Route du Rhum 2010
Idag 13:02 går starten i Route du Rhum. 86 båtar som skall segla de 3.500 distansen mellan Saint Malo to Pointe-à-Pitre på Guadeloupe.
I IMOCA-klassen är alla de stora namnen med, i de riktigt stora flerskroven hittar vi bland andra Cammas, Joyon, Gavignet & Coville. Och i Class 40 med 46 båtar är väl Bernard Stamm och Pete Goss de största namnen.
Men framför allt håller vi väl koll på Rune Aasberg (Solo) och Jouni Romppanen (Tieto Passion). Även Marco Nanini har en bra blogg,.
Man följer starten på den officiella siten eller via fransk TV på webben.
0: the number of skippers who will celebrate their birthday during the race. However, it is worth noting that Race Director Jean Maurel, will celebrate his 50th birthday on the arrival of the frontrunners in Guadeloupe, on 10th November.
1: the number of Olympic medallists registered in this 2010 edition. Indeed Damien Seguin (Class40 Des pieds et des mains) won silver at the Paralympic Games in Beijing in 2008 aboard a 2.4.
1: solely Tanguy De Lamotte, skipper of the Class40 Novedia Initiatives will be celebrated during the race as Saint Tanguy falls on 19th November in France.
2 x 2: the number of members of the same family competing in the Route du Rhum – La Banque Postale. Hervé and Joris de Carlan, father and son. Franck-Yves and Servane Escoffier, uncle and niece.
3: the 60’ IMOCA monohulls launched this year, which will be taking the start. They comprise three VPLP/Verdier designs: PRB skippered by Vincent Riou (March), Virbac Paprec 3 helmed by Jean-Pierre Dick (May) and Foncia skippered by Michel Desjoyeaux (September).
3: the number of women competing in the race. Servane Escoffier (Saint-Malo 2015 in the Ultimate class), Christine Monlouis (Un monde bleu tout en vert in the Rhum Class) and Anne Caseneuve (Naviguez Anne Caseneuve in the Multi50).
3: the number of inhabitants of Saint Malo who will set sail for Pointe-à-Pitre. (Servane Escoffier in the Ultimate class, Franck-Yves Escoffier in Multi50 and Julien Mabit in the Rhum class).
5: the former winners of the Route du Rhum – La Banque Postale competing again this year (Roland Jourdain, Thomas Coville in 1998, Lionel Lemonchois in 2006, Franck-Yves Escoffier in 2006 and 2002 and Michel Desjoyeaux in 2002 ).
5: the record number of participations in the Route du Rhum held by Francis Joyon (IDEC). 5: the number of inhabitants from Guadeloupe at the start of this 9th edition (In Class 40, Willy Bissainte, Jimmy Dreux and Philippe Fiston. In the Rhum class, Luc Coquelin and Christine Monlouis. Of note is the fact that the latter is the first woman from the region to compete in the Route du Rhum – La Banque Postale).
5.25: the number of metres by which Gitana 11, the winning trimaran from the last edition with Lionel Lemonchois, has been extended.
7: the Class40s built in 2010 and registered for the Route du Rhum – La Banque Postale. Four Pogo 40 S2s (Nicolas Troussel, Régis Guillemot, Damien Grimont and Jean-Edouard Criquioche), two Akilaria RC 2 (Philippe Fiston and Pete Goss) and one Tyker 40 Evolution (Eric Defert).
7: the number of days required by Gitana 11, which was driven at a hellish pace by Lionel Lemonchois four years ago, to devour the Atlantic in one (7 days 17 hours 19′ 6”). This is the time needed to be improved on to be the fastest across the course.
7: the sailors registered in the Route du Rhum – La Banque Postale 2010 who have a record approved by the WSSRC (World Sailing Speed Record Council). Franck Cammas (Groupama 3), Francis Joyon (IDEC), Thomas Coville (Sodebo), Lionel Lemonchois (Prince de Bretagne), Sidney Gavignet (Oman Air Majan), Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) and Kito de Pavant (Groupe Bel).
10: the nationalities represented in this 9th edition (New Zealander, Italian, Dutch, Swiss, Belgian, German, Norwegian, Spanish, Finnish and American).
12: the size in metres of the smallest boat of the fleet. Her name is Acapella, Charlie Capelle’s trimaran and a sistership to the winning boat in 1978. She will take the start of the Rhum this year for the fourth time, a great feat considering she capsized off Spain in 2006.
22: the age of the youngest skipper of the event, Joris de Carlan. From nearby Saint Brieuc the youngster will set off on 31st October aboard the oldest boat of the fleet, Generik – Exp’hair, a 12.6 m boat built by his father and uncle in 1972 and launched in 1976.
22.50: the size of Groupama 3’s beam. As such Franck Cammas’ maxi-trimaran won’t be able to go through the locks of the port of Saint Malo. Instead she will be moored alongside the quay at the port station.
32: the size, in metres, of the largest boats of the fleet, the trimaran Sodebo skippered by Thomas Coville and Oman Air Majan skippered by Sidney Gavignet.
35: the number of amateurs competing in this Route du Rhum – La Banque Postale 2010. That amounts to 42% of the total number of participants.
60: the age of the oldest racer of the fleet, Gilbert Chollet. This Breton business manager, who has just recently retired, will be taking part in his first Route du Rhum – La Banque Postale in the Class40, Chimirec EVTV.
86: the number of skippers registered in this 9th edition. A record!
163: the size, in centimetres, of the smallest sailor in this 9th edition, Servane Escoffier.
3,543: the number of miles the 86 sailors will have to cover to get from Saint Malo to Pointe-à-Pitre.
Oct 31, 2010 @ 11:03
Helt underbart!!! Fan att man inte lärt sig franska!
Oct 31, 2010 @ 11:17
Med 88 timmars TV-sändning hinner man snappa upp några ord ;-)
Oct 31, 2010 @ 11:27
Glöm inte Virtual Regatta. http://www.virtualregatta.com/index_rdr_lbp.php
Just nu 91.357 skippers!!!
