One of the few crews to have escaped any major technical problems onboard during the Barcelona World Race so far, the all female duo aboard GAES Centros Auditivos were dealt a cruel blow over the weekend. After tacking in bad conditions on Friday, a tonne and a half of water gushed into the boat through a crack in one of the ballast tanks. Having identified the problem area, Caffari and Corbella laboured hard to repair the damage over the weekend, with further work being conducted today in the hope that GAES Centros Auditivos will reach the finish line in Barcelona without the need for a technical pit stop.

 

Boat Project Manager, Joff Brown, explains the situation:

 

“Part of the structure which acts as both the front wall of the forward ballast tank and as part of the hull strengthening network in the mid bow area was compromised. Despite daily checks on the yacht’s structure, the girls only noticed the damage when they tacked and filled the forward ballast tank. They realised it was emptying out of the tank into the front of the boat. The damage had probably been done in the previous 24hrs of upwind sailing on the other tack and was caused by the slamming of the boat into the waves.”

“We had an indication that we were vulnerable in this area during the 2009 TJV but had taken action to reinforce this area. The boat has sailed 35,000 miles since then, so we were a bit surprised to see the damage. “

“However, following the damage in 2009, the amount of materials onboard that can be used to repair such problems was doubled and so Dee and Anna have enough materials to carry out repairs at the moment. On Saturday, Dee and Anna managed to prepare the area and laminate some new patches to cover the damaged part and as soon as the wind goes light and the motion of the boat is reduced the girls are going to make a hole in the ballast tank top so that they can make a repair to the other side of the damaged structure, that is hidden from them at the moment.”

Caffari added:
“When you see structural damage in the boat it makes you very nervous, particularly when you discover it in bad conditions as we did over the weekend. I am confident and experienced in most boat maintenance and repairs but when it comes to boat building I have limited knowledge. Thankfully I am given detailed instructions and I trust my team entirely so I feel I am well supported in this venture. We are going to drop all the sails and stop the boat in order to carry out the repair on the inside of the ballast tank. We have a long way to go yet and our success is dependent on these repairs.”

 

Despite this setback, Caffari and Corbella continue to make gains on the boats ahead and at the 0900 hrs ranking were in 6th place, 636 miles behind Boris Herrmann and Ryan Breymaier on Neutrogena. There are more than 4000 miles to the finish in Barcelona.

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The numbers never lie, but it is the on-board computer which delivers the devilish detail. While for Estrella Damm, the rising stars of the Barcelona World Race ‘peloton trio’ the five- hourly rankings report will have been a spur to keep them pressing home their advantage, pulling back miles on their nearest rivals Neutrogena and also on Renault Z.E Sailing Team.

But for other pair of crews, the rankings reports more recently have become more of a source of stress than satisfaction.

“Sometime you are afraid to log on to the internet and see how many miles you are losing,  sometimes it’s just a bit like that!?  grimaced Renault Z.E’s Toño Piris this morning on the Visio-Conference, confirming that he and Rivero had hit the wall-like transition zone of variable breezes.

And for Boris Herrmann, now only 153 miles behind Renault Z.E Sailing Team, but correspondingly with their lead to Estrella Damm shrunk to just four miles this afternoon, there was the same reticence to log on perhaps this afternoon, fully expecting to have lost their long held fourth place to the Barcelona duo Pepe Ribes and Alex Pella:

“ We obviously lost a bit, this might be the last position report showing us ahead of Estrella Damm. We definitely have been a bit handicapped with the keel we can’t cant fully, also we had lighter breeze I think because their speed since yesterday afternoon has been better so they must have had some better breeze.?

The difficult, widely expected cold front transition zone is still likely to see considerable compression between the trio, but it is Renault Z.E Sailing Team which was first to endure the pain of seeing their speedo plumbing the depths of single digits, making only 3.4 knots, Herrmann describing the area as a ‘mini doldrums’ to be dealt with on the way north to the real thing.

Virbac-Paprec 3 back in the north

Jean-Pierre Dick and Loïck Peyron lead back into their ‘home’ hemisphere, passing north across the equator at midday today, at the top of the rankings just as they were when they passed north to south back on January 13th when they held a 40 miles lead over Foncia which they were managing to grow.

