Easy, fast miles proved a gentle return to solo ocean racing for the seven Europa Warm'Up skippers after they left Cascais Sunday, but a high pressure ridge is slowing the leaders and setting the first strategy puzzle.
After a pleasant, fast reaching first night the seven skippers racing in the Europa Warm’Up second leg, which left Cascais in Portugal yesterday bound for La Rochelle, are eased nicely into the very different rhythm of solo sailing and starting to tackle the first obstacle on their path. A high pressure ridge that extends in front of the fleet and has considerably slowed down the boats’ progress towards the island of Santa Maria, in the Azores archipelago, which stands as the first mark of the 2.300 mile-long triangle in the Atlantic.
All the seven IMOCA Open 60 solo skippers have profited from their first night at sea to switch back to single-handed routines and to point South, in order to get over, as best as possible, the high pressure ridge that has set between them and their first target, Santa Maria. The meteo charts show that this area, with its light and fickle winds, has been extending on an axis going from the Azores to Cape Finisterre, a band more than 120 miles wide, some skippers working to and stay above it to avoid being totally becalmed. As a consequence, speeds have decreased dramatically and the skippers spent long hours on deck, helming, trimming, stacking to squeeze out some pace from their powerful machines and at the same time trying to rest to be ready for the long days ahead.
The fleet has opened up, with some noticeable lateral separation: between the pairs Vincent Riou (PRB) and Armel Le Cléac’h (Banque Populaire), who have positioned themselves more south and Kito de Pavant (Groupe Bel) and Javier Sanso (ACCIONA 100% EcoPowered) that have opted to stay north there is already a 50 miles split.
Provisional overall leader Jean-Pierre Dick (Virbac-Paprec 3) has decided to stay on a more middle, conservative line – in the middle, with Vincent Riou (PRB) and Armel le Cléac’h (Banque Populaire) following suit and taking the lead.
At 1300 UTC more than 27 miles separated first placed Jean-Pierre Dick on Virbac Paprec 3 from Javier Sanso’s ACCIONA 100% EcoPowered, as the whole fleet is struggling in the wide high pressure area that hinders their progress, with average speeds going from the 8,5 knots recorded on Banque Populaire to the meagre 3,3 scored by Kito de Pavant on Groupe Bel in sixth place.
The notion that it would have been necessary to push right from the start, albeit with some careful tactics, to get around the light patch has been confirmed so far. Yet the fleet is very even, and the outcome very uncertain.
They said:
Jean-Pierre Dick (Virbac-Paprec 3)
“First night was good, I’m not that tired, I managed to sleep, had breakfast… Sure you have to get in phase, find your solo routines again. The breeze is very unstable, you have to be on deck a lot, tacking, trimming, trying to catch every small shift or puff. At the moment the wind is pretty light but it should be increasing soon. I’m ok with my position in the fleet and with the boat’s speed right now. But my rivals out there are strong, I have to push Virbac-Paprec as hard as I can.”
Javier Sanso (ACCIONA 100% EcoPowered)
“I’ve just made a sail change, went for the Code 0. It’s clear that the fleet has split, choosing two different options. I’m more north, because I don’t want to have too much upwind after the high. The coming hours will be key, we’ll see what will happen. In around 50/60 miles we’re going to change tack and the following sched will tell. It will be interesting to see who will come out in the lead. The first night was very nice sailing, reaching in a good breeze, 15 knots or so, but now the wind is going lighter. Everything is ok on board, touch wood, the repairs we’ve made in Cascais are working.”
Bernard Stamm (Cheminées Poujoulat)
“There is a lot of sail trimming to do, we are reaching with the Code 0 up. I need to spend time to trim, especially to get the best puffs. The breeze is going down as we are approaching the ridge, I had Banque Pop and MACIF close to me, I’ve lost sight of BP now but I can see Paprec Virbac. I didn’t sleep much. Going back sailing solo is not hard, truth is that at times you look for crewmates, it’s a different way of racing, you have to make things simpler, and stacking is very important. But the boat goes well, I’m very happy. Now I need to negotiate the transition well, choose the right timing. I’m getting ready for the coming hours, studying how best to route for the Azores.”