Oct 31, 2010 @ 11:50
Om ni kör på Virtual Regatta så avsluta ert användarnamn med “SWE”. Kul att se lite svenskar därute på sjöhavet ;-)
Oct 31, 2010 @ 12:43
hmm o d säger du nu!!! Atomic56 är jag iallafall ;)
Oct 31, 2010 @ 13:19
Du kan gå in i din profil och lägga till det. Verkar vara en “viss” överbelastning på servern…
segelochpaddel SWE kör jag med
Oct 31, 2010 @ 14:06
Får inte upp sidan alls sen innan start :( Ok, ska lägga till swe ;)
Oct 31, 2010 @ 16:50
Bandito1
Oct 31, 2010 @ 17:00
Min planerade superstart blev landkänning eftersom servern brakade direkt vid start…
Bara att komma igen ;-)
I morse var det 65.000 registrerade nu är det snart 120.000. Virtual Regatta råkade ut för samma rusch vid starten av Vendée Globe och då tog det ett drygt dygn innan det stabiliserade sig med servrar.
Oct 31, 2010 @ 15:17
Nu 106.194 skippers. Nästan 15.000 nya seglare på 4 timmar!
Nov 1, 2010 @ 09:39
Haha, Peter! Ditt fel att 15000 svenska företag tvärnitar när alla är ute o seglar på arbetstid…..
Oct 31, 2010 @ 15:12
Håller tummarna för Safran i IMOCA-klassen samt Crepes Whaou i Mulit 50 då dessa har svenska riggar. Har ju gått mkt bra för de båda i tidigare race och jag hoppas på segrar även här!
Oct 31, 2010 @ 15:54
Kom igen nu Franck!
Nov 1, 2010 @ 08:02
Vad vet Rune som vi andra inte vet? Radikalt vägval så här tidigt?
http://routedurhum-labanquepostale.geovoile.com/2010/?lg=en
Här är Marco Naninis (Class 40 UniCredit) senaste mail:
Nov 1, 2010 @ 08:45
Såg förklaringen hos Erik Kristiansen på Faceboo:
Nov 1, 2010 @ 12:37
Jag gillar Francks vägval, han ser ju ut att ha betydligt bättre vinkel än båtarna i norr men framöver ser vinden ut att tunna ur, spännande!
Nov 1, 2010 @ 17:02
Å hur tänker Sindney, tänker han kryssa på rumbline kommande dygnen?
Nov 1, 2010 @ 17:16
Eller så är Groupama 3 så snabb att hon hinner ner till tradewinds, rundar söder om Azsorerna och ropar hej knekt!
Verkar vara ensam om att tycka detta är skitball…
Nov 1, 2010 @ 17:27
Häller med dig Jimmy
Skit skojj se hur det kommer att gå… spännande
Nov 1, 2010 @ 19:07
Kolla Cammas uttalande nedan…
Nov 1, 2010 @ 21:30
+2, otroligt kul att följa. Verkar som att Desjoyeaux hänger på Cammas söderut. Ser dock betydligt tightare ut för honom att hinna runt högtrycket i tid. Spännande…
Nov 1, 2010 @ 19:06
Nov 1, 2010 @ 19:09
Nov 2, 2010 @ 09:26
Ser Grymt bra ut för Franck nu i Categorie Ultime, undanvindsåka i tradewinds som fyller på mer längre söderut medans stackars Sidney har bonnkryss 430 dist rakt norrut, phu!
Kanske hinner Michel Desjoyeaux också runda högtrycket på samma sätt som Cammas även fast han sitter i en betydligt långsammare Imoca 60? Kaxig strategi!
Värre ser det ur för de i Class 40 som är på väg söderut, de ser ut att bli uppätna av högtrycket, undra om de kommer slå tillbaka mot flottan i norr?
Nov 2, 2010 @ 12:39
Ganska stor split i IMOCA 60 nu. Jag hoppas och tror att Michel Desjoyeaux hinner runt söder om högtrycket. Då har han ett bra läge.
Tight och fint i Classe 40. Kul att se Thomas Ruyant, som vann Mini Transat 2009, i täten. Classe 40-båtarna har nog inte mycket annat val än att kryssa norr om högtrycket, eller?
Nov 2, 2010 @ 22:18
Senaste från Class40…
Marco Nanini:
Route du Rhum, Northwest Slammer starring Chuck Norris
It’s been far from sunshine plain sailing so far in the Route du Rhum, the
wind has been from the west or south west for a while and it’s difficult
to identify the best corridor to go west. The little shifts in the wind
are to be played to stay on the best tack but the sea state has been
horrible, or perhaps I have memories of my old boat, British Beagle, which
would beat to windward powering through the waves without much braggish
noise this big powerful 40s do, they are attention seeking babies
constantly needing their big white nappies to be changed or adjusted, when
it’s time to tack I’d rather tell a rebellious teenager to help with the
house chores, they’ll do it, yes, but hold a grudge and make a mess of it.
I am conscious of the fact we are approaching the day three low
point. Morale will be low for all, slow progress, relentless slamming make
Jack a dull boy. This is were you distance yourself a bit and just press
on, we should be through the worst by friday.
Earlier Regis Guillemot was powering down onto me, looking real fast, the
wind was increasing streadily and i had already changed for the staysail,
he was coming lower and fast on the a bigger headsail just as he was a few
hundred yards from me he went forward to change down, by the time he was
done i could hardly see him behind me on the horizon, every manouvre takes
a lot of effort. It’s a bit like watching the telly but with a twist.
Imagine you’re watching a movie, called “Northwest Slammer” which you dont
particularly like, you want to change to “Southwest Banger” on channel 4,
the twist is that every time you want to flick channel on the remote you
have to move all the furniture of your flat from one room to another, you
can see how the mind will start thinking “Northwest Slammer” is not that
bad after all…
Stacking stuff from one side to the other is hard work in this sea state,
flying across the cabin holding a box and landing with your back on the
corner of the bunk is interesting, especially if you like that MTV program
Jackass.
