by Kelly Russell
After a difficult night onboard Aviva, Dee Caffari and Brian Thompson have entered the final 500 miles of the Transat Jacques Vabre. The British duo is battling to regain seventh position, having lost a place to Arnaud Boissières and Vincent Riou onboard Akena Verandas.
At 16h00 Dee Caffari and Brian Thompson, onboard Aviva, were in eighth place, 5 miles behind Akena Verandas in seventh. Three Open 60s have now successfully completed the course, Safran, Groupe Bel and Mike Golding Yacht Racing.
Dee Caffari and Brian Thompson’s diary entry received on 25 November 2009 at 1238 GMT:
“A little later than usual as we had a full on night and only now have the ability to email. We all gybed for the finish line just before dark last night and had a full on night blasting towards the line cutting down the miles rapidly. It was a wild ride too. A maximum wind speed of around 27 knots and a big swell in the seas made life like a roller coaster ride. Once the moon went down we have several hours in darkness where you could not see the waves and every now and again the bow would drop from the horizon down into a huge surf and at speeds in excess of 23 knots. The motion would make your stomach drop and you knew just a twitch of the wheel at the wrong time could spell disaster.
Concentration was paramount for Brian and I driving and we took it in turns at 40 minutes each. We were relieved when the sun rose this morning and you could see what was going on with the waves and the boat. Aviva wants to be a little rocket ship and we are trying to let her be, but it is hard work for us. Still we are just about to break the final 500 mile barrier so all is good and we are having second helpings of porridge for morale.”
Aviva Ocean Racing
Transat Jacques Vabre
Sunday, 29 November 2009
TJV: Third IMOCA Open 60 is Mike Golding Yacht Racing
Mike Golding Yacht Racing. Image copyright Mark Lloyd/Lloyd Images.
by Régis Lerat
Breaking the finish line at 14:59:38 hrs UTC Wednesday 25th November (0859hrs local time, Costa Rica) after sailing for 17d 1hr 29 mins 38 seconds at an average speed of 11,54 knots since leaving Le Havre on Sunday 8th November, Mike Golding and Javier Sanso took third place in the IMOCA Open 60 class in the ninth edition of the Transat Jacques Vabre two handed Transatlantic race. Mike Goldinf Yacht Racing sailed a distance of 5317 miles and finished 1 day 6 hours 7 minutes and 28 seconds behind the Class winner Safran.
Transat Jacques Vabre
TJV: Hugo Boss Repaired and Heading Back to the UK
by Lucy Harwood
Having made the difficult decision last week (16th November) to retire from the Transat Jacques Vabre, HUGO BOSS skippers Alex Thomson and Ross Daniel re-routed and made their way to the port of Horta in The Azores. The collision with an unidentified object in the water on the previous evening (15th November) had caused damage to the starboard bow which although they had successfully stabilised, was not possible to repair whilst at sea.
HUGO BOSS arrived into the port of Horta at 0230 local time on Thursday 19th November. The team on the ground had a small weather window in which to lift HUGO BOSS from the water ahead of the impending high winds and create a temporary repair before the next low pressure system set in.
The shore team were quick to work in order to lift HUGO BOSS from the water, dry out the affected area and start work on the hull. Once the external hull was sealed, HUGO BOSS was lifted back into the water, where an internal temporary repair was affected. The work in Horta will allow a safe delivery back to the UK where a full repair will take place.
With all repairs complete the shore team left Horta on Saturday evening, for the 1,300 mile delivery to the UK. The team were keen to take advantage of the existing favourable conditions, which would allow for a good downwind passage back to the HUGO BOSS base in Gosport. The current eta for the boat is Friday 27th November.
Alex, Ross and the HUGO BOSS team would like to thank everyone in Horta for all their support and assistance, particularly the Harbour Authorities without whom the repair would not have been possible.
Alex Thomson Racing
Transat Jacques Vabre
Having made the difficult decision last week (16th November) to retire from the Transat Jacques Vabre, HUGO BOSS skippers Alex Thomson and Ross Daniel re-routed and made their way to the port of Horta in The Azores. The collision with an unidentified object in the water on the previous evening (15th November) had caused damage to the starboard bow which although they had successfully stabilised, was not possible to repair whilst at sea.
HUGO BOSS arrived into the port of Horta at 0230 local time on Thursday 19th November. The team on the ground had a small weather window in which to lift HUGO BOSS from the water ahead of the impending high winds and create a temporary repair before the next low pressure system set in.
The shore team were quick to work in order to lift HUGO BOSS from the water, dry out the affected area and start work on the hull. Once the external hull was sealed, HUGO BOSS was lifted back into the water, where an internal temporary repair was affected. The work in Horta will allow a safe delivery back to the UK where a full repair will take place.