Today the duo’s lead was still shrinking, down to 167 miles ahead of MAPFRE and the Spanish Olympic medallists’ challenge was still growing even if their waistlines have not been. Iker Martinez admitted today their enforced diet and the heat is starting to take a toll: “At first it’s funny, but now that we can not eat much … it’s not that much fun.?  Martinez said.

And for Gerard Marin there is the knowledge that he and Ludovic Aglaor should complete a comparatively quick passage of the Pacific sometime between Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning on the vintage Forum Maritim Catala. They had 370 miles to Marin’s first ever passage of the Cape of Storms.

Standings at Friday 18th March at 1400hrs

1              VIRBAC-PAPREC 3 at 3092 miles to finish

2              MAPFRE at 167 miles to leader

3              RENAULT Z.E at 913 miles

4              NEUTROGENA at 1066 miles

5              ESTRELLA DAMM Sailing Team at 1070 miles

6              GAES CENTROS AUDITIVOS at 2176 miles

 7              HUGO BOSS at 3375miles

8              FORUM MARITIM CATALA at 4176 miles

9              WE ARE WATER at 6134 miles

10            CENTRAL LECHERA ASTURIANA at 8458 miles

RTD        FONCIA

RTD        PRESIDENT

RTD        GROUPE BEL

RTD         MIRABAUD

 

Dee Caffari (GBR) GAES Centros Auditivos: “It is very bouncy out here. It is pretty miserable, a bit grey, the waves are very messy, the seas short and sharp, so we are slamming quite a lot. We have 25-28 knots of wind, and I think that tonight when it gets dark the front will come through and I should that will be quite squally with a lot of rain. And then quite a big change of wind direction to get to the nice downwind stuff. We have 24 hours of bouncy, horrible stuff to go.

I am really concentrating on looking ahead, I want to take those miles down. It has been really difficult those last 48 hours, traversing the high pressure and these guys had really good, fast conditions, so we have lost miles to them there. There is still the Doldrums and a fair amount of time to go. So I am still confident and aiming to get those miles back and maybe finishing a little too close for comfort.

The showers made us feel great and were just at the right time. It depends how desperate you are for a shower. It was 15 degrees and we were quite desperate and it was quite hard work, it was certainly nice to put lots of layers on and have a hot drink after that. Yesterday the sea temperature was 20 degrees and I could happily put the bucket over my head and enjoy it.?

Iker Martinez (ESP) MAPFRE:“On their food ‘shortage’ and the heat which means they have lost some weight’: “At first it’s funny, but now that we can not eat much … it’s not that much fun.?
“We have passed the coast of Chile, Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil quite far from the coast. A high pressure near Buenos Aires has prevented us from making a shorter route and we see now how the race is still getting longer.. ”
“Every day that passes we are closer to get to Barcelona and although on the one hand we believe in hunting the leader, on the other we have that fear behind the ear that we can suffer some serious damage that prevents us from finishing. But hey, it is normal, when there is something you care about you are afraid to lose it, right? ”
” If all goes well, we’ll be in a week more between Cape Verde and the Canary Islands, almost smelling “papas arrugadas? (canarian crinkled potatoes) and  Canarian gofio (Canarian flour made from roasted grain), ¡I can’t wait to be there! We trained hard this winter in those waters and we will feel like home, so … go, go! ”

Boris Herrmann (GER) Neutrogena:“We obviously lost a bit, this might be the last position report showing us ahead of Estrella Damm and we definitely have been a bit handicapped with the keel we can’t cant fully, also we had lighter breeze I think because their speed since yesterday afternoon has been better so they must have had some better breeze. We do all we can to sail as fast as possible, making lots of sail changes, and we had between the big kite and the gennaker, to play with the wind shifts, now we are down to the gennaker, and VMG running as close as possible to the rhumb line, that is our strategy, we don’t think this area in front of us is anything predictable we just detail it as a mini doldrums to go through as quickly as possible. If we do our routage is shows us going west, gybing away from the rhumb line, and we don’t want to do that because we don’t see the weather pattern here very reliably enough to take such an extreme option to gybe off the lay line and go sideways for a day or something like that, That is what the models show, so we prefer to stay on a course as close as possible to where we aim. We see Renault moving at only seven knots but we too are getting slower every hour too, I think we have some compression for a while with Estrella and hopefully get much closer to Renault and it is going to be a very challenging two days for Estrella and us, this light wind sailing is always more of an effort than you might think. The big kite is a heavy sail to get up and down and it is so warm and the sun is burning down on us.?

