Transat Jacques Vabre: Primed for a Final Fight

(November 16, 2013) – FenetreA-Cardinal became the first victims of what looks to be a complicated and difficult passage of the Doldrums for the Multi50 Class in the Transat Jacques Vabre race from Le Havre to Itajai, Brazil. Slowing right back to two knots today, the leading French duo Erwan Le Roux and Yann Elies have lost the best part of 100 miles since last night to Actual. Yves Le Blevec and Kito de Pavant seized the lead back on the early afternoon rankings.

The MOD70s are well within the final 1000 miles to the Itajai finish but those last miles are likely to be decisive. First there is the cyclogenesis zone off Cape Frio – where low pressures spin off the coast – and then the last stretch in to the finish is likely to be light, cloudy, shifty and all in all slightly random. Sidney Gavignet and Damian Foxall are certainly in shape and right up for the final fight:

“We are through the worst just now and it is easier. The sea is relatively flatter and with the Wind we have it is going well. We have managed to reduce the gap a little to Edmond de Rothschild. How did we do it?  (laughs)… Well we probably had more wind think. We are 46 miles apart now . We are always steering, always on deck”.

In the next 24 hours, the scenario is perfect with the wind, a small depression in the Bay of Rio means gybes and so the game is open until the end – until a few miles before the finish! We try be at the maximum for the near future. No Paris I am not tired at all!”, Gavignet laughed.

In the other multihull head to head duel, that of the MOD70 pair which are opening the course off Salvador de Bahia today, the lead of Edmond de Rothschild, the MOD70 sailed by Sebastien Josse and Charles Caudrelier – which has looked very solid for some days – has also been severely trimmed by their opponents Oman Air Musandam. The strategy of taking a more easterly passage through the Doldrums seems to be paying now for the French/Irish duo of Sidney Gavignet and Damian Foxall who are now less than 40 miles behind and sailing slightly quicker.

There is no such significant change in the IMOCA Open 60 class where MACIF, sailed by Vendee Globe winners Francois Gabart and Michel Desjoyeaux, is on the most direct, rhumb line course at 23 miles ahead of PRB. The leaders in this class will be watching the evolution of the Doldrums and learning from what happens to the Multi 50s who are a matter of 180 miles – or 10 hours ahead.

While the leading positions in Class 40 continue to be monopolised by the Mach 40 duo of GDF SUEZ (Rogues and Delahaye) and MARE (Riechers and Brasseur), Briton Miranda Merron and her French counterpart Halvard Mabire on Campagne de France currently have the better of ERDF des Pieds et des Mains (Seguin and Richomme) for the moment, rising to third overall but this duo are less than one mile apart on the water after nine days of racing.

There is no let up in pace when there are such private battles as an added spur, and just as Campagne de France and ERDF press each other ever harder, so also Alex Pella and Pablo Santurde on Tales Santander 2014 are enjoying tight racing with Watt & Sea (Bestaven and Ducroz) which is four miles behind them.

Speaking today on live radio with Race HQ in Paris, Pella confirmed that the Spanish duo are very happy with the speed of their very new boat which they are only now getting an extended chance to learn. They are well to the West of the rhumb line and – Pella said today – will need to get back to the east to avoid the worst of a Doldrums minefield up ahead.

Italians Stefano Raspadori and Pietro dÀli revealed that they will stop in Tenerife imminently to make a repair to their mainsail track.

They said:

Jeremie Beyou – Maitre Coq: “Yes we have opened the gap with our nearest rivals. We worked the squalls and gusts a bit more than Safran and Cheminees Poujoulat. I think that last night we did a little more than they did and got . Conditions are optimal for great surfing! We have between 23 and 28 knots of wind, we sailed at 120 degrees AWA so we were sailing at 20-22 knots, which is cool the boats are fully loaded at this angle of the wind , so it goes fast but we must be careful. We will tackle the Doldrums shortly. We will try to do something good. Significant clouds are already in sight, so it will be difficult to predict”. 

Sounds in Italian:

Italian : Stefano Raspadori (Fantastica)
http://www.transat-jacques-vabre.com/sites/default/files/audio/son/ita_stefanoraspadori_fantastica_20131116_0.mp3

Sounds in Spanish:

Spanish : Alex Pella (Tales Santander 2014)
http://www.transat-jacques-vabre.com/sites/default/files/audio/son/esp_alexpella_talessantander2014_20131116_0.mp3

See latest postions for the fleets:
http://www.transat-jacques-vabre.com/fr/classement

Follow the race:
Internet 
Live tracking updated every 30 minutes.
Race Tracker URL: http://tracking.transat-jacques-vabre.com/en/
Positions will be updated every 3 hours: 0400hrs / 0700hrs / 1000hrs / 1300hrs / 1600hrs / 1900hrs GMT

Social Media 
Live updates through the start and through the race itself on the official facebook pages and on the twitter feed (@TransatJV).
And the Transat Jacques Vabre Application is now available on iPhone and Android and includes tracking facility.

VIDEO
Video footage will be available to registered broadcasters for download on the TV server:
www.transatjacquesvabre2013.tv

For any queries please contact:
Hélène Tzara – helene.tzara@tjv2013.org – +33 (0)6 10 18 80 90