The first couple of days of the Route du
Rhum have featured carnage to several boats and attrition of
the fleet. At 1730 GMT yesterday, Lionel Lemonchois reported
that the upper part of the mast had just broke while Gitana
X was sailing upwind with a reefed main sail and the small
jib, with 20-25 knots of southwesterly wind. The sea was beginning
to grow heavier, with waves reaching approximately 10 feet. Gitana was averaging about 12 knots.
For reasons as yet unknown, the spar broke
approximately 23 feet below the masthead, right at the top of
the mainsail (which had two reefs), and below the staysail stay
fixation point.
Lemonchois managed to secure the broken
part onto the undamaged mast portion and started to head back
home, downwind, towards La Trinité-sur-Mer on the Atlantic
Coast of southern Brittany, about 200 miles away.
With the expected strong winds, Lionel’s
main problem was to slow down the boat, since it was impossible
to lower the mainsail, which was hooked at the second reef point,
and obviously he couldn’t use the halyards. He decided to let
the ropes drag behind the boat, in order to keep the speed below
20 knots. Eventually, he was able to get the main down, and reached
port in 17 hours under squally skies.
In the wee hours of the morning, Francis
Joyon on Eure & LoireLorénove confirmed
to the Race Committee that he had just capsized, and that he
is uninjured. He was 175 nautical miles from La Corogne (Cape
of Finisterre, Spain). Joyon was sailing close hauled in a very
rough sea. He was on a maneuver at the foot of the mast when
he was hit by a squall. “The boat was immediately lifted
on one float and I rushed to the cockpit, but I did not have
time to ease the sheets. The boat capsized in two seconds. At
the moment I am hiding in the cockpit and I am trying to empty
the boat of water. I will ask assistance from a tow boat. We
will arrange all that today. Anyway I will not set off the distress
beacon. I will stay on my boat, and I am not in distress and
I do not need any further assistance.”
Belgacom
skippered by Jean Luc Nélias had to turn around and head
towards Port La Forêt. Nélias discovered he had
problems with the main sail track. The sail was blocked at the
top of the mast, and he couldn’t sail closehauled.
Bayer CropScience
will arrive in La Trinité-sur-Mer this afternoon: Frederic
Le Peutrec is having problems with his autopilot. Giovanni Soldini
on TIM is in Lorient for repairs after discovering cracks
in between the cockpit and back beam.
Less than 12 hours after the start of the
18-boat 60-ft ORMA trimaran fleet, race favorite Franck Cammas’ Groupama capsized, and was rammed minutes later in total
darkness by Jean Le Cam’s Bonduelle. Neither skipper was
injured. Groupama was towed to Roscoff, France, and an
inspection of Bonduelle revealed damage and delamination
to the port side float. Repairs are underway and Le Cam hopes
to rejoin the fleet. Ten multihulls are now on their way across
the Atlantic. Four have abandoned so far.
In the monohull fleet, Yannick Bestaven
of the Dominican Republic, leading his class yesterday, had to
head towards Lorient last night as he heard cracking noises from
the keel. The 50-ft monohull Défi Vendéen
is turning back to Sables d’Olonne as it is taking on water.
The Route du Rhum takes singlehanded multihull
and monohull sailors from St. Malo, France, to Guadaloupe Island
in the French West Indies. The monohulls started on Saturday,
the multihulls on Sunday. The leaders of those multihulls still
racing are now catching up to the monohulls.
Gitana X with her truncated mast
Photos Above Courtesy Gitana X
Eure & Loir on a happier day
Photo G. Martin-Raget/ Promovoile
Courtesy www.routedurhum.org
The leaders this morning are:
60-ft Monohulls: Sill, Roland Jourdain
Class 1 Monohulls: Ville de Dinard, Bruno Reibel
Class 2 Monohulls: Ashfield Healthcare, Nick Moloney
Class 3 Monohulls: Storageteck, Regis Guillemot
60-ft Multihulls: Rexona Men, Yvan Bourgnon
Class 2 Multihulls: Crepes Whaou!, F. Y. Escofier
When the sailing was done in the Etchells
Worlds on the Hauraki Gulf, the British team of Stuart Childerley,
Simon Russell and Roger Marino had dominated. The three sailors
had only limited practice together before this series. They sailed
so well that rumors abound in Auckland that more than a few of
the America’s Cup syndicates are keen to have a quiet ale with
Childerley, who also won the Worlds last year.