Toño Piris (ESP) Renault Z.E Sailing Team: “It does not look very healthy for us going through some light stuff, especially last night and we are going through some big squalls, we are feeling like this is a wall we are hitting, and we need that wall to kind of stop so that we get a bit of relativity to it, and we can get through it and us not slow up with it completely. That is what we have been waiting for, for this cold front not to keep going north and then even if we can get out and grab those northerly winds and feel like we can get there, then maybe we can keep moving rather than the other guys just getting closer to us and to the wall.?

“ Yes it is not a very relaxing time for us. Sometime you are afraid to log on to the internet and see how many miles you are losing so, sometimes it’s a bit like that!?

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After eighth placed Hugo Boss and ninth placed GAES Centros Auditivos round Cape Horn this Friday evening there will be just three of the Barcelona World Race fleet left in the Pacific, including Central Lechera Asturiana in Wellington where Juan Merediz and Fran Palacio await the repair of their broken mast.

Andy Meiklejohn and Wouter Verbraak were expected to pass Cape Horn at around 2000hrs UTC this evening with the girls duo on GAES Centros Auditivos only around three hours behind them. Dutch co-skipper Verbraak, reporting to the Global Sports Forum’s live Barcelona World Race Visio-Conference today, confirmed that the duo have had a tough Pacific and were looking forward to the release of the ‘big left hand corner’ and the challenges and opportunities the Atlantic should bring them:

“It feels great for us to be getting there….I was only supposed to be going to the Cape Verdes, here I am at Cape Horn!? quipped Verbraak.

For both of them it will their third passage of the Cape of Storms. The complex pattern of multiple low pressure centres was giving them variable breezes, anything from 10 to 35 knots within minutes of each which was making it hard for the duo to find an ideal sail-plan.

Today’s prelude to their passage was the first time that either of the co-skippers have been contacted live on air since their exit from the Cook Strait because they have been very strictly rationing their energy use.

“The fuel situation is not that great.  We’ve had generator problems where a coolant part of the generator has stopped working. This happened well before New Zealand, and thanks to the support and creativity of our shore crew we have managed to find a solution using another part on the boat and plumbing that in, which wasn’t straightforward but we managed to do it. But that was a big bonus, and means we don’t have to stop for fuel, but we do have strict strict rations so unfortunately we haven’t been able to go into the videoconference, which is big shame but it’s good to be talking now.?

Caffari and Corbella look like they might be able to reap a reward for their prudent strategy across the Pacific, but like Hugo Boss they are expected to have little time for souvenirs and tourism. Indeed it was shaping up to be unfortunate timing for Caffari’s Spanish co-skipper Anna Corbella. She may be set to become the first Spanish woman ever to race round Cape Horn and add to her honours as the first Spanish female sailor to race the Atlantic solo – finishing 13th in the 2009 MiniTransat – but with 104 miles to the rock at 1600hrs UTC it was shaping up very much like the girls would pass into the Atlantic during the hours of darkness.

It will be a considerable triumph for Corbella who disliked sailing when she started at four on her parents’ small yacht. It was only when she started racing in the 420 that the bug bit and since then she moved through into an Olympic 470 programme which she progressed She helped prepare Jaume Mumbrú’s MiniTransat and then was leant his boat to compete on her own. Considering she only stepped on an IMOCA Open 60 for the first time just over one year ago, hers is an achievement to be proud of.

But time will not be waiting for either Hugo Boss nor GAES Centros Auditivos as a high pressure system is set to develop off the Argentine/Uruguay coast which would effectively force them out on to an easterly routing up the Atlantic. Their most recent routing suggests they need to get north and west as possible, perhaps set to be the first boats to route west of the Falklands and maybe even through the notorious Le Maire Straits which separate Cape Horn from Staten Island.