With all repairs complete the shore team left Horta on Saturday evening, for the 1,300 mile delivery to the UK. The team were keen to take advantage of the existing favourable conditions, which would allow for a good downwind passage back to the HUGO BOSS base in Gosport. The current eta for the boat is Friday 27th November.
Alex, Ross and the HUGO BOSS team would like to thank everyone in Horta for all their support and assistance, particularly the Harbour Authorities without whom the repair would not have been possible.
Alex Thomson Racing
Transat Jacques Vabre
TJV: Rankings at 1330 CET on 25th November 2009
IMOCA Open 60
1 SAFRAN 0.0 15j 19h 22m 10s 24/11/2009 09:52 12.46
2 GROUPE BEL 0.0 16j 4h 2m 30s 24/11/2009 18:32 12.18
3 FONCIA 68.6
4 W HOTELS 402.6
5 VEOLIA ENVIRONNEMENT 447.2
6 AKENA VERANDAS 524.7
7 AVIVA 531.9
8 1876 623.4
9 ARTEMIS 801.0
ABD HUGO BOSS
ABD DCNS
ABD BT
ABD BRIT AIR
MULTI50
1 CRÊPES WHAOU ! 0.0 15j 15h 31m 50s 24/11/2009 05:31 13.41
2 GUYADER POUR URGENCE CLIMATIQUE 1312.9
3 REGION AQUITAINE-PORT MEDOC 1522.5
4 PRINCE DE BRETAGNE 3270.5
ABD ACTUAL
ABD FENETREA-CARDINAL
Transat Jacques Vabre
RC44s: Paul Cayard Reports on Racing in Dubai
by Paul Cayard
We had a good day today on Katusha. The forecast was for fresh winds and big seas, so most teams stayed at the dock until 1300. Since our boat is still relatively new, we took the opportunity to get out early, on our own, to check our boat and rig thoroughly from structural point of view. All was good and we had a nice sail from 1100 to 1230.
We came back to the dock, made a few changes to a new mainsail, ate lunch and headed out at 1330 with the other RC 44s for the practice race. As the seaway was large outside the harbor....2 meter waves, Peter Reggio the Race Committee Chairman, decided to have three practice starts inside. What does "inside" mean? It means between The Palm and the shore, so hidden a bit from the waves. This was also a great idea because we were sailing right under all those big buildings I sent you pictures of yesterday. Good spectating and good PR for our sport!
We had Bob Little ("Peaches" as he was nicknamed by his mother) on the helm. Bob is a very good sailor who decided to get a real job a number of years ago. As the fleet racing is an amateur driver competition, Bob enjoyed the opportunity to get some starting practice in. He did a great job working with our bowman Morgan Gutenkunst getting their time-on-distance judgment down.
Then we went outside for the practice race. We had a good start, but struggled to find the groove in the big waves. We got better as the race went on. Downwind was a lot of fun as the boats were surfing the big waves and it was easy to gain and lose a lot of ground downwind. We did not do that well in the end, 6th I think. We have a debrief every day after sailing and we have been very positive about our training whether we win or lose. The key is to keep building our strength as a team. We will learn the tricks of these boats.
We had a nice welcome cocktail tonight and tomorrow is the first day of match racing. The format is a single round robin and since there are 10 teams here each team will have 9 matches. The winner of this part of the competition will be the team with the most points. We should be getting underway with the first flight around 1130 wind permitting. Unfortunately, the forecast is for the wind to lighten up substantially so let's hope it doesn't all go away. As you know, we have been sailing in plenty of light air recently.
Cayard Sailing
RC44
We had a good day today on Katusha. The forecast was for fresh winds and big seas, so most teams stayed at the dock until 1300. Since our boat is still relatively new, we took the opportunity to get out early, on our own, to check our boat and rig thoroughly from structural point of view. All was good and we had a nice sail from 1100 to 1230.
We came back to the dock, made a few changes to a new mainsail, ate lunch and headed out at 1330 with the other RC 44s for the practice race. As the seaway was large outside the harbor....2 meter waves, Peter Reggio the Race Committee Chairman, decided to have three practice starts inside. What does "inside" mean? It means between The Palm and the shore, so hidden a bit from the waves. This was also a great idea because we were sailing right under all those big buildings I sent you pictures of yesterday. Good spectating and good PR for our sport!
We had Bob Little ("Peaches" as he was nicknamed by his mother) on the helm. Bob is a very good sailor who decided to get a real job a number of years ago. As the fleet racing is an amateur driver competition, Bob enjoyed the opportunity to get some starting practice in. He did a great job working with our bowman Morgan Gutenkunst getting their time-on-distance judgment down.
Then we went outside for the practice race. We had a good start, but struggled to find the groove in the big waves. We got better as the race went on. Downwind was a lot of fun as the boats were surfing the big waves and it was easy to gain and lose a lot of ground downwind. We did not do that well in the end, 6th I think. We have a debrief every day after sailing and we have been very positive about our training whether we win or lose. The key is to keep building our strength as a team. We will learn the tricks of these boats.
