time leader have been quicker on every count today, making ten miles on Iker Martinez and Xabi Fernandez, proving that when it comes to a downwind sprint to the next ice gate attack is the only form of defence.

Speaking live today Loïck Peyron, co-skipper of Virbac-Paprec remarked that the gulf between second and third was almost bizarre, having a match race between two boats so close together and so evenly matched, separated from the body of the fleet by so much.

Peyron was on typically rhetorical form today, describing the course that the fleet:

 “When we watch our courses we sometimes ask ourselves if we are not like a flea circus, making little, trained jumps from gate to gate!?

 

But the gap certainly does nothing to modulate the frenetic pace of the duel. Neither duo has it in their genetic make-up to consider anything other than first place as their target: for today, tomorrow, not at Cape Horn late next week nor in the longer team future. Other ocean races may feature skippers speaking of the importance of simply being with the vanguard and in shape to make the final push to win.

 

Dick and Peyron were reunited on the airwaves today in a French link up with former adversary Michel Desjoyeaux on BFM TV. Desjoyeaux could not resist the opportunity to spar with the Virbac-Paprec 3 duo:

 

Peyron: “Yes, when it’s not you, it’s one of your boats annoying us !?

Desjoyeaux: “ We didn’t want you to get bored so we called up our Spanish friends to put the pressure on you.?

Peyron: “That’s nice of you. A great idea! We missed you.?

 The leaders opened up a little more on their relationship aboard:

“Loïck is very easy on board. It is great times for me to live through this race with him. Of course there are moments when you would rather have your space. The same for him no doubt. I can be a bit head in the air, and I leave my socks around. Living three months together can be a big challenge.? Said Dick.

 The four duos who are dealing with the difficult low pressure system which was formerly Atu have been bending to their task since this morning. After discussing strategies several times Estrella Damm and Groupe Bel have taken slightly different approaches, with Estrella Damm looking to be well placed up to the north of the centre of the system late this afternoon, giving them good options to emerge on its NE side, while Groupe Bel were more to the south and east but almost equally well positioned in terms of having options to get east. Windspeeds may have been downgraded but the chaotic, huge seas created by the passage of the strong winds from changing directions over a relatively small area and a short space of time, were likely to be the biggest problem.

 Citing problems with their water-maker which could not be fixed at sea, Gérard Marin and Ludovic Aglaor indicated this afternoon that they will make a technical stopover in Wellington on Forum Maritim Catala, expecting to arrive early Monday (UTC).

 Boris Herrmann (GER) Neutrogena: “For the last six hours we have been into really good breeze and are making 21-22knots. We had a transition zone to get into this northerly breeze and so we were between gennaker and Code Zero all the time, tacking and trying to get the boat moving, and we had a two hours period when we had no speed at all. It is was half mile we made in three hours, something like that. But we can be happy, it stays the same way outside – rain and drizzle all the time – but we have 25 knots and are doing 20 knots of boat speed and it is fabulous.

I discovered today when we had a full check of the boat that we have Neutrogena shower gel on board and that makes me very happy because I cant wait to have a shower some time. The boat is well but we still have a small problem with the ballast system which leaks from windward to leeward, and so we have to drain the leeward side quite often and to refill windward often but that does not really slow us down very much.

They have a little bit of a closer angle to the wind and so that should allow us to catch up on them. At the moment I don’t think anyone in this area is going faster than us. I have just seen 22 knots on the GPS. It is awesome, relatively flat water. I just stacked everything at the back, all the sails, the food bags, everything and so the bow is up and we are surfing very nicely. It is one of the strong points of this boat, it gets the nose out easily and it can be very nice and smooth.

We have come along well and we get on well. Still it is a long race. It is amazing how we still get to know each other better and better, even after such a long time, we can distinguish the moods better and more precisely. I can see when Ryan has a good day, when he has a normal day and when he is a bit calmer today, things like that. For most of us our moods change with the weather. Since New Zealand it has been grey, grey, grey…no light, no sun. That is a bit depressing but now I am excited about our speed.

 Xabi Fernandez (ESP) MAPFRE: “We are more or less at the layline to the gate. Virbac-Paprec 3 gybed a little earlier than us. We expect a shift and so we are waiting to see if they have to gybe again. We are close all the time, although we did this last gybe a little late. And we are a little behind, but….we are 100% all the time. We used the pilot before and took the chance to rest a bit, but it has been hard recently. We have between 25 and 35 kts and gybe after gybe with hardly any rest. But we are on it!?

Selected quotes from the BFM broadcast:

 Kito De Pavant (FRA) Groupe Bel : “Seb looks like a smurf, he’s got bruises everywhere. I didn’t have time to see a doctor in Wellington. In any case he would have recommended rest, which wouldn’t have been much use. For a fortnight I could not do any stacking or hoisting. So Seb did everything. Good practice for the Vendée Globe…?

J-P Dick (FRA) Virbac-Paprec 3: “ There are bound to be times when you’d like a moment to yourself. Loïck can be… I tend to forget things and leave my socks everywhere… It’s a challenge spending three months together.?

 Loïck Peyron (FRA) Virbac-Paprec 3:: When it’s not you, it’s one of your boats annoying us !

Michel Desjoyeaux We didn’t want you to get bored so we called up our Spanish friends sto put the pressure on you.?

Peyron: That’s nice of you. A great idea! We missed you.