27/05/2012 - 18h00
1 Virbac-Paprec Jean-Pierre Dick
2 Banque Populaire Armel Le Cléac'h 1.5
3 PRB Vincent Riou 1.7
4 Cheminées Poujoulat Bernard Stamm 9.7
5 MACIF François Gabart 10.7
6 Groupe Bel Kito de Pavant 19.4
7 ACCIONA 100% EcoPowered Javier Sansó 35.5
From : Europa Warm'Up
Credit : A.Le Cleach/Banque Populaire
After a pleasant, fast reaching first night the seven skippers racing in the Europa Warm’Up second leg, which left Cascais in Portugal yesterday bound for La Rochelle, are eased nicely into the very different rhythm of solo sailing and starting to tackle the first obstacle on their path. A high pressure ridge that extends in front of the fleet and has considerably slowed down the boats’ progress towards the island of Santa Maria, in the Azores archipelago, which stands as the first mark of the 2.300 mile-long triangle in the Atlantic.
All the seven IMOCA Open 60 solo skippers have profited from their first night at sea to switch back to single-handed routines and to point South, in order to get over, as best as possible, the high pressure ridge that has set between them and their first target, Santa Maria. The meteo charts show that this area, with its light and fickle winds, has been extending on an axis going from the Azores to Cape Finisterre, a band more than 120 miles wide, some skippers working to and stay above it to avoid being totally becalmed. As a consequence, speeds have decreased dramatically and the skippers spent long hours on deck, helming, trimming, stacking to squeeze out some pace from their powerful machines and at the same time trying to rest to be ready for the long days ahead.
The fleet has opened up, with some noticeable lateral separation: between the pairs Vincent Riou (PRB) and Armel Le Cléac’h (Banque Populaire), who have positioned themselves more south and Kito de Pavant (Groupe Bel) and Javier Sanso (ACCIONA 100% EcoPowered) that have opted to stay north there is already a 50 miles split.
Provisional overall leader Jean-Pierre Dick (Virbac-Paprec 3) has decided to stay on a more middle, conservative line – in the middle, with Vincent Riou (PRB) and Armel le Cléac’h (Banque Populaire) following suit and taking the lead.
At 1300 UTC more than 27 miles separated first placed Jean-Pierre Dick on Virbac Paprec 3 from Javier Sanso’s ACCIONA 100% EcoPowered, as the whole fleet is struggling in the wide high pressure area that hinders their progress, with average speeds going from the 8,5 knots recorded on Banque Populaire to the meagre 3,3 scored by Kito de Pavant on Groupe Bel in sixth place.
The notion that it would have been necessary to push right from the start, albeit with some careful tactics, to get around the light patch has been confirmed so far. Yet the fleet is very even, and the outcome very uncertain.
They said:
Jean-Pierre Dick (Virbac-Paprec 3)
“First night was good, I’m not that tired, I managed to sleep, had breakfast… Sure you have to get in phase, find your solo routines again. The breeze is very unstable, you have to be on deck a lot, tacking, trimming, trying to catch every small shift or puff. At the moment the wind is pretty light but it should be increasing soon. I’m ok with my position in the fleet and with the boat’s speed right now. But my rivals out there are strong, I have to push Virbac-Paprec as hard as I can.”
Javier Sanso (ACCIONA 100% EcoPowered)
“I’ve just made a sail change, went for the Code 0. It’s clear that the fleet has split, choosing two different options. I’m more north, because I don’t want to have too much upwind after the high. The coming hours will be key, we’ll see what will happen. In around 50/60 miles we’re going to change tack and the following sched will tell. It will be interesting to see who will come out in the lead. The first night was very nice sailing, reaching in a good breeze, 15 knots or so, but now the wind is going lighter. Everything is ok on board, touch wood, the repairs we’ve made in Cascais are working.”
Bernard Stamm (Cheminées Poujoulat)
“There is a lot of sail trimming to do, we are reaching with the Code 0 up. I need to spend time to trim, especially to get the best puffs. The breeze is going down as we are approaching the ridge, I had Banque Pop and MACIF close to me, I’ve lost sight of BP now but I can see Paprec Virbac. I didn’t sleep much. Going back sailing solo is not hard, truth is that at times you look for crewmates, it’s a different way of racing, you have to make things simpler, and stacking is very important. But the boat goes well, I’m very happy. Now I need to negotiate the transition well, choose the right timing. I’m getting ready for the coming hours, studying how best to route for the Azores.”
27/05/2012 - 18h00
1 Virbac-Paprec Jean-Pierre Dick
2 Banque Populaire Armel Le Cléac'h 1.5
3 PRB Vincent Riou 1.7
4 Cheminées Poujoulat Bernard Stamm 9.7
5 MACIF François Gabart 10.7
6 Groupe Bel Kito de Pavant 19.4
7 ACCIONA 100% EcoPowered Javier Sansó 35.5
From : Europa Warm'Up