We had a nice welcome cocktail tonight and tomorrow is the first day of match racing. The format is a single round robin and since there are 10 teams here each team will have 9 matches. The winner of this part of the competition will be the team with the most points. We should be getting underway with the first flight around 1130 wind permitting. Unfortunately, the forecast is for the wind to lighten up substantially so let's hope it doesn't all go away. As you know, we have been sailing in plenty of light air recently.
Cayard Sailing
RC44
TJV: A sweet second into Puerto Limon
Groupe Bel arriving in Puerto Limon. Image copyright Marcel Mochet/AFP.
by Régis Lerat
Kito de Pavant and François Gabart on Groupe Bel crossed the finish line off Puerto Limon, Costa Rica in brisk winds and afternoon sunshine to secure second place in the Transat Jacques Vabre two handed transatlantic race. The duo's constant high speeds, always pressurising the eventual winners of this IMOCA Open 60 Class, Safran, were not quite enough in the end, and they finished 8 hours 40 minutes and 20 seconds behind Marc Guillemot and Charles Caudrelier-Bénac's Safran.
For De Pavant it is his second TJV podium finish, after taking third as co-skipper with Jean Le Cam in 2005, and the second time he and his Groupe Bel have finished a strong runner up after taking second in the summer's Istanbul Europa Race.
Mutual appreciation between the top two crews has been evident after both stepped ashore during the last 12 hours in Puerto Limon. Sailing near identical IMOCA Open 60's, the crew partnerships are cast from the same moulds: older experienced, hard as nails ocean racing skipper and energetic talented, younger co-skipper schooled through the likes of the Figaro, Mini 6.50 and the Classe 40.
Race winner Guillemot is 53 and has 30 years of ocean racing and records miles behind him and paired himself with 35 year old Caudrelier who won the 2004 Figaro Solo. Perhaps one of the small edges they had is that Guillemot and Caudrelier competed together in 2007.
De Pavant is 49 partnered by the 26 year old Gabart, who was top rookie on last year's Figaro circuit. The skipper from the Mediterranean was a latecomer to short-handed ocean racing, only embarking into the rarefied world at just under 40 years of age after many tens of thousands of miles as a delivery skipper. But De Pavant also stepped up the Figaro ladder, winning the Solo offshore race in 2002.
Groupe Bel was part of the initial TJV's ruling triumvirate who broke swiftly from the northern routing, pounded by an horrendous low pressure system which struck the fleet late in the first week of the race, but they were able to live with Safran right up until the early miles the Caribbean where Safran eased away from time to time, making their biggest gains when the trade winds deteriorated. It would certainly be true to say that they were very evenly matched downwind.
Just as victory for Guillemot will be a racing victory to cherish for ever now neatly complementing his remarkable 2008-9 Vendée Globe third place, so too second place today for De Pavant is a huge boost after he was so bitterly disappointed when his Groupe Bel was dismasted just 28 hours after leaving Les Sables d'Olonne. De Pavant was in tears on the dock when he returned.
Groupe Bel's happy team. Image copyright Marcel Mochet/AFP.
Quotes
Kito de Pavant (FRA), Groupe Bel: “I am very proud to finish second behind Marc Guillemot and Charles Caudrelier Bénac. They were great from beginning to end. They really did not make any mistakes and sailed a great course. They have an excellent boat, which I can happily say because ours is the same. They made few errors, and only really when we were right behind them and pushing could you see them waver.
I made a good choice, I certainly did with François, he was really good. He did much more than all I asked of him.
François Gabart: “It was such a pleasure to sail with Kito, great to sail with someone with so much experience when you get to places like the Carribean. It felt like he was so at home. It was a treat. I really appreciate the whole experience.”
Kito de Pavant: “I found that the Atlantic was particularly difficult. But we did take some pleasure in being able to share those times with our writings. And certainly to be able to say today is the day of Vincent Lauriot Prévost with the three top boats. In the IMOCA Guillaume Verdier and Vincent have these great boats here. When we set out with the planning for Groupe Bel, the choice of these designers was daring because they did not appear to have the experience. But we all set out with a blank page and today we show off these beautiful boars to the town of Puerto Limon.
Francois Gabart: “Kito's dismasting is not that long in the past but in saying that I don't think he was any more stressed when we went in to the big depression. And today it is thanks to many people that his boat is here. There is a technical and engineering team behind us who did a huge amount of work. For me, who did not do anything other than sail the boat that was a big treat.