 Loïck Peyron (FRA) Virbac-Paprec 3: I always wear something on my head. All the old people are like that, but it is getting a bit cold. And with two people on board, we get a lot of condensation.

Michel Desjoyeaux: So if your desalination unit packs up, you can get plenty of fresh water…

Loïck Peyron : Yes, it’s streaming down the windows.

Michel Desjoyeaux : How fast are you going?

J-P Dick : 18 knots at the moment.

Michel Desjoyeaux: That’s why Loïck thinks you’re not going very fast. He’s used to sailing multihulls.

 Rankings at 1400hrs Friday 25th February 2011

  1              VIRBAC-PAPREC 3 at 9278 miles to finish

2              MAPFRE 23 miles from the leader

3              RENAULT Z.E at 1196 miles

4               NEUTROGENA at  1260 miles

5              MIRABAUD at 1420  miles

6              GROUPE BEL at  1704 miles

7              ESTRELLA DAMM Sailing Team at 1750 miles

8              HUGO BOSS at 1855 miles

9              GAES CENTROS AUDITIVOS at 1906 miles

10            FORUM MARITIM CATALA at 3256 miles

11            CENTRAL LECHERA ASTURIANA at 3570 miles

12            WE ARE WATER at 4356 miles

RTD         FONCIA

RTD         PRESIDENT

 

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It is certainly not the 50th birthday present that Groupe Bel skipper Kito De Pavant was looking for, especially not ‘second time around’.

Such is the ironic timing of the Laughing Cow’s crossing of the international date-line later today and tomorrow that De Pavant was passing his first 50th Birthday concerned about the weather situation but tomorrow he will facing up to the formidable tropical cyclone Atu when the ‘second edition’ of his 50th birthday comes around.

Both De Pavant and Spain’s Pepe Ribes, who both left Wellington on Tuesday night together on Groupe Bel and Estrella Damm, expressed their concern about how they would best deal with the trajectory and force of the challenging weather system which will propagate very strong winds and big, confused seas. Their key decisions will be based around the speed at which the system moves and both duos have been tracking the system consistently since before they left the Kiwi capital.

“ We don’t really know which way to deal with the problem: either by the south or by the north. What we do know it that it lies right on our course.” SaidDe Pavant this morning, “ It is a pretty violent and unpleasant character, not what you want for your birthday. The cyclone brings with it a lot of rain, a lot of wind, and big seas. It is a small but very compact phenomenon which can damage the boat, very risky.”

Pepe Ribes said this morning: “ The passage of the Atu cyclone will be very complicated and neither Alex nor I have ever been confronted by such strong winds and I don’t really know what it will do to us and we are worried to look after the boat. We have been looking at if for a while and still don’t know how we will cross it.”

The system is due to pass swiftly, the two boats which were in Wellington, will have it directly in their path, giving them the option to pass to the north which will at least give them the chance to use the westerlies on the north side of it, but they would need to sail a steeper angle and more miles to get there. The pragmatic solution might be to simply slow and avoid the worst of it

At the front of the fleet Spain’s Iker Martinez and Xabi Fernandez got to within 25 miles today of the long time race leader MAPFRE. The leading duo are nicely placed on the southern side of a progressive high pressure system which is allowing them a classical arc up to the NE to respect the second ice gate of the Pacific without having to worry about manoeuvres, simply having to sail fast towards the same target. As an instructive insight into the relative speeds of the 2007 generation former Foncia, built prior to the IMOCA Rule’s power cap, and the latest generation design, and of course the sailors potential, this is proving a thrilling encounter which is due to continue for a few days more at least. 

It was a triumphant but difficult passage through ‘home’ waters for the Barcelona World Race’s only Kiwi, Andy Meiklejohn who passed through the Cook Strait today, feeling a real mix of different emotions.

On the one hand Meiklejohn was feeling devastated and helpless at the earthquake which hit Christchurch, on the other he was intensely proud to be bringing the powerful Hugo Boss past Wellington, foregoing any technical stopover.

Having started the race with stand-in co-skipper Wouter Verbraak the duo have sailed a smart race so far, rising to seventh place, and now within 650 miles of the race’s podium. Alex Thomson was on the water off Wellington with technical manager Ross Daniel to greet the two co-skippers on the wet, bumpy ride past the capital.

“ We have had a tough time of the last seven weeks with several issues forcing us to be slower than optimal, this was also after a very light exit to the Med, conditions that the heaviest boat in the fleet definitely did not like.”Wrote Meiklejohn, “Wouter and I have managed to pool together our resources, our common strength and the belief  and with the support of Alex and our shore team to keep the yacht in the race, and here we are just 400 miles behind 4th place and the battle begins again.”

“ Our troubles however are insignificant compared to the disaster that has just hit the Christchurch region of New Zealand.  This is an area with incredible pride and emotional toughness.  They boast an unrivaled sporting success through their Cricket teams, netball teams and the All-conquering Crusaders rugby outfit who have dominated southern hemisphere rugby for the last 15 years.”

“ So it’s with real sadness that I sail up Cook Strait in sight of home, its hard to feel excited when there are so many people feeling so much pain.  Its great to celebrate what we do and getting to the halfway stage is an achievement in itself but it pales in comparison to what happens in the real world.  It’s a real mix of emotions that’s hard to contain and harder to put down in words.  We Kiwis are brought up to be hardened to tragedy and sadness but sometimes it doesn’t feel right, sometimes there’s a bigger picture.”

