Mike Golding en Brain Tompson klampen zich vast aan de koppositie van de Transat Jacques Vabre. Jean-Pierre Dick op de Virbac is met een enorme snelheid dichterbij gekomen tot op 1.5 mijl afstand. Ecover en Virbac nemen een meer oostelijke route tegenover de rest van het veld.
Iedereen zeilt nu over bakboord met een knik in de schoot. De koplopers trachten zeilhoeken te varen om westelijk nieuwe wind te gaan zoeken vanuit de Atlantische Oceaan.
Aan boord van Ecover werken Golding en Thompson hard aan de bootsnelheid en tactiek. Ian Moore hun weerplanner tracht zo goed mogelijk alles te monitoren dit 24u per dag om de meest optimale route te bepalen. Hij moet hiervoor rekening houden met de polar data van de boot (VPP) en de concurrenten. Dit alles dan ook nog verstaanbaar maken aan 2 vermoeide zeilers in enkele zinnen.
Enkele e-mails van Mike Golding:
"A far more comfortable night tonight, since the start the sailing has been very tough, first with the short, violent waves of the English Channel and yesterday as we passed over and off the Continental Shelf into Biscay which was very violent. Now with Finnisterre approaching and Biscay behind us we should be looking at the winds freeing us as we move south. But this is not a normal statistical weather pattern and Atlantic lows are tracking across a far more southerly course than is usual. What we see ahead of us is an upwind slog - at least for several days."
"Still Ecover seems to relish these conditions and has come through the worst of Biscay weather with flying colours. Whilst the design and build team have clearly done a fantastic job putting her together - we (and the weather) are testing that work to the max - each crash off a wave makes us cringe at the violence of it. Clearly we do not know this boat as well as our Finot designed 60 and we are taking it easy! Honest!!!! But this is an important race and a great opportunity to learn about our new boat before the Vendee Globe."
"We enjoyed (hmmm) our first freeze-dried food this evening, our second hot meal since the start. But now we are getting a rhythm of working and we should be able to do better than this in the days ahead. Sleep has also been at a premium but both of us are just wanting to get the best out of a boat we do not know and both of us are willing to spend the hours needed to find that speed. Being at the front is very motivational."
foto: Virbac
Position at 15:00 hrs GMT 04/11/03 / Distance to leader
OPEN 60 MONOHULLS
1. ECOVER
2. Virbac, 1.5M
3. Sill, 30.6M
4. PRB, 57.5M
5. VMI, 85.5M
6. Cheminees Poujoulat, 86.4M
OPEN 50 MONOHULLS
1. STORAGETEK
2. HELLOMOTO, 14.6M
abandoned CIMENT ST LAURENT
abandoned OBJECTIF 3
abandoned PINDAR
abandoned MOLLYMAWK
abandoned ATLANTIC NATURE
abandoned LABESFAL
Meer Transat Jacques Vabre nieuws:
www.jacques-vabre.com
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