 

Standings at 1400hrs UTC Friday 11th March

1              VIRBAC-PAPREC 3 at 4462,5 miles  de l’arrivée

2              MAPFRE at 544,8 miles to the leader

3              RENAULT Z.E at 1308,2 miles

4              NEUTROGENA at 1706,6 miles

5              ESTRELLA DAMM Sailing Team at 1790,5 miles

6              MIRABAUD at 1796,4 miles

7              GROUPE BEL at 2394,7 miles

8              HUGO BOSS at 2500 miles

9              GAES CENTROS AUDITIVOS at 2544,2 miles

10            FORUM MARITIM CATALA at 4588,3 miles

11            WE ARE WATER at 6732,5miles

12            CENTRAL LECHERA ASTURIANA at 7087,8 miles

ABN       FONCIA

ABN       PRESIDENT

 

Quotes

Iker Martinez (ESP) MAPFRE:“The big picture for last few days was very hard for us, we’ve been floating not sailing. We have gone too much west in the high pressure, and we couldn’t do anything else. We have had  to wait to hoist the spinnaker because we didn’t have this halyard and then we were too late. So we just try to manage the situation and now we’re happy because we’re sailing fast again. The leader is a little bit more far away, 500 miles, which is a lot but we’re moving so that’s good, and we’ll keep going.

On the video conferences: “It’s nice because you have a little contact with the world, and when we’re here sailing we almost don’t remember what’s going on outside. So we try to show a little to our family, and to know a little about what’s going on outside. It’s completely different compared to what happened for example in the Olympics where the press is pushing you were too much, and you just don’t want to deal with the press because you’re concentrating on your things, they’re pushing too much. Here it’s much nicer, it’s just a couple of minutes of enjoyment and I enjoy it quite a lot! I try to push Xabi to the videoconference but he doesn’t like it so much!?

Wouter Verbraak (NED) Hugo Boss:

“We’re pretty excited to have Cape Horn not so far away, but it’s not making things easier – we’ve had a lot of snow and hail storms through the night, and the wind really up and down. At the moment we only have 10 knots but some times in the squalls we have 35-40, so it’s pretty challenging times. It’s as if the Southern Ocean is desperate to show us it’s not over until we’ve really rounded Cape Horn.

“Cape Horn is a big milestone for this race, and obviously for Andy and myself it’s the third time so we know what it means to go around it. It influences a lot of more light airs and a warmer climate, so we’re excited to go into the Atlantic and make our way home.

“This next part, especially for the group ahead of us, there are some difficult weather situations for them to negotiate, whereas for us it looks pretty much downwind so we’re pretty happy with that. We’ve said all along, from the moment when we were in last place, this race isn’t over until we’re back in the Med and we’re still in contention, so we’re looking for any opportunity we can have and see who we can overtake.

“Andy and I myself are in good shape. One thing that has been really strong on our boat is that we’re a great team, we’re very balanced between ourselves and we have complementary skills that we learn from each other. And so we’re good in that sense, and I think that’s going to be a player in the way up the Atlantic.

[Fuel] “The fuel situation is not that great, so we’ve had generator problems where a coolant part of the generator has stopped working. This happened well before New Zealand, and thanks to the support and creativity of our shore crew we have managed to find a solution using another part on the boat and plumbing that in, which wasn’t straightforward but we managed to do it. But that was a big up, and means we don’t have to stop for fuel, but we do have strict strict rations so unfortunately we haven’t been able to go into the videoconference, which is big shame but it’s good to be talking now.

[Rounding Horn] “I was never meant to go past the Cape Verde islands! Normally there would be a bottle of strong liquor on the boat, but I think on this occasion there will be a lot of candy, maybe an extra delve into the supplies of chocolate!

“For us ever since New Zealand we’ve been bouncing into this low pressure system ahead of them, and as we all know the conditions just behind the low pressure system are not very ideal for sailing, so we’ll see what happens. We just crossed a line so we’re happy with that, and ahead there’s still some challenging times. It’s actually fun to have somebody to race against, and we’ll see when Groupe Bel comes out she’ll be another potential competitor that we’ll keep our eye on.?

Alex Pella (ESP) Estrella Damm:  “Yesterday we spent more of our time clearing kelp and seaweed from under the boat, it was stuck everywhere. We were unlucky because we had to go backwards. We are pretty happy now because we are going north and the waves are smaller and the weather is pretty good. We are going upwind in 15 knots, with small waves and pointing home. It is a tricky part of the course, because there is no clearly defined route, it is a bit unstable. We have a big front in two days and we need to see how we do with that, how we can work with that and what the others do. It is quite uncertain how it will go and there are many options, but for sure the race for us is wide open.”