“ Christchurch, our thoughts are with you.  Look after each other, give those you don’t know a hug or a helping hand, it’s with that bond that you will once again pull through and, like the phoenix, rise again.”

Rankings at 1400hrs Wednesday 23rd February 2011

 1              VIRBAC-PAPREC 3  at 10076 miles to finish

2              MAPFRE 38 miles from the leader

3              RENAULT Z.E at 812 miles

4               NEUTROGENA at  940  miles

5              MIRABAUD at 1066  miles

6              GROUPE BEL at  1278 miles

7              ESTRELLA DAMM Sailing Team at 1282 miles

8              HUGO BOSS at 1454 miles

9              GAES CENTROS AUDITIVOS at 1482 miles

10            FORUM MARITIM CATALA at 2966 miles

11            CENTRAL LECHERA ASTURIANA at 3284 miles

12            WE ARE WATER at 3900 miles

RTD         FONCIA

RTD         PRESIDENT

Quotes:

Alex Thomson (GBR) Alex Thomson Racing Team/Hugo Boss: “ It was amazing to go out there and see the boat and see the guys, a bit weird in a lot of ways, but the guys were in great spirits, the boat looked fantastic and I just feel very proud of what they have achieved so far in a very difficult set of circumstances. They continue to stay positive and are really looking forwards at the possibilities.

The mast track problem means they can’t currently sail with the mainsail above the first reef. So basically upwind in anything less than 17 knots of wind they are compromised, going slower, and downwind in anything less than 22 knots they are going slower. So the boat is definitely not being sailed to its potential, but when you look at the options to stop or not – losing 48 hours, potentially nearly a 1000 miles – when there is the possibility of them doing the repair on board was too difficult for them to bear, and if I was in the same situation I would have made the same choice.

We went out and were alongside them for about half an hour and both Ross, our operations manager, and I had a happy conversation with them for about half an hour on the VHF, lots of laughing and joking, them suggesting I get a hair cut. It was fun, but it was also difficult: Andy and I had planned to be doing this race together so for both of us it was probably a bit strange, but I think that the reality is that the guys are in the groove, they have worked together brilliantly, they have formed a great partnership. Their place is on the boat and my place is on the land on this one. That is just a fact.

It is a difficult one. The guys speak to our team every day, sometimes more than once a day, but usually it is about media stuff, or about technical matters: the media stuff does not involve me and my forte is not the technical side, so I am acting as a bit of a supporter really, a little bit of a mentor really. It is kind of strange and I feel at a bit of a loose end at times. But I have accepted the situation but today it was real proof to me that I feel good about the situation, There is nothing I can do about it. I can be happy about where they are that they are fighting and they are doing a great job.”

Kito de Pavant (FRA), Groupe Bel:“Fifty years old, it is the fourth Cape of this round the world race for me. I am not feeling very birthday. We did not have very much time to prepare anything because we were a bit preoccupied in Wellington, there was a lot of work to do. The weather conditions before we stopped were not so good, and we have lost a lot of time. And so the festivities have gone by the by. It is not that important, especially with a cyclone which is approaching, and we don’t really know which way to to deal with the problem: either by the south or by the north. What we do know it that it lies right on our course. It is a pretty violent and unpleasant character, not what you want for your birthday. The cyclone brings with it a lot of rain, a lot of wind, and big seas. The sea, especially will be huge and the winds might be 70-80kts. It is a small but very compact phenomenon which can damage the boat, very risky.

Wisest would be to leave it to the north but that does not take us towards Cape Horn. And of course if it gets dangerous then we would just turn and avoid the worst of the waves.

The difficult conditions should not last very long, 24 hours maybe and then after that we should have some strong winds which should allow us to go quickly towards the ice gates. The Spanish crew are just behind, we can see their lights. It is reassuring to be with them facing the same things. But the truth is that in such circumstances the second boat would not be able to do too much. We ate together yesterday evening and it would be good if we remained together until Barcelona.

It took us a few weeks to get into the rhythm of the race and now you feel like its starting again from zero. We have enjoyed the comforts ashore and so now it is not so easy to set out again. And the 48 hour stopover is not good, it is too long or too short. But this is a curious birthday, because as we pass the date-line I will have two birthdays!

Pepe Ribes (ESP) Estrella Damm:“We have Groupe Bel about a mile away and it will eb good to sail with someone again as a reference. The passage of the Atu cyclone will be very complicated and neither Alex nor I have ever been confronted by such strong winds and I don’t really know what it will do to us and we are worried to look after the boat. We have been looking at if for a while and still don’t know how we will cross it.

Our morale is not so high and so we must get back to the feelings we had and stop thinking about were we were in the race and what has happened to us. We need to get back into that mind set because the race is only half way.”

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Dee and Anna are spending what is considered to be the most romantic day of the year in one of the most remote and hostile places on the planet, the Southern Ocean. However, the all female duo onboard GAES Centros Auditivos are keen to hold true to the Valentines tradition of chasing boys as their pursuit of Andy Meiklejohn & Wouter Verbraak aboard Hugo Boss continues. Having relinquished eighth position to Hugo Boss late last week, the GAES girls have been battling hard to keep the gap between them to a minimum as they seek an opportunity to regain a position in the rankings.