Anyhow, no big complaints here, nothing broken yet, I’ve been eating quite
little but this afternoon i managed an italian royal feast, pasta! well, I
have been known to have lowered my food standards since moving to the Uk,
and in fact what i call pasta was luke warm Heinz macaroni cheese from a
tin, absolutely gorgeous, i licked the pan when i finished. Next I’ll make
tea at five and apply for a passport.
I climbed another few positions, to 23rd, but i’ll suffer on the next
report, i dont think it’s feasible to stay on the “Northwest slammer, i’ll
end up in 35 knots of wind with a sea that will have built over several
days, i think it will be farcically hard to beat through it, so i’m on the
Southwest banger for a bit and will go across tomorrow.
Ciao for now, thumbs up on UniCredit.
Nov 3, 2010 @ 08:23
På twitter
@SEILmagasinet
SEILmagasinet
Rune Aasberg har måttet bryte i Route du Rhum. http://www.seilmagasinet.no/id/36779
13 minutes ago via web Favorite Retweet Reply
Nov 3, 2010 @ 09:03
Otroligt synd. Jag tror alla vet hur otroligt besviken Rune måste vara. Men sånt här händer även den bäste, och jag är säker på att Rune kommer igen starkare än någonsin.
Nov 3, 2010 @ 09:39
Autopiloterna är ett stående inslag i “bryta-listan”. Väl värt ett eget inlägg på blur.se!
Nov 3, 2010 @ 09:48
Japp, har det i planen.
Nov 3, 2010 @ 12:35
Och Marco Naninni har också problem med sin pilot och nätverk!
Nov 3, 2010 @ 12:56
Marco Nanini:
First major setback, pressing on
As my mama used to say, life is like a box of NKE instruments, you never
know which one is going to fail today.
I’ve had minor problems with my pilot since yesterday, no amount of
adjusting the settings or the trim of the boat would get it to steer
properly in apparent wind mode, pretty essential stuff to windward, so I
used compass mode instead all night which is ok but slower as it doesnt
react to slight wind changes and is hence less efficient. I lost a few
positions this morning but blamed it on the sea state, perhaps it was a
combination of wind and waves that was confusing the pilot.
The best part was still to come, as the sea went flatter i engaged
apparent wind again, same problem, then all the numbers on the screen went
crazy, the screens and remote stopped responding, so i dived through the
companion way to turn the NKE off jumped out with the boat hard over
heaved to… I brought the boat around and sailing again, I waited for a
calm patch, dived down to turn on the pilot, went out, this is where the
problems started.
The screens in the cockpit was showing an error saying “Master missing”,
silly boys i shouted to the screens, I am the master here! To no avail.
Lost for choice i had to tack and heave-to stopping the boat. I
disconnected all the screens and restarted the pilot, all seemed ok, i
engaged the pilot and it was fine for a moment then it stopped responding,
dived down again, stopped, heaved-to… i tried the backup pilot, same
problem, this was getting serious, no pilot. I disconnected all cables
from the derivation box except one computer head. Restarted, ok, i got the
boat going in compass mode, with no data in the cockpit nor remote. Next i
checked the wiring of the remote, got that working again, then the wind
instruments, i have 2, i reconnected the first and the problem reoccurred,
but the second seems now to work. So i’m sailing again, no instruments in
the cockpit for now, but that can wait.
I dread to read the positions report at 12.
Nov 3, 2010 @ 17:02
Marco Nanini:
Is I from west side or east side, dont axe me
All is good again, I managed to restart the autopilot, remote control and
all instruments, this means morale is soaring, this morning felt a bit
like a black friday stock market crash but when i got it working it was a
massive base rate cut and stimulus package sending traders on a high, may
only work for the short term but why worry about tomorrow! It’s not like
I’m on a ship sailing into the atlantic far away from any help.
All sorted then.
Day three was always going to be the hardest, it’s in the rule book of
offshore sailing that day 3 feels like a hangover, there is no cure just
waiting for tomorrow.
Mich on same route as last year? do i get a sense of Desjavu?
Rune on Solo is heading back, real shame, i hope nothing serious, I was
looking forward to a new duel following RBI.
No other serious problems, other than i spilt a drink on my keyboard and
it all started talking like someone from south london, couldnt spell ask,
would come out as axe. I sent it to spelling school in the engine room, to
dry out, typing on laptop now….
Ciao,
m.
Nov 3, 2010 @ 18:52
Kul att se att så många miniseglare ligger bra till i classe 40!
Det är också extra kul att följa Jorg som seglat stabilt i år i sin Mini samt Manuard med sin första classe 40 design.
Nov 3, 2010 @ 19:13
Ser ut att vara ett klurigt väderläge för de flesta, utom för Franck som just passerar Azorerna och ropar “Hej Knekt!”
Nov 3, 2010 @ 19:14
Nov 3, 2010 @ 19:51
Sidney Gavignet activates distress beacon.At 1648 CET (GMT+1) Oman Air Majan skipper Sidney Gavignet reported that he has substantial damage to the leeward front beam. Oman Air Majan was sailing in 20 knots of wind, upwind and the conditions were not extreme. Sidney has activated his distress beacon and is currently in the main hull, he is in his survival suit and is not injured. There is no water in the main hull and it remains watertight. Race director Jean Maurel is in contact with the Portuguese rescue service, and he remains in constant contact with Sidney and his shore team. An update will be issued once further information is obtained.
Nov 3, 2010 @ 23:55
Route du Rhum-La Banque Postale – Oman Air Majan update, skipper resuced.
As outlined in the last statement at 18: 30 CET (GMT+1), Oman Air Majan received substantial damage to the leeward front beam, and it is confirmed that Oman Air Majan has lost her mast. The port float is under the main beam; due to the serious nature of damage, and the uncertainty, the skipper Sidney Gavignet has made the difficult decision to abandon the boat.
