Route du Rhum
Only 5 out of 18 of the ORMA trimarans still in the race
The frontrunners have passed the Azores archipelago
vendredi 15 novembre 2002 –
The British duo, Kingfisher and Ecover, are putting on an impressive show, battling it out southeast of the Azores, neck and neck again, far ahead of their opponents. Ellen MacArthur on Kingfisher gained miles steadily and managed to get a 15 miles lead on Mike Golding at midday today. That was before her problems started. Kingfisher was near disaster when Ellen realised that the runner holding the mast up almost failed. : "The pin that the runner attaches to on the stern was almost out, just hanging on by 3mm...one more wave it would have come out. bang. end of story. Lucky I saw it I guess. Unreal."
The drama was not over. Later on the top of the mast was showing signs of an inversion. Next to that the boat was not responding to the autopilot and the helm was highly loaded and shaking. Ellen stopped Kingfisher and reversed the boat using the mainsail, which freed the problem, although she had to gybe away southeast in order to retune the backstay. She has now re-gybed and is back in 100 percent race mode. Ellen caught sight of Ecover just one mile behind. "Merde ! How to lose 15 miles in one position report....I’ll have to hand steer to attack again..." was Ellen MacArthur’s response, who once again is giving an outstanding performance.
Mike Golding on Ecover was of course pleased but surprised when he suddenly had Kingfisher in sight again : "I can see Ellen now, and I’m pleased to be back in it. I was quite shocked when I saw Ellen because it has been so tough over the last few days. Dealing with these problems is all part of the race. Looks like Ellen and I are restarting the race in the middle of the Atlantic," said Golding who has two tares in his mainsail, which he has tried to repair as much as possible. At 16.45 GMT Ecover called in and reported he was just ahead of his close rival !
The frontrunners are finally experiencing more moderate conditions, with a wind of 20-25 knots from the northwest, but veering to the north. One reef has been taken out, and it will soon be time to let go of one more and get some bigger sails up at front. Tomorrow the wind is likely to drop to 15-20 knots, and might veer northeast, meaning straight from behind, which could require the boats to gybe to avoid the high pressure system in the west. The challenge for the competitors will be to estimate how close they can skirt the anticyclone.
Nick Moloney on Ashfield Healthcare is further behind his Anglophone mates, still experiencing quite rough conditions, but full of enthusiasm with his great progress in the race. This morning he said, "I am looking forward to the wind dropping to maybe 35-40 knots (!). Then I can sail fast again."
Swiss swooshes into the lead
Swiss Stève Ravussin on the 60-foot trimaran TechnoMarine is fired up leading the fleet towards warmer latitudes. TechnoMarine is going very well, and got out of the storms without any damage. "The boat is spot on," said the eternally enthusiastic Swiss, who is looking forward to getting his gennaker out in the lighter conditions to come.
The first days’ extreme weather conditions in the Route du Rhum Route du Rhum #RouteDuRhum have had brutal consequences on the 60-foot ORMA trimarans. Last night’s victims : Foncia and Sergio Tacchini, both hit by vicious waves, which caused damage on Foncia’s beam, and dramatic float breakage and dismasting for Sergio Tacchini. Sergio Tacchini’s skipper Karine Fauconnier was devastated. "Since Fujifilm’s incident I was really taking it easy. I was not racing just being really careful till the conditions would get better. I can just conclude that in 45 knots of wind from the side in a high sea - it just does not work," said the sole female skipper of the trimaran fleet with a breaking voice. Karine will abandon her boat and rescue is on its way.
Only 5 out of 18 of the ORMA trimarans are still in the race. Four have capsized, three dismasted and three suffered structural damage. Three skippers decided not to continue.Today : Belgacom Jean Luc Nélias stayed in port, and Bayer CropScience (Frédéric Le Peutrec), the sister-ship of Fujifilm and Sergio Tacchini, turned back to port shortly after leaving, following the advice of the architect Nigel Irens.
Mike Golding Ecover (2nd 60-foot IMOCA Imoca #IMOCA monohull) : "No matter how bad my day is you will always know that someone else out there is having a worse day. Anybody that says the Route du Rhum Route du Rhum #RouteDuRhum is a walk in the park compared to the Vendee is wrong. This is as tough as it gets."