As the fleet have dipped further into the Southern Hemisphere the perils of round the world racing became more apparent when two additional ice gates were introduced to the Barcelona World Race at the end of last month. The ice gate that marked the bottom of the South Atlantic was moved further north to keep the IMOCA Open 60’s away from the worst of the area of ice and another gate was added just to the east of South Africa. The boats are required to pass at least one point to the north of each gate and with the race taking place so late in the southern hemisphere summer it is likely that ice presence will continue to affect the course resulting in more of the gates moving further north. This in turn will increase the distance the boats have to travel making this a longer race than originally anticipated.

Dee and Anna are currently heading towards the south of Cape Leeuwin on the west coast of Australia. The duo’s latest video reveals the topsy turvy life they are experiencing ‘down under’.

Elsewhere in the race Virbac-Paprec 3 continues to lead the fleet with Mapfre second and Estrella Damm third in the Barcelona World Race. At the 0900hrs ranking today, Caffari and Corbella onboard GAES Centros Auditivos were in 9th place, 120 miles behind Andy Meiklejohn & Wouter Verbraak on Hugo Boss.

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At around 2100hrs last night, British yachtswoman Dee Caffari and her Spanish co skipper, Anna Corbella relinquished 8th place in the Barcelona World Race after a hard fought battle. The all female duo aboard GAES Centros Auditivos had been doing their upmost to keep closest race rivals Andy Meiklejohn & Wouter Verbraak aboard Hugo Boss at bay over the past week, however, the Juan Kouyoumdjian designed yacht has been enjoying greater speeds in the current conditions and has gradually been closing the gap.

 

Reporting this morning, Caffari said:

“Obviously we are disappointed to have dropped down to 9th place but at this morning’s rankings Hugo Boss are just fifteen miles ahead of us, so the fight is definitely still on. We are not quite half way through this round the world race and I know from my previous experiences that much can happen between now and the finish line. The current conditions will favour the heavier Hugo Boss IMOCA 60, so we will have our work cut out for us keeping pace with them.”

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The leading group of the Barcelona World Race may be ready to reflect on their passage across an unusually lenient south Indian Ocean but the tail enders of the fleet have been dealing with a punishment which is more perhaps more typical.

The top five boats will already be considering their passage to the Cook Straits which looks set to be influenced by the timing of a high pressure system which may give favour to the second and third placed MAPFRE and Estrella Damm, cost some miles to the leaders Virbac-Paprec 3, and possibly more to Groupe Bel and Renault ZE Sailing Team.

But while their problems, with one known exception, are largely mathematical – evaluating gains and losses, reducing risk and exposure, the three teams at the back of the fleet were well into a strong low pressure system. For most of the Spanish crews this will be their first real experience of stormy conditions since passing into the Indian Ocean.

“The windspeed indicator does not drop below 45 knots and at the moment it is topping 53. In these conditions it is a real battle to get the mainsail down.? Reported Gerard Marín from Fòrum Marítim Català this afternoon .

The laughing cow, on the horns of a dilemma?

Kito De Pavant and Seb Audigane on Groupe Bel, the laughing cow, are caught on the horns of a dilemma. To pit-stop or not to pit-stop?

That is their question which they and their team need to evaluate having today revealed that they have been sailing without two key sails – their big gennaker and heavy kite – since before the Cape Verde islands.  De Pavant’s team reported that the first incident happened 29 days ago, when the fleet leaders were sailing fast in strong NE’ly trade winds.

The boat is reported to have luffed violently damaging the big gennaker which was rendered unusable. They continued under heavy spinnaker which they damaged the next day. De Pavant explains subsequently that they no longer have the ideal downwind and reaching sails for the wind range 15-25 knots. They are understood to be considering a technical stop, possibly in New Zealand. Any stop after leaving the Indian Ocean must be of a mandatory minimum of 48 hours. Teams can carry up to 10 officially measured sails which. Up to 60 percent of a damaged sail can be replaced.

From having been in sight of Estrella Damm over recent days Groupe Bel has steadily dropped back to be nearly 200 miles behind the third placed Spanish boat this evening, De Pavant considering that Groupe Bel has been up to 20% below her usual polar speeds compared with Estrella Damm.

Swiss Timing

Swiss skipper Dominique Wavre was given to comment on the unfortunate timing which has been certainly been precise, but very unfortunate. Each time he and Michèle Paret  have come north to satisfy a gate of the course they have been unlucky enough to be slowed by high pressure, whilst others have been much more blessed. Neutrogena have been dealt the same cards. Mirabaud was slowed to under 8 knots at times today but the sixth and seventh placed boats were joining a fast moving low pressure this afternoon.

And the catch up continues for Estrella Damm, this afternoon just 13 miles from passing MAPFRE for second who have been consistently slower than their usual selves, while Hugo Boss had cut the lead of GAES Centros Auditivos to 17 miles and remain around one knot quicker. Virbac-Paprec 3 leads MAPFRE by 526 miles.

 

Standings at 1400hrs UTC Wednesday 9th February 2011

1              VIRBAC-PAPREC 3 at13721,4 miles to the finish

2              MAPFRE at526,6 miles to the leader

3              ESTRELLA DAMM Sailing Team at539,4 miles

4              GROUPE BEL at731,7 miles

5              RENAULT Z.E at1042,4 miles

6              MIRABAUD at1578,3 miles

7              NEUTROGENA at1676,4 miles

8              GAES CENTROS AUDITIVOS at2210,3 miles

9              HUGO BOSS at2227 miles

10            FORUM MARITIM CATALA at3279,9 miles

12            CENTRAL LECHERA ASTURIANA at3548,8 miles

RTD        FONCIA

RTD        PRESIDENT

 

Andy Meiklejohn (NZL) and Wouter Verbraak (NED), HUGO BOSS: “ We are fast reaching, surfing safari Southern Ocean style. It is fast reaching, very wet, the boat accelerates quickly to 25-26 knots. The cloud cover is cleared and we have blue skies and sunshine, water is 17 degrees. It is really enjoyable hand steering in the waves trying to maximise every mile we have. We have the guys from Hugo Boss Germany on line as well.