At 20: 51 CET (GMT+1) skipper Sidney Gavignet was picked up by a bulk carrier called Cavo Alexander which was en route to Turkey. Sidney is safe and well and is in contact with his shore team via satellite phone. The bulk carrier is 840 miles from Gibralter and is expected there in two days.
Oman Air Majan is being tracked via its iridium-tracking device and a salvage operation is well under way.
Nov 4, 2010 @ 16:40
Marco Nanini:
Neck breaking ride to the wild west
This is intense sailing at its best, walls of water crashing over the
boat, the whole fleet had cracked off to speed up and meet the front as
early as possible, it’s a balance between speed and height, it’s important
not to lose too much ground at this stage as when we’ll go through the
front the rich will get richer finding the following winds. Finding the
right point of sail is not easy, i can sail at 270 at 8.5 knots or at
280-285 at over 9 knots, there seems to be a no-go zone in between where i
simply leap off waves at great speed in the loudest and scariest of
crashes…
Anyhow, really pleased with the position report, I moved in the top 20 and
it’ll be hard work hanging on to it let alone passing others, but i wont
stop trying…
All good from a very wild UniCredit
– – –
Excellent spirits but sea state deteriorating fast for UniCredit
This beat is like those sports massages, you know it’ll feel good tomorrow
but you just wish it was over sooner. The wind has backed a little which is
good for the route but this means we are going almost perpendicularly into
the old waves, i just lept off the top of a massive stray wave and i felt
my heart in my throat as we were airborne, my mind thought that’s it, we
landed into an absolutely deafening crash, i instinctively looked at the
mast, still standing… not sure how to improve the situation, if i bear
off we’ll go even faster, if i slow down we wont power through and slam at
every wave, the jib does all the job in keeping the bow down. We have until
tomorrow of this, which is becoming quite disturbing, the last thing i need
is some damage.
I know it could all be short lived as the gaps between the boats are very
small, as i can gain a few i can lose a few but very chuffed to see
UniCredit up in 16th from 26th yesterday, i dont read much into it, i can
easily wake up tomorrow and dropped al the way back. Apparently i did the
9th best 24 hours run in the fleet with 170 miles to windward,
unsurprisingly Thomas Ruyant clocked 188, but was pretty much as fast as
Groupe Picoty.
The leach of the reefed main fell of the lazy jack to leward
of the boom and flogged itself a bit, nothing serious but a shame to
inflict this treatment to a brand new sail, it happened during the night.
I’m looking at the longer term weather to see what’s in for us after the
cold front, although there will be plenty of following winds it is tricky
band to negotiate, it would be tempting to stay starboard tack and clock
the miles straight on the rumb line however it may pay off to try to make
more aggressive south through the azores… we’ll have to see. The
southern route which didnt look good a couple of days ago has improved
dramatically, i think they may be onto something, it’s a case of how fast
we’ll go in the strong northwesterlies as for them it could be a straight
run all the way to guadalupe, we will probably have a massive randez vous
just south of the azores and it’ll be a case of who gets there first.
I wished to thank all those who have sent me messages through
http://www.marconannini.com/sms i havent replied to many but it makes a real
difference for spirits to receive them, big thanks, and carry on sending
them.
Nov 4, 2010 @ 19:24
The battle of the Atlantic
Whilst Groupama 3 has just passed the midway mark in the race in exactly the same position as the winner of the 2006 edition after four days of sailing, her main rival, Sodebo, has just finished her stint through headwinds and is now hurtling along on a direct course towards the finish.
At this very moment in the Route du Rhum La Banque Postale, Franck Cammas has a 346 mile lead over Thomas Coville, making an average speed of twenty knots over 17 hours or simply 26 knots over thirteen hours.
These figures clearly illustrate the fragility of Groupama’s lead over Sodebo. After having the lead snatched from her a couple of days ago, the sailor who was part of Franck’s crew aboard the maxi-trimaran in the Jules Verne Trophy back in the winter has managed to remain a threat, even getting the better of Idec and Gitana 11. Taking a route on the other side of the front, Sodebo is sailing in powerful downwind conditions which are enabling her to reach high average speeds on a course towards the SW.
To her South, Groupama 3 is also making for Guadeloupe at an average of 24 knots. However, unlike his direct rival, skipper Franck is still sailing in S’ly wind. He hasn’t yet crossed over to the other side of the depression; a passage which is likely to slow him down for a few hours this evening, making the threat from Coville a little more precise.
Once around this final hurdle, the two skippers will have to give their all in what will be similar to a final sprint. More powerful than her adversary, Groupama 3 will be more at ease in well established tradewinds but, if they’re light, it’ll be a more balanced competition where the advantage might even go to Sodebo.
As such the suspense is still tangible and you would have to be either very presumptuous or highly defeatist to deem the race over already. This is all the more true given that the men are tired and their gear is really under pressure…
Positions at 1500 hours on Thursday 4th November
1/ Groupama 3 some 1,771.9 miles from the finish
2/ Sodebo 346.4 miles from the leader
3/ Gitana 11 some 356.6 miles astern
4/ Idec 372.3 miles astern
5/ La Boite à Pizza 684.9 miles astern
…
Nov 5, 2010 @ 11:35
Marco Nanini:
Route du Rhum, if the answer is banana call in a consultant
After i wrote about my leap and crash with the boat i became aware of a
cracking fiberglass noise below, it didnt take long before total paranoia
set in, to understand better you have to know i am deaf from one ear so i
cannot locate where a sound comes from (the brain normally works out the
angle the sound comes from by using the split difference in timing it
receives the information from the two ears). So in pitch black darkness i
start going around like a confused dog orientating my good ear left and
right and trying to tell where the sound seems strongest, not easy as the
boat continues to bash and crash… paranoia is almost replaced by panic
when the noise appears strongest at the main load bearer of the coachroof
which supports the mast. Just as i lean over to inspect from one end to
the other i push onto the stacked food boxes, made of plastic, and here’s
the noise!