Transat Jacques Vabre
RC44s: Team Aqua, Team Austria and BMW ORACLE Racing on great form
The Sea Dubai RC 44 Gold Cup practice race took place in spectacular conditions this afternoon. Making the best of the big surf, Team Aqua, Team Austria and BMW ORACLE Racing dominated the opposition
RC44s racing off Dubai. Image copyright Raffaello Bastiani/RC44 Class Association.
by Bernard Schopfer
The RC 44 Championship Tour final event started today with the practice race. The conditions were absolutely perfect, with 15 knots of breeze and a big swell. “This particular wind is very rare in Dubai”, commented the Regatta Chief Executive Saeed Harib during the event’s opening press conference this morning. “It was blowing last time the RC 44’s were in Dubai, and it is there again today. I think the Class has taken a subscription.”
Starting perfectly at the Committee boat end of the line and tacking immediately to the right of the course, Team Austria - helmed by René Mangold - dominated most of the race, giving the victory away to Team Aqua and BMW ORACLE Racing in the last gibe. The Team from the UAE chose not to cross the line, letting the Americans win the regatta. Unfortunately, the forecast for the coming days isn’t as good and the usual sea breeze should be back.
Ten RC 44 one-designs representing nine nations are competing this week for the Sea Dubai RC 44 Gold Cup and the season’s overall trophies. Organised by Dubai International Marine Club (DIMC), the event starts tomorrow and Thursday with a full match race round robin and carries on until Sunday with the fleet regatta. The points will count for double.
Talking about their strategy for the event, both Dean Barker and Cameron Appleton – skippers of the two leading teams – said that they would sail their race without looking too much at their opponent. “We will sail this race like any other race”, commented Appleton. Barker replied: “We hope to be as lucky as we were last time.”
Skipper of the local entry Team Sea Dubai, Markus Wieser explained that his team had been training hard over the past few days and that he expects a good results, at least in the top five. “The pressure is on”, he concluded.
The teams involved:
(Name of team, owner, pro sailor)
Team Aqua, Chris Bake / Cameron Appleton
Team Ceeref, Igor Lah / Rod Davis
Team Sea Dubai, Yousef Lahej, DIMC / Markus Wieser
BMW ORACLE Racing, Neville Crichton / Ian Vickers
Team Organika, Maciej Nawrocki / Karol Jablonski
Puerto Calero Islas Canarias, Daniel Calero / Jose Maria Ponce
Artemis, Torbjorn Tornqvist / Dean Barker
No Way Back, Pieter Heerema / Ray Davies
Team Austria, René Mangold / Christian Binder
Team Katusha, Paul Cayard / Bob Little
RC44
RC44s racing off Dubai. Image copyright Raffaello Bastiani/RC44 Class Association.
by Bernard Schopfer
The RC 44 Championship Tour final event started today with the practice race. The conditions were absolutely perfect, with 15 knots of breeze and a big swell. “This particular wind is very rare in Dubai”, commented the Regatta Chief Executive Saeed Harib during the event’s opening press conference this morning. “It was blowing last time the RC 44’s were in Dubai, and it is there again today. I think the Class has taken a subscription.”
Starting perfectly at the Committee boat end of the line and tacking immediately to the right of the course, Team Austria - helmed by René Mangold - dominated most of the race, giving the victory away to Team Aqua and BMW ORACLE Racing in the last gibe. The Team from the UAE chose not to cross the line, letting the Americans win the regatta. Unfortunately, the forecast for the coming days isn’t as good and the usual sea breeze should be back.
Ten RC 44 one-designs representing nine nations are competing this week for the Sea Dubai RC 44 Gold Cup and the season’s overall trophies. Organised by Dubai International Marine Club (DIMC), the event starts tomorrow and Thursday with a full match race round robin and carries on until Sunday with the fleet regatta. The points will count for double.
Talking about their strategy for the event, both Dean Barker and Cameron Appleton – skippers of the two leading teams – said that they would sail their race without looking too much at their opponent. “We will sail this race like any other race”, commented Appleton. Barker replied: “We hope to be as lucky as we were last time.”
Skipper of the local entry Team Sea Dubai, Markus Wieser explained that his team had been training hard over the past few days and that he expects a good results, at least in the top five. “The pressure is on”, he concluded.
The teams involved:
(Name of team, owner, pro sailor)
Team Aqua, Chris Bake / Cameron Appleton
Team Ceeref, Igor Lah / Rod Davis
Team Sea Dubai, Yousef Lahej, DIMC / Markus Wieser
BMW ORACLE Racing, Neville Crichton / Ian Vickers
Team Organika, Maciej Nawrocki / Karol Jablonski
Puerto Calero Islas Canarias, Daniel Calero / Jose Maria Ponce
Artemis, Torbjorn Tornqvist / Dean Barker
No Way Back, Pieter Heerema / Ray Davies
Team Austria, René Mangold / Christian Binder
Team Katusha, Paul Cayard / Bob Little
RC44
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