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From the leading duo counting down their final 750 or 800 miles to Cape Horn to those nearly 5000 miles behind fighting to make it across the Tasman to the Cook Strait, the vast majority of the Barcelona World Race fleet today are either racing in strong winds, or expecting them imminently.

Virbac-Paprec 3 and MAPFRE, some 78 miles apart this afternoon, are trying to outrun the approach of a fast moving low pressure system, the regenerated, reinvigorated Atu (Atu v2.0?) and escape around Cape Horn into the Atlantic. But it is the fleet’s tailgunners on We Are Water which has struggled the most today after being temporarily knocked flat by a big wave, taking water inside the boat.

Jaume Mumbrú and Cali Sanmarti reported that they are both fine, but unable to gybe due to a broken lazyjack and other sundry problems the duo were making slow SE’ly course during the early afternoon, before heaving while they baled water out of the boat and try to sort out their electronics problems. The impact of the wave ripped apart plastic spray curtains which protect part of the cockpit,. Part of the electrical equipment is not working at the moment.

And Dee Caffari and Anna Corbella last night (day time local for them) suffered a series of involuntary tacks when GAES Centros Auditivos’ autopilot hiccupped twice. With two sails partly in the water, the duo had their hands full, choosing to run north and take some pressure off themselves and the boat. The robust hard reaching conditions, with the wind slightly forward of the beam in difficult seas, made their choice of sacrificing some miles to Hugo Boss a difficult one, but a necessary one at the time.

“Things are horrible. We are upwind in 35 knots of wind and it is pretty wet and miserable. We had an ‘everything’ problem, the good thing about it all was that it was daylight when it happened. It was a catalogue of disasters and it took us quite a lot to get through it. And I just had a very brief time in the bean bag and I said to her that I feel like I have been beaten up. I feel quite exhausted by it. We are really wanting this wind to drop now.

We have come back on course now. We decided that we cant run away to the north for ever because it does just make the course worse afterwards. We are back where we should be after having a bit of rest and recovery. We are now just upwind and it is 30-35kts.” Said Caffari on this morning’s Visio-Conference.

“It was a bit emotional at the time but we did manage to giggle about it, we found the funny side of it, the fact that we were so ridiculously wet. But everything is still working, the boat is OK. We got the sails back on board, so of all the things that did go wrong we dealt with it all well.”

The duel at the front of the fleet between Virbac-Paprec 3 and MAPFRE now sees the French duo taking a clear advantage with their more northerly tracking. Individually both sets of co-skippers reported that they were struggling with the very changeable and unstable winds – requiring many sail changes and constant vigilance – in the brisk, but variable breezes sent by the low pressure centre which was just to the south east of them today, slightly closer for the Spanish duo.

Despite the intensity of the battle with the Virbac-Paprec 3, the evident chagrin at losing miles to the French pair, not to mention the extreme cold – 4 deg C and the fact that it was in the middle if a dark, dirty night – it was again an inspiration today to see the pleasure that Fernandez, Spain’s three times 49er world champion, double Olympic medalist and twice Volvo round the world veteran, takes in answering questions put to him by the young local Barcelona schoolchildren.

The duel with Dick and Peyron is dismissed for a few stolen moments Fernandez’s smile breaks his lips, the twinkle in his eyes lights up the gloomy fug inside MAPFRE as he takes time and pleasure to answer each question fully. One of this race’s unique and pure pleasures, one which perhaps will inspire a new generation of round the world racers?

And the duel for third evens out again this afternoon as Renault Z.E’s Toño Piris and Pachi Rivero fight back, 19 miles ahead of Neutrogena this afternoon both sailing at even speeds.

A special Visio-Conference in the early afternoon linked up guests and representative of sponsors Mirabaud with Dominique Wavre and Michèle Paret.