Some of the stuff that goes through your mind is at times totally weird, i
have a recurring experience when sailing solo, same happened in OSTAR,
there seems an “awake Marco” and a “sleep Marco”… so when i lie down
there appears to be a transition where my thoughts are handed over to
sleep Marco who then goes off to elaborate dreams and wonderful place, but
most bizarrely, my sleep Marco speaks of awake Marco as if it were another
person, with thoughts like “when i wake up i’ll ask Marco what he thinks
about this”..
So having ascertained for a fact that i’m a paranoid schizophrenic with
multiple personality disorder, and a touch of bipolar personality through
the highs and lows, let’s get back to the Route du Rhum. Jerome sent me a
message saying doing the route du rhum is like being in a parallel
time-space, a bit like a Kubrick movie. If it’s Kubrick than i’m
definitely one of the monkeys, this morning i took down the staysail, the
haliard sock has split, the problem is that it’s a 2 to 1 halyard so i
would need to climb the mast to fix it… so as a monkey in space odissey
who has seen a sailing rope for the first time i sat on the foredeck for
a while thinking very hard how to solve it. I think the answer i came up
with was “banana”, so i told “foredeck Marco” that was not very helpful
and i was going to call “chart table Marco” for a consultation. I
scheduled a meeting for 10:30 am sharp for all the Marcos on board to
discuss the issue, i shall forward you a copy of the minutes as soon as
the meeting is over, we may have to nominate a steering committee for the
task as too many people in a room never reach a conclusion.
Far from going mad i am in good spirits, i lived every american teenage
girl dream with a mental party for my sweet sixteen (position) although i
can see the fangs of a couple of hungry dogs just behind.
The seastate improved overnight and the wind has actually dropped, but was
very stable for hours so i took the chance to recharge my batteries and
sleep several times summing up to quite a few hours, important to be fresh
for the next bit, downwind most likely with spinnakers to start with some
left over seas to facilitate wrapping the kite into a monkey’s fist. Gotta
go, i have my halyard meeting shortly and havent prepared the projector
slides yet.
Ciao!
marco.
Nov 5, 2010 @ 15:56
Marco Nanini:
Approaching the front and minutes of meeting
Well, as it often happens in large corporations an internal political
struggle made it difficult to reach a decision at the “Project Staysail”
meeting, too many voices each driving to their individual goal, so that we
had demand for a stopover at the Azores to get more bananas as well as
that we should simply go to disneyland as sailing is boring (i suspect
that was my inner child).
The only way to reach a quick solution overcoming disagreement was to call
an external consultant which could be later blamed for the unpopular
choice calling it market expertise. So i dropped an email to Roberto
“McKinsey” Westermann who said the most elegant solution would be to pull
and strip the sock to back deck level and preserve the 2:1. The other
alternative would have been to either cut this line to make it single
purchase or feed the only spare halyard i have on board.
Result, we sent the dumbest of Marcos to the foredeck with a penknife and
he sat there with the occasional wave breaking over him patiently pulling
down on the sock than cutting it off, half an inch at a time for about 2
and half hours. The remainder of sock was stitched in place.
I see Conrad Colman and Louis Burton have reached the front and sailing
fast on course, next should be Bouchart and Picoty, then me i hope… the
wind dropped to 9-10kt so we slowed down, judging by the other tracks i
should expect to be headed before the wind swing, i may temporarily drop
behind Daval and Grassi but ultimately make gains on them. We shall see,
all exciting stuff.
ciao,
marco.
Nov 5, 2010 @ 18:47
The sense of anticipation
Normally, during this time of year, the tradewinds are generally nice and steady, yet it has to be said that this doesn’t appear to be the case for the competitors in the Ultimate Class competing in the Route du Rhum La Banque Postale.
Positioned 300 miles to the North of Groupama 3, Thomas Coville’s Sodebo is enjoying stronger wind from a better direction to maintain a high average speed. In this way, the skipper has been able to make up 86 miles on the leader over the past 24 hours.
Similarly, Francis Joyon, who is positioned to the East of Groupama 3, has made up 60 miles of his deficit, whilst Yann Guichard has lost around a hundred miles.
On the Atlantic race zone then, things aren’t exactly sticking to the usual routine. Variable both in terms of strength and direction, the wind is imposing a fast physical rhythm on the sailors, who not only have to keep watch for sudden surges of breeze to avoid capsizing, but also wind holes, so as they don’t lose ground on their rivals by keeping an unsuitable sail configuration up for too long.
To spice things up a bit, you have no prior warning about how long this phase will last: you think it’s going to last a good while so you manoeuvre by hoisting or reducing the sail area. Lots of physical effort is involved at that point, as well as a drop in speed as you perform the manoeuvres. If your forecast proves to be right then it’s BINGO. There you are carrying the correct sail configuration, happy with the efforts you’ve made to get where you are. Where the opposite is true, it’s hell. You’re stuck fast or forced to go up on deck to avoid the risk of capsizing.
Such is the life of the multihull skipper, who only sleeps in 20 minute chunks.
Suffice to say that as the skippers begin to tackle the sixth day at sea, just 1,338 miles from the finish, the fatigue must be seriously beginning to make its presence felt. There’s no question of easing off the pace though: you have to earn a Rhum!
Positions at 1500 hours on Friday 5th November
1/ Groupama 3 some 1,338 miles from the finish
2/ Sodebo 260.6 miles from the leader
3/ Idec 309.4 miles astern
4/ Gitana 11 some 453 miles astern
5/ La Boite à Pizza 905.2 miles astern
Nov 6, 2010 @ 00:45
Fasten seatbelts, we have taken off
i’ve just sat down for the first time after finding the new winds, the
transition has been very slow and painful in terms of miles lost, i went
through the front which was just endless miles of light airs and constant
rain with mixed seas that made it difficult to keep the boat going… it
was as light as 5-6 knots at times… eventually in the space of a hundred
meters the wind veered, i tacked, it kept veering and it filled in at
20-25 knots very suddenly. Now i have solid 29-35 knots and you wont see
me near a kite in this even if you bribed me with steak beer and a
shower… i’m now averaging a good 12-13kt with surfs into 16 or so…
It is a little daunting in total darkness but pretty cool to see the miles
ticking by, i’ve had similar conditions in the qualifier, there i had the
staysail and three reefs, i’m on solent and 2 reefs now that we are
racing… i really wonder if anyone had the guts to fly anything more, i
really dont think so, it’s still a long way away to be taking such risks.