It is hard to stay on top of time of day when you are moving so far east, but we try to make it work by always having breakfast when the sun rises and then go from there.

We have had an amazing couple of days, really fun to properly race the boat always looking for the protection and finding a nice balance. One thing we have learned is that there are more gears on this boat, some daggerboard, sails, and we have been really creative in finding new gears, and being fast. The weather has helped and that has helped us catch, but even now we are getting closer and we are still catching. It is looking good. Rumour has it the girls have some nice red wine and toast so we can really close and get a nice platter from them.!?

Alex Pella (ESP), Estrella Damm:”We have gybed before them (MAPFRE). We caught up a lot. The truth is that we are going super fast in the Indian Ocean. We have had almost four days with good winds,  reaching and downwind in the right direction for eating miles. We spent nearly three days fighting with Groupe Bel and now we see stretching. We do our stuff and by now it is perfect. Pepe drives the boat very well and I really enjoy my watches as well. I hope it keeps like that for a long time!

I think we will pass quite quickly the Australian barrier. After that, a front comes with a low, probably the strongest wind so far, but that will be in two or three days. At the moment I think the crossing of the barrier will be very clean.
We are very excited. We are third and the boat is performing very well. We would have signed being across Cape Leeuwin in this situation. We will soon have a new opportunity to toast with beer, which will now be chillier. The waves are large and crossed. We used to have the wind on the side and the wave n the back and now downwind and wave at the side. Recently the sky was gray and it rained a little, but now it’s been cleared and it’s a beautiful day in the Indian.

It would be nice to get second, but we have not done even half the race and we must keep our feet on the ground. What is important is that we are good and the boat as well and we are eating and resting well in order to keep moving forward. ”

Dominique Wavre (SUI) Mirabaud:“Every time when we have gone towards an ice gate we have been met with an anticyclone. We have managed to get away from Neutrogena and this time they are behind. Since the start we have arrived at the worse times, bad luck I suppose and the saving grace I suppose is that we have shared our bad luck cards with Neutrogena.

But we had some brilliant times before we got planted into another anticyclone. The conditions are not too tough. With the position of the ice gates we flirt with the anticyclones rather than the depressions. And so it goes quite tamely compared with my past  memories. But physically we are tired all the same. We have so many maneuvers and changes to make because of the anticyclones and they are more stressful than good depressions with stable winds.

We stick to French time on the boat so that we don’t wake people on land when we need to communicate. We adapt our sleep pattern because effective, deep sleep is most effective at night and so we try to adapt to that.

Our personal hygiene is not ideal. I have not shaved for a week and I’ve not had time to. With everything going on then that slides down the agenda.

When we were north of Kerguelen I recalled being there after my keel problem in the last Vendée Globe, to bring the boat 2500 miles was really stressful and one of the worst memories of my life. But now the keel system is much more reliable and it feels so much safer to be racing with Michèle.?

Kito De Pavant (FRA) Groupe Bel:“We have been sailing close hauled a lot, and we’ve been running downwind in either a very strong or weak wind, which enabled us to continue at a good pace

On the other hand, in the last few days, everything got back to normal with a fair wind of about twenty knots, and this is when the gennaker has been lacking. We are 20% below Groupe Bel’s performance. Conclusion, Estrella Damm which we were sailing in view of less than a week ago, has flown away 100 miles ahead of us.?
“Today, there is nothing vital that requires us to stop? Kito analyses. “We will make our decision as soon as we have a precise idea of the weather conditions around New Zealand, which may or may not favor a pitstop, and which might penalize us in relation to our contenders. It is also possible that other crews are currently considering the same question. The race is far from over…?