Stève Ravussin TechnoMarine (1st 60-foot ORMA trimaran) : "We are in the single-handed Route du Rhum nevertheless and we are here to win ! I am on autopilot, sailing at 20 knots under two reefs and ORC, the barometer is climbing. I will soon be in the anticyclone. I am freewheeling, but I am heading down so it’s going well"
MULTICOQUES 60’ ORMA
1 - TechnoMarine - Steve Ravussin - 2212 distance au but
2 - Biscuits La Trinitaine - Ethypharm - Marc Guillemot - 132 distance au leader
3 - Banque Populaire - Lalou Roucayrol - 196
4 - Géant - Michel Desjoyeaux - 489
5 - Bonduelle - Jean Le Cam - 1120
MONOCOQUES 60’ IMOCA
1 - Kingfisher - Ellen McArthur - 2240 distance au but
2 - Ecover - Mike Golding - 1 distance au leader
3 - Arcelor-Dunkerque - Joé Seten - 208
4 - 60e Sud - Didier Munduteguy - 301
5 - Un Univers de Services - Miranda Merron - 331
6 - Millimages-Gédéon - Patrick Favre - 396
7 - L’Heautontimoroumenos - Antoine Koch - 410
8 - Sill - Roland Jourdain - 448
9 - Garnier Belgium - Patrick De Radiguès - 467
10 - Dinan Pays d’Entreprises - Frédéric Lescot - 573
11 - Tir Groupé-Montres Yéma - Mike Birch - 614
12 - Ciments St Laurent-Ocean - Georges Leblanc - 876
13 - Leasecom - Elie Canivenc - 927
MONOCOQUE CLASSE 1
1 - Ville de Dinard - Bruno Reibel - 2891 distance au but
MONOCOQUE CLASSE 2
1 - Ashfield Healthcare - Nick Moloney - 2604 distance au but
2 - Florys - Luc Coquelin - 56 distance au leader
3 - Branec III - Roger Langevin - 104
4 - Mille Visages - Hervé Vachée - 117
5 - Laiterie St Malo - Clément Surtel - 199
6 - Adecco Etoile Horizon - Bob Escoffier - 238
7 - Défi Vendéen - J. F. Durand - 907
MONOCOQUE CLASSE 3
1 - Storagetek - Regis Guillemot - 2635 distance au but
2 - Passion Entreprendre - Jérôme Thiriez - 206 distance au leader
3 - Grain de Soleil - Etienne Svilarich - 242
4 - Fantasy-Forest - Alain Grinda - 711
MULTICOQUES CLASSE 2
1 - Crepes Whaou ! - F. Y. Escofier - 2448 distance au but
2 - Yachting-casino.com - Anne Cazeneuve - 135 distance au leader
3 - Vaincre la mucoviscidose - Hervé Cleris - 303
4 - Archipel Guadeloupe - Claude Thelier - 342
5 - Lehning-Lapeyre-Blanchet-Gourbeyre - P.Y. Guennec - 556
23 abandons of 58 starting :
13 ORMA 60’ multihulls :
Franck Cammas Groupama Capsize
Bertrand De Broc Banque Covefi Gives up solo-sailing
Francis Joyon Eure & Loir-Lorenove Capsize
Giovanni Soldini TIM Structural problems
Lionel Lemonchois Gitana X Masthead breakage
Yvan Bourgnon Rexona Men Capsize
Loïck Peyron Fujifilm Damaged starboard float, skipper on a freighter
Philippe Monnet Sopra Group Capsize
Thomas Coville Sodebo Structural problems to the float and beam, en route to Lisbon
Alain Gautier Foncia Structural problems with the aftbeam
Karinne Fauconnier Sergio Tacchini Damaged starboard float, dismasting
Frederic Le Peutrec Bayer CropSciences Not risking the boat
Jean Luc Nélias Belgacom Not risking the boat
4 IMOCA 60’ monohulls :
Loïc Pochet La Rage de Vivre Collision with a freighter
Sébastien Josse VMI Dismasting
Dominique Wavre Temenos Damage to the foresails
Jean-Pierre Dick Virbac Dismasting, en route to La Coruña
2 Class 2 50’ monohulls :
Christophe Huchet Apic A3S Collision with a freighter
Yannick Bestaven République Dominicaine Keel problems
1 Class 3 40’ monohulls :
Conrad Humphreys Hellomoto Dismasting
3 Class 2 50’ multihulls :
Pascal Quintin E-Sat/Tri Séléctif Electrical and various damage
Didier Le Villain Chaleur Fioul Elan Electrical problems
Patrick Morvan Groupe France Epargne Leak and electrical problems
Dans la même rubrique
Route du Rhum : Ellen MacArthur leads the monohull fleet
Route du Rhum : Extreme Conditions Strike Hard on the Fleet
Route du Rhum : The Brits are chasing down Bilou the Frenchman in monohull division
Route du Rhum : Jourdain, Golding and MacArthur first three Open 60s to cape Frehel