Marco.
Nov 6, 2010 @ 08:50
Good things come to those who wait – 100 miles in 8 hours!
The beat to this front, that has now given us strong following winds
should be turned into one of those Guinness adverts, three days of beating
in sometimes rather uncomfortable seas with the promise of a wild ride
south, and that’s what we got, and it is absolutely fantastic stuff.
Start the counters for the fastest 24 hours run, it won’t be me i suspect,
but i can’t complain with 100 miles in just 8 hours and a jump into 15th
place. To be fair the two guys behind me are so close that we’ll probably
swap places several times. Most importantly i’m in the right pack of
wolves, we now need to consolidate the lead towards all other boats,
including names such as Nicholas Troussel and Pete Goss who went south.
Surfing at 12.5kt average sustained over 8 hours in total pitch black
darkness, with a top speed of 21kt in winds of 30-35kt (top gust 38kt) is
just mind blowing. I am sitting in a car that is being jet washed by ten
fire hydrants, there are some funny accelerations and wave dives where we
lift so much spray that from below it feels like a tunnel of water but
apart from that it is all pretty flat and stable, i have to admit to be
wearing slippers again, just as i used to do in OSTAR, i can’t stand boots
forever, in fact i had chicken curry for dinner followed by a good hour
and a half sleep, i must not drain all energies as it is due to go lighter
later meaning i must be fresh for spinnaker work, outside is no place to
be, it wouldnt make any different in total darkness anyway. It felt a
little stressful at the beginning but it shouldn’t be, as long as nothing
breaks this is why we came to do the Route du Rhum!
Nov 6, 2010 @ 19:02
Final sprint…
With less than a thousand miles to go to the finish, Franck Cammas isn’t releasing his grip over the head of the race. Making fast headway aboard a trimaran he knows like the back of his hand, the skipper of Groupama 3 isn’t sparing of his efforts to constantly hunt down the best course towards Pointe à Pitre; a route which appears to be a little bumpy…
The current conditions on the water are now tending towards being stable, though yesterday was far from restful: “Yesterday was complicated. I passed beneath a line of squalls which took up most of the day, with some big gusts at 45 knots. I wasn’t very proud of myself. I put in two gybes last night in a shifting wind of between 23 and 33 knots. Since this morning the skies have been clear and Groupama 3 is slipping along at speed!”
In frequent contact with Jean-Luc Nélias and Charles Caudrelier, his routers, Franck is seeking to position himself as best he can to tackle the winds which promise to be both shifty and light as he approaches the arc of the West Indies. Most of the day will focus on when the best time is to anticipate a gybe; a manoeuvre which is always tricky, not necessarily the action itself but the decision about when it must be carried out. “I have to put in a gybe in the afternoon. I hope conditions will be slightly easier because it’s quite tense right now in very big seas. I’m going to try to do the same thing as last night. You have to anticipate it well: choose the moment when the wind isn’t too violent, choose the right waves and keep up a lot of speed with Groupama 3 for it to work.”
A sailor’s life
Naturally feeling a sense of fatigue now, Franck is making the most of his excellent physical condition to continue performing well. The Groupama skipper was able to recharge his batteries a little last night and is awaiting tonight to do the same thing.
Aboard Groupama 3, Franck is living in a highly reduced space since he spends the majority of his time under the trimaran’s cuddy where a remote navigation station is set up: “Aboard Groupama 3, the chart table is under the cuddy on deck level. I never go below as I can do the navigation outside and also I’m not far from the sheets if need be!”
A competitor through and through, it’s evident that he is more determined than ever aboard a boat which is a true all-rounder in terms of good speed in all types of wind and every point of sail.
Position report at 1500 hours GMT on Saturday 6th November
1/ Groupama 3 some 887 miles from the finish
2/ Sodebo 206 miles astern
3/ Idec 260 miles from the leader
4/ Gitana 11 some 530 miles from the leader
Nov 6, 2010 @ 19:03
This is absolutely amazing stuff
This morning i realized the small lazarette leak i had noticed in the past
has gotten a lot worse, or, actually, i finally understood the cause, the
rudder stock seals, which work fine up to 10-11 knots start squirting
water like you just knifed the jugular of a cow under the enormous
pressure at high speeds. So, since i’ve been surfing since yesterday i’ve
also been bailing since yesterday, about a bucket every two hours, but
made a routine of it and there’s never more than a few spongefuls at any
given time.
No time to dwell on the negative as today has been an absolutely glorious
day, sunshine and pretty broken clouds, surfing at 11 to 15 knots
constantly and rather effortlessly. The nasty gusting winds which gave us
bursts of 38kt through the night and which cost Thierry Bouchart his
solent have started to calm down, we are now in the 25-30kt range but with
occasionally a bit less. So I changed up from the Solent to the smallest
gennaker, the A5 to gain a couple of knots, in theory you could already
fly the medium spinnaker, the A6, but i simply do not trust cold front
unstable air masses and it is still a long way to go.
My GPS has started to play up, he says he cant get a fix, as this is a
drug-free alcohol-free boat it’ll just have to put up with it and let
loose in the nightlife of guadalupe, meanwhile i disconnected it and put
in the Priory box in the engine room, where all bad electronics spends a
spell of rehab from moisture, they normally work when they come out.
Curious how this bit will come out in french.
I’m absolutely thrilled with progress so far, back in 15th and in the last
4 hours lost nothing to the leader, we sailed more than a 1000 miles and
i’m a mile behind Solidaire du Chocolat winner Tanguy de Lamotte, perhaps
we should shorten the course here. Sure Thomas Ruyant just seems to go
faster and faster, but we are living different dreams, I’m still shedding
the excess pot belly of the life of an office slob.
