South comes good

An update from the Figaro class' Trophee BPE

Positions at 0900GMT

Pos	Boat	DTF	DTL	VMG	Lat	Long	Spd	Crs	Spd	Crs	Spd	Dist
							Instant		4hr aver		24hr run
1	BOSTIK	2209.1	0.0	6.8	32 34.56' N	43 42.78' W	7.2	247	7.0	250.0	6.3	151.5
2	CERCLE VERT	2221.2	12.1	7.3	34 49.44' N	44 29.04' W	7.4	237	7.3	237.0	7.0	167.5
3	CREDIT MARITIME-ZEROTWO	2231.4	22.3	6.1	32 06.12' N	43 04.44' W	6.6	227	7.1	226.0	6.5	154.8
4	SKANDIA	2248.8	39.7	8.1	31 25.38' N	42 29.76' W	8.4	234	8.8	233.0	8.1	194.1
5	AQUARELLE.COM	2271.5	62.3	0.9	34 14.94' N	43 06.54' W	1.2	258	3.2	241.0	5.6	134.1
6	TOTAL	2278.9	69.8	5.7	34 04.08' N	42 51.84' W	6.1	257	6.2	248.0	7.3	174.3
7	BANQUE POPULAIRE	2285.7	76.6	7.0	32 16.62' N	42 01.20' W	7.4	236	7.5	234.0	7.4	177.4
8	COUTOT ROEHRIG	2300.0	90.9	5.9	32 40.38' N	41 51.84' W	7.7	213	7.8	214.0	6.7	161.6
9	GEDIMAT	2328.5	119.4	8.3	30 11.88' N	40 34.32' W	9.2	241	8.5	232.0	8.0	193.0
10	ENTREPRENDRE AU PAYS DE LORIENT	2391.7	182.6	8.2	31 53.76' N	39 44.70' W	8.9	236	8.4	237.0	7.8	187.9
11	ATAO AUDIO SYSTEM	2394.1	185.0	9.1	27 51.84' N	38 54.48' W	10.4	240	9.0	246.0	8.1	194.9
12	LITTLE BLACK SHARK	2406.4	197.3	6.2	36 37.08' N	41 17.58' W	6.9	258	5.9	258.0	7.5	178.9

As the boats to the north of the Figaro's Trophee BPE fleet encounter the southwest corner of the Azores high and see the wind veering south so a slight rearrangement of the fleet has started to take place with the conditions benefitting the boats still broad reaching in stronger Trade Wind conditions to the south.

The biggest come back has been made by Sam Davies on Skandia who over the last 24 hours has more than halved the distance she was behind the leader from 81.9 miles yesterday to 39.7 today. The latest position updates show Skandia to be the fastest of the leading group, a position that should last for most of the next 24 hours.

With the Azores high now resident in its summer home (over the Azores) so the weather conditions look set to remain stable over the next few days. This is likely to further benefit the boats to the south as they will be able to carry their spinnakers while those to the north will be on genoas.

Even Dominique Vittet on Atao Audio System on his flier far to the south has pulled up 30 miles, while Armel Tripon on ninth-placed Gedimat has also pulled back 40 miles from race leader Charles Caudrelier.

There is slight concern for Yannick Bestaven on fifth placed Aquarelle.com, who's speed indicates him having some problems on board.

Sam Davies email from this morning...

Hello

I am sitting at the chart table and we are trundling along, tight spinnaker reaching (8-9 knots boat speed). We had a light patch earlier on in the afternoon, but not too light and now, I hope we will have the wind increase some more. This will be good, because I know that the boats to my north slowed down more than this.

I can hear my 'Sea Me' alarm beeping away regularly, as the radar of a nearby ship activates it. It is comforting to know that the ship is there, so I can go and keep a visual watch of it's position, but also, the alarm tells me that my radar transponder is sending a magnified echo back to their radar, so hopefully they are more likely to see me.

Unfortunately, this afternoon, I discovered that it doesn't work like that all the time out here....

I was at the chart table, when I saw a large oil tanker on the horizon heading in my direction (as a wave picked up the transom and I had a clear view out of the hatch.) I was surprised, because it was fairly close and my Sea Me had not begun to beep - I thought that maybe the Sea Me was playing up, but it was bizarre because normally it works all the time. The ship got closer and closer and still no signal. In the end, when the ship was on my beam I called him up and asked if he could see me on his radar:

"You'll have to wait three minutes - I'll just ask them to turn the radars on and they need time to warm up..." !!! OK, so that explains my 'faulty' radar transponder! Sure enough, three minutes later, I could clearly detect their TWO radars functioning. When I asked if they could see me on their screen, the answer was (a disappointing) negative - I was lost in the wave clutter......... However, if they never use their radar, I wouldn't be surprised if they just had the settings wrong! I had done the same test with my parents and they had managed to spot me. (albeit just)

I am surprised that ships like this turn their radar off. I wonder why? Are they trying to conserve energy? I can't imagine a radar would make a difference.... I don't know the laws for shipping, but I would be happier if I knew that radar was compulsory, then cruisers and short-handed racers in small boats (without radar) can be safer with their radar transponders. If there is a risk we can be lost in clutter on their screen, at least it is better for us to have the alarm function to warn us there is a ship in the area and enable us to avoid getting into a dangerous situation.

And now Skandia and I are getting used to the more normal pace of this race after yesterdays "top chrono" day of high-speed sailing! We were very happy to hear that we were the fastest boat of the fleet yesterday - very cool. It was fun sailing, and surprisingly easy (thanks to North Sails France's super asymmetric spinnaker)!

I had better go, and check where that ship got to...

A demain...

Sam x