Rankings at 1400hrs Tuesday 1st March 2011

1               VIRBAC-PAPREC 3 at 7642 miles to finish

2               MAPFRE  79 miles from the leader

3               RENAULT Z.E at 1411 miles

4               NEUTROGENA at  1430 miles

5               MIRABAUD at 1597  miles

6               GROUPE BEL at  1887 miles

7               ESTRELLA DAMM Sailing Team at 1957miles

8               HUGO BOSS at 2308 miles

9               GAES CENTROS AUDITIVOS at 2444miles

10             FORUM MARITIM CATALA at 3907 miles

11            CENTRAL LECHERA ASTURIANA at 4236 miles

12             WE ARE WATER at 4859 miles

RTD        FONCIA

RTD   PRESIDENT

Dee Caffari (GBR) GAES Centros Auditivos:“Things are horrible. We are upwind in 35 knots of wind and it is pretty wet and miserable. We had an ‘everything’ problem, the good thing about it all was that it was daylight when it happened. It was a catalogue of disasters and it took us quite a lot to get through it. And I just had a very brief time in the bean bag and I said to her that I feel like I have been beaten up. I feel quite exhausted by it. We are really wanting this wind to drop now.

We have come back on course now. We decided that we cant run away to the north for ever because it does just make the course worse afterwards. We are back where we should be after having a bit of rest and recovery. We are now just upwind and it is 30-35kts.

According to the forecast by 1800hrs this evening it should start to ease and then we go through our daylight hours upwind.

It was a bit emotional at the time but we did manage to giggle about it, we found the funny side of it, the fact that we were so ridiculously wet. But everything is still working, the boat is OK. We got the sails back on board, so of all the things that did go wrong we dealt with it all well.

It was really good, because I just jump on deck and get on with then I think that she gets a lot of confidence in that, so she drove while I got the sails back on board, and she drove while I sorted the pilots, so she got a bit of a battering each day. We both warmed up and put some dry clothes on and since then we have recovered. It is really good to see her confidence grow so much and in the boat. And we looked after each other, she just said to me that the only thing she wanted was that I not go in the water. I said I was not planning on it!

It is really nice to see Anna progressing, most of confidence and she says that comes from me which I am surprised about, but now she is confident in what the boat can do and making choices like what sails to put up and I am pleased about that, because it makes my life easier. So it is working for both of us.
And she asks questions about, like this is not what you said the Southern Ocean would be like, and I say it is different for me too. It is nice to hear her talking to other skippers in the fleet and sounding more knowledgeable and confident.

Xabi Fernandez (ESP) MAPFRE: “The situation is a little more complicated than the last few days. We have spent the last 24 hours with a lot of showers, one after the other and so we have had no rest. And an area of light winds has really struck us and so we have been losing some miles, little by little.

There are some clouds with showers which bring you squalls and more wind which give you a good push but not in the direction you want. For example we are on a course yesterday of 100-110 degrees and suddenly you get a 50 degrees shift, that is you pointing 50 degrees off your course. On the other hand there are another kind which tyou get which suddenly see the breeze drop from 20 knots to five or six knots, totally quiet and you can do nothing. It pours with rain. And in these hours you are given to wondering how the other boat is going. You kind of assume that it is the same for us both, but the truth is that we had another bad cloud and a spell with zero wind.

I think they are going a bit better than us, we are fighting to stay with them. Although we have got a little bit back I think we can see some compression into Cape Horn. To pass Cape Horn first? …Well it is a big enough achievement at all to pass Cape Horn, but first would be better.

The target is just to go as fast as possible we need to simply get there as quick as possible. If we are slowed or delayed it would be difficult. There is always acceleration of the wind there, and so aside from Virbac-Paprec 3, we just want to be there before the storm gets us.”

Dominique Wavre (SUI) Mirabaud: “We will do all that we can to attack third place, but it is a bit difficult at the moment because tomorrow we have a big depression coming and that will put us in conservation mode not to break anything. And so it is a bit of a difficult position. We are expecting two storms between now and Cape Horn and so it will be difficult but we will be doing all we can to get at third place.”

Michèle Paret (FRA) Mirabaud:“We mostly have enough food to get us to the finish. We have cut back on our consumption. We will have a bit less food for the last week but we don’t have any great concerns. And it is not normal to have to stop to take on food.

At the end of the South Atlantic before the south I felt a bit weak and so we spoke with the doctor and he said I was a bit anemia. And what we had in the boat’s pharmacy would not be enough until the end of the race. And the treatment is long term. So the preference was to get a supply from New Zealand and as soon as I started to take the iron I have been feeling better. And so I continue to take it to make sure I don’t risk a new weakness.”