Once more thanks for all your messages sent through http://www.marconannini.com/sms they range from the supportive to the absurd, but are absolutely top stuff to keep the spirits as high as they have been throughout this adventure so far.
Nov 6, 2010 @ 23:06
The 06/11/2010
Jouni Romppanen abandons
Finland’s Jouni Romppanen (Tieto Passion), engaged in Class 40, throws in the towel. He deplored the persistent worries of electronics. Unable to repair and proceed without pilot, helicopter pilot who was playing his first transatlantic solo and evolved in light winds off the Portuguese coast, en route to Lisbon.
Nov 7, 2010 @ 14:00
Did the curious fly land onto jam
As far as the British movie industry is concerned, the brits just love an
underdog story, so this morning when i checked the positions and found i
was in 10th position i felt things may turn for the worse. Let me explain,
the plot of an american underdog story usually ends with triumph, wealth,
a pretty girl and social acclamation, the Brits, who have far more sense
of humour would not let this to happen, not even in cinematographic
fiction. More typically said underdog has an evil parent or relative, call
him Uncle Ben, who has two interests, making packet rice and telling
underdog he’ll never succeed. Underdog nevertheless has a will of his own
and carries on with his passion, slowly rises to fame, this becomes the
basis for a reconciliation between underdog and Uncle Ben. Yet as the
movie comes to an end and the crucial moment/performance is due from
underdog, he miserably fails, and returns to his previous life but a
better person, finally able to pursue his small town boy destiny, becoming
a jobless alcoholic with a Ladbrokes gambling addiction.
So the big question today is, have i sailed too far into the high after my
rise to 10th in the Route du Rhum? Was my a short term gain and a long
term loss, my decision was partially conscious and partially unconscious,
in the sense that i may have overindulged in napping before finally
deciding it was time to gybe.
I am still split in two from one side i see the stronger winds south but
these too are due to die off before i could get there, from the other i
dont think the fastest way to the finish is due south, Ruyant is still
sailing VMG, rather than simply dipping south and if the high deplaces
towards the azores it is too late to try to squeeze underneath and
computer says take the brunt it will go over you, rather than try to avoid
it and have it chase you. Truth be told i really dont know, Ruyant may be
far ahead, just enough to squeeze past, in that case there will be no
stopping him, i, on the other hand may be glued to this ocean like a
curious fly into jam until the new breeze fills in. Well every good story
has highs and lows, and this is no different. Stay tuned for the next
episode.
Meanwhile i’m under masthead spinnaker and full main, 12-14 knots of wind
and doing about 8kt ish.
m.
Anyhow, these are very delicate times ahead, i think in the big races the
winners emerge from the light winds, not from the strong ones, which
implicitly is to say that i’m absolutely delighted with my tenth place,
but anything can happen from here.
M
Nov 7, 2010 @ 20:52
Transition …
You cannot count on anything in the Route du Rhum. Unless you refer to the suspense, which is something that is always guaranteed. With 474 miles to go, Groupama 3 is tackling a zone of light airs as forecast. Speeds have dropped from 20 to 10 knots, which is inversely proportional to the effort put in by Franck Cammas.
For now the sails for strong breeze have been stowed away. The large solent is out of its bag getting some air. The reefs in the mainsail have one by one been shaken out.
On deck the spray is no longer lashing against the face of Groupama 3’s skipper. We can imagine the sea which is becoming calmer.
Between the manoeuvres, trimming and weather analysis for the end of this race, Franck hasn’t got a lot of time to think about the situation. The position of his rivals is hardly of interest to him now given their sizeable deficits. They aren’t irreversible but they are sizeable.
At the last position report, it was Francis Joyon who was sending the speedos into turmoil, making 18 knots in relation to Groupama 3’s 10 knots. Suffice to say that at this pace, the 355 mile deficit he has at the moment will quickly shrink away.
However, 474 miles from the finish, the skipper of Groupama 3 isn’t surprised. He was expecting it in fact. Put away in the corner of his brain, this distance doesn’t overshadow his flawless determination. Indeed Cammas is a competitor through and through. He’s a sailor who knows that you can’t count on anything until you’re across the finish line.
In Pointe à Pitre a moderate S’ly wind is blowing across the land. The sky is overcast and there’s a sticky heat. The bookmakers could line their pockets. In reality it’s the meteorologists above all who have their noses to the grindstone, cursing Tomas, the powerful tropical depression which is fogging the issue…
Patience is the order of the day then as we await the privilege of witnessing the triumphant arrival of the winner. It is likely to be Monday evening in Pointe à Pitre, which is the early hours of Tuesday back in Europe.
Positions at 1500 GMT on Sunday 7th November
1/ Groupama 3 some 474 miles from the finish
2/ Sodebo 193 miles from the leader
3/ Idec 355 miles from the leader
4/ Gitana 11 some 578 miles from the leader
…
Nov 8, 2010 @ 13:40
New autopilot problems, a long busy night
The weather has been patchy and very variable, which on a boat means lots
of work. The model forecast is un-troustable, to give an example last
night as i was crossing an arrow with 8kt predicted wind i managed a
spectacular broach under spinnaker in 20kt of wind. Other times it aligns
with the forecast, but broadly speaking it’s been all over the place. Most
importantly i have been keeping an eye on the barometer and this clearly
shows i’m steadily distancing myself from the centre of the high as the
pressure keeps dropping, but there is no telling how long these variables
will last.
I’m mainly interested in my relative position with the pack, and as of 8am
this morning i had managed hold my position and put 20 miles between me
and the first chaser from within the group that took the northern route,
those that dipped south seem to have found light airs anyway so it’s
doubtful that will have saved them any time, but of course i can still
stop dead right here and they’ll have the last laugh.
As for the autopilot everything had worked fine since the troubles on the
second day then as i was flying my spinnaker in the heart of the night the
autopilot throws an error on screen “average current too high”, stops
driving and before i know it we have crash gybed, luckily in light winds.