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It was a significant moment for Loïck Peyron and Jean-Pierre Dick when they passed through the Amsterdam gate and set a fast course yesterday for the Australian barrier, signifying the end of a bone-shaking ride in confused seas and the chance to open the gap again on the pack which are pursuing the long time Barcelona World Race leaders.
Indeed the weekend programme for the race leaders, could be a diet of ‘champagne sailing’ other than first edition winner Dick revealing today that three bottles of Coke comprise the celebratory tipple of choice aboard the Virbac-Paprec 3. But life is certainly sugar sweet for Dick and Peyron today as they see their speeds elevated back towards 16-18 knots averages, consistently re-gaining today some of what they lost to the 2004 Olympic 49er champions who are 515 miles behind this afternoon.
If Dick and Peyron have champagne conditions, MAPFRE in second have been trying to deal with a very potent but confusing cocktail, a party punch which is packing very variable breezes and mixed seas which sees Iker Martinez and Xabi Fernandez forced to maintain a high, but nor necessarily profitable work rate. But the Spanish duo should find it simplified when they too get through the final ice gate of the Indian Ocean this evening, though their wind pressure is set to ease as the frontal trough they have been shadow boxing dissipates. Their motivation remains high but will spike higher when they feel like they are on the same ‘leg’ of the course as the leaders.
Again Jean-Pierre Dick reminded listeners to today’s VisioConference that anything can happen in this mechanical sport, that they are essentially little more than a fast day’s sailing ahead of the second boat, and he reaffirmed how a seemingly small problem can escalate to become a big one.
Ryan Breymaier and Boris Herrmann dealt with their own problem efficiently but did, in the end have ‘outside assistance’ to recover their Code Zero headsail which had slid off the boat when it broached due to a ballast tube malfunction. The Neutrogena duo had to gather their wits quickly when the key sail slipped over the guard rails and into
the sea when they momentarily lost control. But a text book return to the locus where the sail had disappeared was rewarded when the floating sail was pinpointed by a few albatross who were standing on the waterlogged sail, enjoying respite from their own Southern Ocean endeavors aboard their own Neutrogena ‘island’. That the pair were able to get the sail back on board was something of a ‘miracle’ Hermmann reported today.
Having yesterday morning been sailing alongside and in sight of sixth placed Mirabaud, Neutrogena’s problems coast them miles. But the German-American pair passed the Crozet ice gate this morning at between 1130 and midday, some four hours after Dominique Wavre and Michèle Paret on the Owen Clarke designed Mirabaud. Neutrogena were just 26 miles behind Mirabaud this evening.
Looking at the long game is always an essential virtue racing around the world, one which Dee Caffari learned especially on her 2008-9 Vendée Globe solo race. Having been forced to route north and upwind, surviving a very stressful 36-48 hours in big, confused seas, the record breaking British skipper and Anna Corbella were back to their radiant best today, looking forward to easy miles directly down the track, knowing that they have a good chance to reducing some of the deficit they lost out to Mirabaud and Neutrogena.
Standings at 14hrs Saturday 5th February
1 VIRBAC-PAPREC 3 at 15 143,3 miles from the finish
2 MAPFRE at515,3 miles to leader
3 ESTRELLA DAMM Sailing Team at 604,4 miles
4 GROUPE BEL at658,3 miles
5 RENAULT Z.E at938,1 miles
6 MIRABAUD at1454,1 miles
7 NEUTROGENA at1482,1 miles
8 GAES CENTROS AUDITIVOS at2177,3 miles
9 HUGO BOSS at2359,6 miles
10 FORUM MARITIM CATALA at2851,4 miles
11 WE ARE WATER at2976,8 miles
12 CENTRAL LECHERA ASTURIANA at3158,4 miles
RTD FONCIA
RTD PRESIDENT
Dee Caffari (GBR) GAES Centros Auditivos: “ The sun is shining and we are going fast in the right direction, and we are very happy bunnies. It was horrible, we did not like it, the boat did not like it and it was a really horrible, intense 36 hours. And it is probably the worst conditions we have had in the race so far. It was only about trying to keep the boat and the crew in one piece, and we got out of there and the weather has just got better and better.
She did not feel 100% and was not firing on all cylinders, but she is back in full.
It is looking like this northerly component will stay with us and we can crack on straight to the ice gate and clear that by Monday. It is looking like easy miles for us which is quite a change because we have had to work quite hard recently.
Neutrogena and Mirabaud are always our targets because we obviously lost a lot by having to take that northern upwind route, and it did cost us dearly while they were able to take that more direct route, so to close that gap would be lovely and we have not given up.
I was really happy with the boat, I had a good look around yesterday when it became a bit drier, and we sponged out a good deal of water. Everything is good with the boat and she is doing a good job and looking after us.”
Jean-Pierre Dick (FRA), Virbac-Paprec 3: “We had very strong winds at an angle which was just not good and big waves and so to get to the gate we did not go so fast. Behind us I think they were averaging 19 knots and I think we were 16 knots. But we are downwind again and thing will open out again. We will have a little less wind over the next bit. The last two days were really full on, the boat was shaking with lots of carbon noises.
Everything can crumble because we are on a mechanical boat and we saw what happened with Foncia. You can lose the rig in a second. But 500 miles of a lead is nice, but it is not enormous compared with how far there is to go. We try to read a little and listen to some music. Bur of course sometimes we don?t have time to because we just crash to sleep, tired out. Since the start we have not dropped the rhythm between sailing, eating and sleeping.
Loïck is quite accustomed to our life on board and we had discussions before the race. We take the freeze dried but try to have the best, and we have treats like chocolate. We have energy powders to rehydrate us and we have three bottles of Coke for each great moment. And some semi sparkling water after a big effort which I really like.