In second, Australia’s Mark Bradford had
a regatta to be proud of, with three wins, a third, and a fifth.
Third was Cameron Miles, the 1999 World Champion. John Bertrand
came in sixth, Dennis Conner seventh, Iain Murray ninth. There
were seven Australian crews in the top 10, not that the Aussies
are counting or anything.
Auckland’s sailing focus now shifts back
to the Louis Vuitton eliminations. Tuesday was supposed to be
the first day of the quarter-finals, but heavy winds postponed
racing. When competition gets underway today (Wednesday on the
other side of the dateline), Team Dennis Conner plans to sail
USA-77 instead of USA-66, which saw them through rounds 1 and
2. USA-77, you may recall sank off Long Beach during testing
this summer after she lost her rudder.
Said skipper Kevin Read, “We’re very
much looking forward to racing with USA-77. This is what we have
always considered to be our race boat. Our mishap in California
set our program back a bit but we’ve worked really hard to capitalize
on the situation. Our boat builders and shore crew have done
a great job. We’re very comfortable with it now, and comfortable
that it does have a performance edge over USA-66.” For more,
see www.louisvuittoncup.yahoo.com/story941.html.
Tonnage Rules
November 12 – San Mateo
Gregg Johnson’s response to Friday’s
photo caption contest came in too late to include in yesterday’s
wrap-up, but it is too creative to pass up.
Photos Bob Frank
“On the night in question I was returning
from a very productive day of fishing on the Bay. There was the
normal air traffic which lands into the wind on runways 1 &
2 at SFO. Their approach flight pattern brings them normally
over the South Bay directly from the San Mateo Bridge, about
1000 M east of Coyote Point. While approaching Coyote Point Channel
markers 1 & 2, I noticed the lights of an incoming 747 which
was having great difficulty correcting to the East and appeared
to be losing altitude. I studied my chart, quickly estimated
the jet’s speed and heading, noted my position, heading and speed
and suddenly realized we were on a collision course. Knowing
that larger vessels have the right-of-way and without much time
I accelerated past markers 3 & 4 just as the massive liner
blasted above and astern of me. I could feel the abrupt shudder
and noticed the surface of the Channel quiver and boil. There
were a very sudden blast as the powerful vortices (believe it
or not, there were three) gripped my
vessel and accelerate it at several times the force of gravity.
My boat was now in the air and then as quickly as it started,
all was quiet. Miraculously, my boat Rock-Ann sustained
only moderate damage as we were set down on the jetty.”
Sailing Schnauzers
November 12 – Redwood City
Yesterday we ran a letter from Dave Wallace of Air Ops,
in which Dave related how he and wife Merry boat-trained their
two miniature schnauzers, Myka and Sasha, for the Baja Ha-Ha
last year.
Photo Air Ops
He later sent this photo of the two savvy
sailors (the canine ones), with a new friend made while cruising
in the Sea of Cortez. When asked why the two dogs were getting
cozy with a Mexican soldier, Dave reminded us of his letter in
the March 2002 issue
of Latitude 38.
“We gave eight soldiers a ride from Bahia San
Marte to Santa Martha about five miles down the coast. They were
sort of
dead-ended, trying to hike up the coast to Agua Verde but couldn’t
get
through and were facing a trek of a couple of days to get back
the way
they had come. They had been without a water source for several
days,
so we gave them about five gallons of water, then gave them a
ride ‘home’.
Wish we had some new stuff for you but we’re stuck in the Bay
Area for
awhile. Maybe sometime soon . . .”
YOTREPS
November 12 – The Pacific Ocean and Cyberspace
Who is out making passages in the Pacific
and what kind of weather are they having? Check out YOTREPS –
‘yacht reports’ – at http://www.bitwrangler.com/yotreps.
Looking for current as well as recent wind
and sea readings from 17 buoys and stations between Pt. Arena
and the Mexican border? Here’s the place – which has further
links to weather buoys and stations all over the U.S.: www.ndbc.noaa.gov/Maps/Southwest.shtml.
Pacific Winds and Pressure
The University of Hawaii Dept. of Meteorology
page posts a daily
map of the NE Pacific Ocean barometric pressure and winds.