As soon as i go to the helm to disengage the pilot it is clear the ram is
no longer connected as the helm feels light, i re-gybed the boat and with
some interesting acrobatics i managed to sock the spinnaker, thank god my
session with french coach Tanguy Leglatin had made a big point of always
sorting out your ropes and snuffer lines for an emergency situation, so
that went ok. I dip my head in the lazarette and in fact the terminal of
the autopilot ram had come unscrewed from the ram, simples i thought, put
it back on and it’ll work. So i did, when i restarted the computer head it
would tell me there is no rudder angle reference, this is a separate part
which had been unaffected by the ram terminal unscrewing… so in effect
something went wrong electronically with that “current too high” that
caused the computer to stop recognizing another part… i check if it was
itself disconnected mechanically or the wiring… but all looked ok, i try
restarting, nothing… so i dip below and start the backup pilot,
unsnuffed the spinnaker and set off, but must have lost quite a few miles
in the process.
Later i went through a light patch, so i gave it a go, did a complete
reset of the primary pilot and restarted it… bingo, like any other
computer type thing more often than not Ctrl-alt-delete is the answer, the
difference to my laptop is that it is not driving my car on the motorway
when i need to press ctrl alt delete.
I retried the masthead wind indicator in the hope that the reset would
have sorted that problem too, but it’s still dead.
Sailing out of this place is quite stressful, i am very very conscious of
the vicinity of the high and as long as i keep going i should be fine,
should this wind dissipate we could have our underdog failure right here.
Pressing on, after all the pilot worries i went for a nap, i seem to have
lost my ability to nap, i did not and could not wake up after 20 minutes,
it turned to be about an hour and a half, not ideal in light airs as the
course must be monitored constantly, but i feel better for it now.
m.
Nov 8, 2010 @ 20:51
Prudence…
With less than 200 miles to the finish, the skipper of Groupama 3 is focusing more than ever on prudence in the squally weather.
Tacking to leeward of the islands that make up the Caribbean arc, under one reef mainsail and staysail, Franck Cammas is making the most of these final hours of solitude before being thrust into the arms of the public and the journalists who are ready and waiting.
On shore and at sea, time is finally ticking by at pace. Initially expected at the finish line late afternoon this Monday, Groupama isn’t likely to make the approach towards the Basse Terre mark before 2300 local time, that is 0300 hours GMT time.
At that point there will be just fifteen miles to go in downwind conditions before crossing the finish line in Pointe à Pitre. As to the difficult task of giving an ETA alongside the quay, it would seem highly unlikely that it will be before 0600 hours GMT.
In between times, we’ll be flying over Groupama 3 during her approach this afternoon, local time.
This will be an opportunity to make the first live visual contact with the maxi trimaran and her skipper.
Positions at 1500 GMT on Monday 8th November
1/ Groupama 3 some 193.4 miles from the finish
2/ Sodebo 263.5 miles from the leader
3/ Idec 334 miles from the leader
4/ Gitana 11 some 588.5 miles from the leader
…
Nov 9, 2010 @ 18:15
Arrivée victorieuse de Groupama 3 et Franck Cammas à Pointe à Pitre
It was at 15 hours 16 minutes 47 seconds (GMT) today that the skipper of Groupama took victory in his first solo transatlantic race! Beneath the glorious sunshine of Guadeloupe and surrounded by a horde of spectator craft, Franck Cammas couldn’t conceal his happiness and his emotion. He covered the 3,539 miles in 9 days 3 hours 14 minutes and 47 seconds, at an average speed of 16.14 knots… Franck Cammas’ achievement is a sizeable one on a trimaran spanning 31.5 metres in length and 22.5 metres wide! In fact she is the biggest boat that has ever competed in the Route du Rhum la Banque Postale! Hearty congratulations to Franck for expertly helming his Groupama 3.
After a triumphant departure from Saint Malo where they took the lead of the fleet from the off, Groupama 3 and her skipper led the Ultimate fleet virtually from beginning to end, only conceding their leadership during the first 24 hours. Since 31st October 1202 GMT, Franck Cammas hasn’t once eased off the pace aboard Groupama 3. After a series of tack changes, gybes and brainstorming sessions with his routers Jean Luc Nélias and Charles Caudrelier, the 38 year old skipper takes victory on the highest step of this much coveted podium thanks to his southerly route. This solo victory was all that was lacking in the list of achievements racked up by this passionate and talented sailor.
Groupama and Franck Cammas have been together for 13 years now. Loyalty and commitment form the backbone of the insurance and banking group and they unquestionably play a large part in this success.
Jean Azéma, Genereal Manager of Groupama summed up the company’s reaction: “I am very happy for Franck as it’s a fabulous victory, which tops an impressive list of achievements with one of the finest solo races there is, the Route du Rhum. All the group’s representatives and colleagues, who have followed and supported Franck for the past 13 years, are proud of this victory.
I’d also like to thank the shore crew and the sailing team for their commitment in fine tuning Groupama 3 over the past 4 years, through the various record campaigns and the ambitious gamble to configure our trimaran for one man alone.
Today’s victory is a reflection of a solid partnership between the Team led by Franck and Groupama, which is constantly seeking to combine the sporting aspect and the business aspect.
Groupama and Franck will now continue the adventure on another type of boat, right around the globe, marking our commitment to sailing and the loyalty of this partnership.
Our shared adventure, which is expressed in the joy of victory, but also sometimes in the more difficult times, will remain based on reciprocal trust which enables ambitious projects to be built upon.
I am delighted that this victory has come just days before the start of the Banque Postale IARD, which Groupama is partnering. It augurs well for our future success.”
In a hour’s time, Groupama 3 will be tied up in the harbour basin of Pointe à Pitre, Guadeloupe, in front of the Place de la Victoire! All that remains is for Franck to fully savour his achievement.
Nov 9, 2010 @ 23:06
Cammas Vinnarkläderna från SLAM finns på OFFSHORE, Ålstensgatan i Bromma.
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