Boris Herrmann (GER) Neutrogena: “ The basic problem is pretty steep waves and how to make the boat go fast. It is easier to sail the boat in very steep waves with a lot of ballast in the stern. Our problem started yesterday when we lost the stern tube and the boat wiped out and in this whole episode we lost one sail over the side. We were sailing with the small kite and one reef in the main and so it takes quite a while to take sock the kite.
Once we had done that we looked at each other and said do we really do this because we had at least one and a half miles to go back and it was big waves, and gusts and everything. We did not expect to find it, so we said „lets try? and we turned and on the trace on the navigation programme we could find the point where we wiped out, we went to the position with a couple of tacks, going upwind with very small sails.
From there we went downwind very slowly. And all of a sudden I could see a few albatross and they were sitting on our sails.
I think we have something going on with the albatross. Today we had a problem, we were Chinese-ing the boat (Chinese gybing) heeling over from one side to the wrong side. When that happened once again an albatross was flying close, as if he was keeping an eye in us. Each time we make a stupid mistake it seems like there is one near the boat.
First of all it was quite stressful but in fact finding the sail and then managing to get it back on deck in these big waves was a miracle, but even since then it has been steep waves. And so since then we have probably had to reef and unreef the main probably five times since then, sometimes down to two reefs, some time one and sometimes full main. Yesterday between two positions we were very close or ahead of Mirabuad and we did not want to lose too many miles, to gain back the lead over them and it was the perfect time to go fast this morning.
Ryan worked on the tube today while I took care of the boat and cut a piece of it off to seal it again. We cannot use any ballast then and had to heel the boat over to keep the ballast tube empty. It was a challenge in many ways. But the thing has been glued in place for half an hour and now we are just waiting for it to dry, and the glue can set within a hour because we will pass the gate and then need to gybe south again.
Yesterday we saw them all morning, we sailed alongside them and could see them pretty clearly, we were close and then gained on them, from quite a way behind, just gaining on them before we gybed.”
Alex Pella (ESP) Estrella Damm: “ The waves are long and about eight metres high. There are twenty knots of wind from the south (170), and we are doing 15 knots heading east (94 degrees) Last night the wind dropped a little but has risen again. We have the front just ahead of us and in the next 20 hours will start to get northerly wind. The day is very cloudy and thus it is very difficult to read the swell and wind, which is very unstable in direction and intensity. The last 24 hours we have not gone so fast but the important thing is that we have been closing towards the gate in the right direction.
The idea is to pass the gate and see what to do with the front, probably go south. The boat is going well and as long as it is, so also we’re all right.
Mind you, the watches are exhausting. You finish completely punctured.
So we try to eat and sleep as much as we can. But we remain very motivated and morale as high as ever. I am very happy to be here in the south, although it is a strange and unusual south as we are not much in the south. It will be different after the gate. And currently we?ve got good weather, between 11 and 14 degrees. When we go further south it will be a lot colder.”

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Having battled upwind for the last few days, it is a case of ‘TGI Friday’ for the only all female crew of the Barcelona World Race having finally been given some respite as they make progress in a south easterly direction. For Caffari and Corbella, this calmer period will allow them to check over GAES Centros Auditivos for any damage caused by the potentially boat breaking conditions they have been experiencing.

 

Early this morning, Caffari reported:

“What a difference a day makes! Life onboard is happier and easier. The sea state and weather makes us feel as if we are sailing somewhere completely different and the horrible upwind boat breaking conditions were just a figment of our imagination.”

The duo have also noticed a distinct drop in both sea and air temperature above and below deck as they make progress with the clean-up operation required as a result of the intense last few days.

Talking about what can be expected over the coming few days GAES Project Manager, Harry Spedding, said:

“The current weather forecast for the middle of the Barcelona World Race fleet continues to look complicated.  GAES Centros Auditivos will be looking for a transition from upwind conditions to faster downwind.  However to find these conditions they will probably need to stay further north than they would have preferred, and navigate through a complex trough formed between two high pressures and a low pressure system to the north.  The high pressure systems are to the west and east of the girls’ current position, and the tactical decision will be based upon how quickly these systems move easterly around the Southern Ocean.  No doubt the next 24 hours are going to be hard work for Dee and Anna.”

Virbac-Paprec 3 continues to lead the Barcelona World Race fleet with Mapfre and Estrella Damn sitting in second and third places respectively. At the 0900hrs ranking today, Caffari and Corbella onboard GAES Centros Auditivos were in 8th place, 222 miles ahead of Andy Meiklejohn & Wouter Verbraak on Hugo Boss

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While the Barcelona World Race leader Virbac-Paprec 3 this afternoon look very much like they should make it to the Crozet ice gate just on time, sneaking ahead of the depression which has been threatening them for the last few days, the podium challenge of Kito de Pavant and Sébastien Audigane Groupe Bel to Spain’s Estrella Damm appears to be increasing by the hour.

The duel in the Indian Ocean between the ‘Red Cow Boys’ – De Pavant and Audigane – on the VPLP Verdier designed Groupe Bel which is also known as ‘Cochise’ (ed note as in Cow Cheese!), and Alex Pella and Pepe Ribes, who signs his communications as ‘Jack Sparrow’ on the Red Pearl which is better known as the Farr designed Estrella Damm.  From being nearly eighty miles ahead of their French rivals, the RCN Barcelona flagged IMOCA Open 60 and Groupe Bel are now alongside each other on the same longitude and separated north-south by just 12 miles.

 

Ribes, on good form on today’s Visio-Conference and visibly enjoying every hour of his race along with his partner Pella, quipped that they would be getting the binoculars out to scan the horizon for the Red Cow Boys on the Laughing Cow.

“We have been looking for them but cannot see them although they are not very far. The last boat we saw was Mirabaud in the Canary Islands and when they were twenty miles away we could see them. But today we can’t see Groupe Bel. I would like to see them to have a reference.”  Said Ribes today. “ We have to set the pace quite high on Estrella Damm so when we have a boat near then it is effectively still the same pace as when we are alone. But when you have anyone around you are losing or winning every four hours directly. When you have someone a hundred miles away and you get the sched if they gain 10 miles you can’t do anything, but now when you have the boats 20 miles away it’s sailing with your wind conditions too, so it’s more demanding because you lose if you are obviously doing something wrong, but we try to set the pace quite high here at the moment.”