Dominique Wavre: “Mirabaud is in good shape. We have no big concerns. Yesterday there was a problem with a wind indicator but we use the spare which is a bit less precise but it is a little les precise. The boat feels a little tired, but everything is intact. We have been surfing at 22-23 knots. The wind is lifting and so we go a little north again to wait for the shift and then to return to the south on the back of a major depression heading in the direction of Cape Horn.”

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Having passed through the Cook Straits on Thursday morning (local time), Caffari and Corbella are now 11,199 miles from the finish line of the Barcelona World Race placing them within touching distance of the half way point into their voyage around the globe. The all female duo aboard GAES Centros Auditivos were delighted to be greeted outside of Wellington by the race organisation RIB and briefly posed for photographs before continuing their journey out into the Pacific.

 

Credit Chris Cameron

The GAES girls are breathing a sigh of relief as the anticipated cyclone Atu has now been downgraded to a strong low pressure system. It was previously thought that the cyclone would create winds of up to 80 knots and whilst that seems unlikely now, a confused sea state is still expected and they are agreed that safety and boat preservation must take precedence over a potential loss of miles against competitors.

Commenting yesterday, Caffari said:

“It is just the sea state around it which will be hard on the boat and so it is just making sure we don’t do anything silly and we get this obstacle out of the way. You might lose some miles with these kind of situations but if you and the boat remain in good form then it is easier to make those miles up again than if you have issues and are constantly battling all of the time.”

GAES Project Manager, Harry Spedding, added:

“Tropical storm Atu may have been downgraded but around the centre of this depression there will still be strong winds, just below hurricane force at around 60 knots.  Dee has been tracking the movement of the storm, initially different weather models showed different paths, but these are now all starting to align.  There is a difficult weekend ahead as GAES Centros Auditivos sails into the western side of the depression and then aims to sail over the top of the low pressure, avoiding the stronger winds closer to the centre.”

Virbac-Paprec 3 continue their lead in the Barcelona World Race with Mapfre just 14 miles behind and Renault Z.E. maintaining their position of third. At the 0900hrs ranking today, Caffari and Corbella onboard GAES Centros Auditivos were in 9th place, 39 miles behind Andy Meiklejohn & Wouter Verbraak on Hugo Boss.
 

Aviva has been a longstanding supporter of Dee Caffari and her inspirational record breaking sailing achievements, assisting her to three world records including becoming the first woman to sail solo, non stop, around the world in both directions. As Founding Partner of Caffari’s sailing campaign, Aviva is pleased to extend this support to Corbella and GAES for the Barcelona World Race.

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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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The all female duo’s hearts were certainly racing yesterday but it had little to do with the romance of Valentine’s Day and more to do with the speeds their IMOCA Open 60, GAES Centos Auditivos, was achieving. At one point Caffari and Corbella were polled at 17.1 knots making them one of the fastest boats on the course and allowing them to continue their chase of closest race rivals Andy Meiklejohn & Wouter Verbraak aboard Hugo Boss.

 

GAES Centros Auditivos has now exited the eastern point of the Australian gate and Caffari explains how passing this latest ice gate was not all heart and flowers:

 

“We waited for the gap in the barrier to change sails knowing that, should the wind be gusty or come forward, we could bear away. This was okay and the forecast in the grib file was for the wind to decrease and go left lifting us. This never happened until some 200 miles later making our journey along the second half of the barrier extremely tight. With only 8 miles to play with to stay clear of the barrier we were relieved when the wind did eventually free us up and take the “will we, won’t we?” element away.”

 

Today the GAES girls are enjoying a dry ride with big sails up and Project Manager, Harry Spedding, speculates on the conditions that lie ahead as they race along the south of Australia:

“The next 24 hours will see the girls overtaken by a weakening warm front, with the wind direction shifting between west and north west. Following this they will see a depression giving them a fast ride across the second Australian safety barrier to the Tasman Sea.   The greatest issue will be negotiating the exit of this depression before entering the Cook Straits further north in the Tasman Sea. The end of the week will see some difficult tactical decision making, especially as the wrong decision could give them some very tough conditions.”

The Barcelona World Race continues to be led by Virbac-Paprec 3 with Mapfre second and Estrella Damm third. At the 0900hrs ranking today, Caffari and Corbella onboard GAES Centros Auditivos were in 9th place, 145 miles behind Andy Meiklejohn & Wouter Verbraak on Hugo Boss

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