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Over Speed !
The average speeds noticed thanks to the Argos beacons are just unbelievable : more than 12 knots for some Minis for a few hours ! And the duel between the Slovenian Andraz Mihelin and the Belgian Peter Laureyssens is not about to stop… unless they break something, like some solo sailors this Thursday afternoon. Regarding the Production Boats, Hervé Piveteau is completing a prefect course and literally flies above the sea. A donf !
Everybody was expecting for a nice downwind wind after Spain, but finally they have found the punchy Portuguese Trade winds at the corner ! Twenty to thirty knots North East winds on a Mini with waves more than three metres high, that help sliding very fast… More than 10 knots easily, more than twelve knots being hooked to the steer, one bottle in the cockpit and energetic bars within reach. Because with these conditions, the automatic pilots can hardly support the speeds up to fifteen knots on the top of the waves and ten knots down the waves.
Thus, the reactions of a good helmsman allow a gain of some metres and when the skipper knows that the other competitors will not let anything go neither, he finds the motivation to keep the eyelids open. Because, this is the main problem to manage with these “rush” weather conditions : skippers have to keep on with eating well (even better than usual), drinking a lot (even if the heat remains moderate) and above all, sleeping at least four hours a day by 20 to 40 minutes periods, to make up. And it is always better to make a break when it is daylight and when all the senses are on alert than during the night when one cannot see a lot and all the senses have to be aroused.
Because, with tiredness, come bad reactions, careless mistakes, steer swerving that bring the Minis “down”, crossing the wave with sails beating and broken rudders. These can be paid cash. This way, François Duguet (Crédit Agricole Skipper Challenge) and Laurent Bourgues (Adrénaline) have announced by VHF that they had broken their mast. The Race Office have received the confirmation of this information thanks tot the pre-coded messages of the Argos beacons : they did not ask for help but the Race Director have anyway redirected two support boats to give them a hand if needed. At 17h15, (French time), François Duguet’s Mini was towed by the support boat Gwalarn.
Besides, Xavier Haize (Carben Composites) has indicated that he has a problem aboard and that he is heading to Portugal but do not ask for help. Anthony Marchand (Hinano) has broken a rudder but keep on his course to the Azores. At least, Elaine Chua (Pearl Energy Feng) and Henrik Masekowitz (Merlin Soft) have broken their pole, which make them go slower but do not prevent them from heading to the Archipelago.
Regarding the ocean, both skippers Marie Christine de Brugière (Lady Jim) and Pierre Brasseur (Peintures Ripolin), who had come back in Les Sables d’Olonne and have started again on Wednesday midday are know at an average speed of 6,5 knots on the rhumb line, at about some 200 NM from the Cape Finisterre, in the middle of the Biscay Bay. Nacho Orti (Intrepid Project Valencia), who also has left Gijon this Thursday at 9.00 am, is in their line of sight.
Regarding the prototypes, the duel between Peter Laureyssens (Ecover) and Andraz Mihelin (Adria Mobil Too) continues for the benefit of the Slovenian, and gaps are trifling, seeing the miles still to complete, as both solo sailors will arrive on Thursday night…. at the middle of the race. Especially that some ten miles behind them, the compact pack is lying in wait : Adrien Hardy (Brossard) the souther, David Sineau (Bretagne Lapins), Fabien Despres (Soitec), Nicholas Brennan (Rafiki) and Isabelle Joschke (Degrémont) in their sterns; François Salabert (Aréas Assurances), Olivier Cusin (NégaWatt) and even more Yoann Vadeleau (Owl) in the North. The latitude difference is 150 milles ! But for now, there is no option possible, they just have to maintain the rhythm on the rhumb line. They will have to make a choice this week-end when the North East breeze will slacken turning East. Regarding the production boats, the leader, Hervé Piveteau (Jules) is still clearly in a central position compared with the pack which is also spread out in latitude : 125 miles between Romain Vidal (Bingo) the more South and Grégory Magne (20 minutes) the more North. Between both, the pack is still grouped but the Portuguese Francisco Lobato (BPI) is more and more insistent… By the way, let us notice that the first production boat is almost in the « top ten » of the overall ranking… and the leader in prototypes have completed 195 miles in 24 hours (1.00 pm on Wednesday to 1.00 pm on Thursday) ! Yahoo…
DBo. & AM.
 vendredi 4 août 2006
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Fabienne Robin est arrivée
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