Sea, Sail & Surf newsRoute du Rhum
Jourdain, Golding and MacArthur first three Open 60s to cape Frehel
Monohulls and 50’ multis took first start of the Route du Rhum
samedi 9 novembre 2002 –
- Le départ des monocoques de 60 pieds
- Photo : G.Martin-Raget/Promovoile
The strong winds that whipped through the rigging as the boats left the dockside early this morning had moderated a little to between 20 and 25 knots as the 41-boat fleet (the multis start tomorrow) entered the starting zone off Pointe de Grouin east of St Malo. The support crew were allowed on board until 4 minutes before the start before the skippers took control of their boats for the start - pictured leaping off just seconds before on many of the boats ! MacArthur timed her run to the start line to perfection and crossed the start half a boat length up on SILL, dueling like it was an America’s Cup America's Cup #AmericasCup race - both with three reefs in the mainsail. SILL, carrying a larger headsail, tacked away first and began to pull away from KINGFISHER [the wind speed dictated that Ellen carried a smaller headsail, because her next step up, being 20% bigger in area than SILL’s, would be too much - these sail overlaps are a critical part of the design process].
WEATHER STRATEGY : "The strategy is to get west as much as you can," said MacArthur before the start. "But, whatever, its going to be a tough first 48 hours - rough seas and strong winds in the Channel combined with the heavy shipping makes it all much harder."
The fleet had a tough upwind 10-mile leg to the first buoy off Cap Fréhel. Kingfisher rounded in 3rd place - 15 minutes behind the leader Roland Jourdain and Mike Golding on ECOVER but managed to overtake Golding. "Only 4 minutes separated me from Mike as we went round Cap Fréhel," said MacArthur in a call back to base a few moments ago. "But I have managed to get past him and am pushing to keep in touch with Bilou - I can at least see him again now. The wind is a little lighter and I’ve shifted gears up on the headsail size accordingly - and we are going great. Its awesome to be back out here and getting on with this"
Kingfisher will now be pushing to exit the Channel as fast as possible over the next 48 hours before making the crucial tactical decision to push north or to head south. Current thinking on KINGFISHER is that the high pressure around the Azores is not settled enough to risk a southerly option.
Thousands of spectators lined the coast line to watch the start of this legendary race and they will return tomorrow to see the multihull class start.
POSITIONS OF IMOCA
Imoca
#IMOCA
OPEN 60 FLEET AT CAP FREHEL MARK
1. Jourdain (SILL)
2. Golding (ECOVER) + 11minutes
3. MacArthur (KINGFISHER) + 15minutes
Information Kingfisher Challenges
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