Estrella Damm were holding off the advances of the French duo, who have consistently had slightly more breeze due to their more favorable position to the north over past days. But Ribes seemed fairly confident that he and Pella would be better placed when the next windshift, from the SW reaches them.

 

Spin cycle

With the dominant high pressure systems likely to remain in place, one under South Africa which is giving the last third of the fleet upwind conditions, and one to the west south west of the Kerguelen Islands,  there is every chance that more of these nasty low pressure systems will spin off the Madagascar breeding ground, probably later in the week, towards the weekend. As long as the blades of the two wind generation mills are turning, drawing up the cold polar air in the west and pulling down the warm, moist tropical air, these violent depressions are generated.

Small pleasures mean a lot

For Ribes, today’s small pleasure – the reward after a difficult 24 hours which saw them making a big repair to their Code Zero – was a welcome curry.

Dee Caffari and Anna Corbella on GAES Centros Auditivos, who passed the longitude of the Cape of Good Hope this morning at 0930hrs UTC, have been feasting on Caffari’s favourite Haribo sweets. On her fourth passage past the South African Cape, twice from east-to-west and now twice from west-to-east, Caffari said: “We can’t stay miserable and have to remain positive as we have these conditions for a while. Reaching another milestone is always good and it is fantastic for Anna to have passed the Cape of Good Hope today, something she has never done before on a race.”

GAES Centros Auditvos was joined on the video link by Mike Golding in Barcelona, who wished the girls every success and advocated patience and prudence, keeping the boat together, as virtues as they slog upwind.

“The opportunities will come, there is such a long way to go, the main thing just now is to keep the boat together.”Golding, who made up more than 600 miles of deficit on the leaders in the 2004-5 Vendée Globe said, “Remember there are big, big opportunities in the Southern Ocean.”

The British skipper, twice IMOCA World Champion, third in the 2004-5 Vendée Globe, also made the day for Juan Merediz and the race’s youngest co-skipper Fran Palacio on Central Lechera Asturiana.

Taking the Mick, Using the Michael

Speaking to the duo who are sailing his former Ecover 2, which is on its third circumnavigation, and are having to stop in Cape Town to make a repair to their leaking keel hydraulics, there were radiant smiles from the sailors when Golding said that maybe their technical pit stop would reap the same dividend for them that Jean-Pierre Dick and Loïck Peyron seemed to get from their temporary halt in Recife, Brazil:

“So I will be expecting to see you leading in three weeks time.” Golding chuckled.

“Listen, if we are back within our group within three weeks we will be quite happy.” Responded Palacio, who paid tribute to Golding after whom they have christened their autopilot ‘Miguel’. “We are glad you are doing such a good job. Thanks” said Palacio.

Standings on Tuesday 1st February 2011

1              VIRBAC-PAPREC 3 at 16 657 miles to finish

2              MAPFRE at 543,2 miles to leader

3              ESTRELLA DAMM Sailing Team at 680,6 miles

4              GROUPE BEL at 685,1 miles

5              RENAULT Z.E at 843,9 miles

6              MIRABAUD at 1252,2 miles

7              NEUTROGENA at 1310 miles

8              GAES CENTROS AUDITIVOS at 1626,4 miles

9              HUGO BOSS at 1832,7 miles

10            CENTRAL LECHERA ASTURIANA at 2076,6 miles

11            WE ARE WATER at 2099 miles

12            FORUM MARITIM CATALA at 2145,6 miles

RTD        FONCIA

RTD        PRESIDENT

Pepe Ribes (ESP) Estrella Damm: “Over the last six hours Groupe Bel were in little bit more pressure all the time. When we went to the gate the front ran over us. We thought there will be more wind in the south so we sailed upwind to look for the southwesterly wind but the front was so wide that we never reached the wind direction we were looking for so we had to bear away. All the time we were going upwind, they were reaching so he was able to catch up a lot of miles because we didn’t find the wind that we were hoping to find.

“ Now it’s upwind today, not fully upwind but tight reaching 65 degrees and we are both trying to follow the shift that is coming to the south and we are very close. But we don’t see them. We have been looking for them but cannot see them although they are not very far. Last boat we saw was Mirabaud in the Canary Islands and when they were twenty miles away we could see them. But today we can’t see Groupe Bel. I would like to see them to have a reference.”

“ We have to set the pace quite high on Estrella Damm so when we have a boat near then it is the same pace as when we are alone. When you have anyone around you are losing or winning every four hours directly. When you have someone a hundred miles away and you get the sched if they gain 10 miles you can’t do anything, but now when you have the boats 20 miles away it’s sailing with your wind conditions too, so it’s more demanding because you lose if you are obviously doing something wrong, but we try to set the pace quite high here at the moment.

We’ve been setting the pace quite high the whole month I don’t know how long we can keep it like that.”

Dee Caffari (GBR) GAES Centros Auditivos: “The conditions are really odd. We are going upwind and sailing north. The water is at 20deg, The boat does suffer a bit upwind, we did not expect to be upwind for so long. But we took advantage of the warmer water to wash our hair.”

Fran Palacio (ESP) Central Lechera Asturiana: “It is all good on board. We should be in Cape Town tomorrow. There will be a few hours of repairs and then taking into account the weather we will not lose so much. One thing is for sure, since we changed the mast it is much easier to sail upwind.”

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