The Azores conundrum

Overnight the Open 60s have had to make tactical calls on how to pass these mid-Atlantic islands in the Route du Rhum

Friday November 3rd 2006, Author: James Boyd, Location: Transoceanic

Images courtesy of Expedition Navigation Systems and ProGRIB

Positions at 0800GMT

Pos	Boat	Skipper	Lat	Long	Spd	Crs	Spd	Crs	Srs	Dist	DTF	DTL
					Inst		4hr av		24 hr
	60ft tris
1	Gitana 11	Lionel Lemonchois	30 54.30' N	43 21.54' W	19	251	22.3	252	23.4	562.5	1360.2	0
2	Banque Populaire	Pascal Bidegorry	33 04.56' N	42 31.98' W	25.3	267	23.9	263	22.9	549.9	1470.6	110.4
3	Géant	Michel Desjoyeaux	31 41.60' N	41 00.16' W	19.4	269	21.1	257	21.7	520	1508.2	148
4	Brossard	Yvan Bourgnon	32 10.16' N	40 57.32' W	30	253	23.3	250	22.2	532.4	1526.4	166.2
5	Sodeb'O	Thomas Coville	35 39.16' N	43 00.00' W	21.3	265	19.3	268	19.5	467.6	1581.3	221.1
6	Groupama 2	Franck Cammas	34 26.24' N	40 09.56' W	23.4	253	22	249	21.1	505.3	1639.2	278.9
7	Foncia	Alain Gautier	33 19.48' N	37 30.56' W	24.2	240	22	245	18.7	449.1	1709.7	349.5
8	Region Guadeloupe-Terres de Passions	Claude Thelier	35 29.52' N	32 40.20' W	22.3	262	15.2	253	14.6	350.2	1982.1	621.9
9	Gitana 12	Thierry Duprey du Vorsent	35 35.60' N	32 43.52' W	15.3	255	14.4	264	14.6	351	1982.7	622.5
10	Sopra Group	Antoine Koch	36 20.80' N	33 13.44' W	11.2	266	12.5	269	14.2	341.5	1984.2	624
11	Orange Project	Steve Ravussin	38 50.92' N	28 57.88' W	11.4	113	8.8	119	-1.5	-37.1	2234.5	874.3
12	Madinina	Gilles Lamire	40 04.40' N	23 27.24' W	10.4	252	16.3	255	12.7	305.5	2495.6	1135.4
	IMOCA 60s
1	Virbac-Paprec	Jean-Pierre Dick	38 20.52' N	30 54.76' W	19.2	265	15	252	15.8	378.5	2139.8	0
2	VM Matériaux	Jean Le Cam	38 46.52' N	30 33.88' W	15.1	258	16	262	15.5	371.1	2167.1	27.3
3	Sill et Veolia	Roland Jourdain	36 58.12' N	29 10.00' W	14.2	268	13.9	260	13.6	325.8	2173.2	33.4
4	Temenos II	Dominique Wavre	38 44.22' N	28 54.54' W	16.3	257	15.6	257	15.9	380.8	2214	74.2
5	Artemis	Brian Thompson	39 00.21' N	29 29.86' W	12.3	257	15.7	259	15.4	369.3	2217.3	77.5
6	Brit Air	Armel Le Cléac'h	40 48.56' N	28 59.44' W	16.2	258	15.3	261	13.5	324.7	2292	152.2
7	Roxy	Anne Liardet	40 38.92' N	27 36.32' W	14	242	14.8	239	13.8	330.2	2341.6	201.8
8	Safran	Marc Guillemot	39 35.32' N	25 29.48' W	15.3	268	15	248	12.5	300.7	2398	258.2
9	Maisonneuve Basse Normandie	JB Dejeanty	37 39.56' N	22 51.48' W	16.2	236	13.3	235	10.4	248.8	2465.1	325.3
10	Adriana Karembeu Paris	Philippe Fiston	40 27.72' N	19 52.96' W	12.1	245	11.5	241	9.3	224.2	2655.2	515.4
ABD	Delta Dore	Jeremy Beyou
ABD	PRB	Vincent Riou
	Class 2 multis
1	Crêpes Whaou !	Franck-Yves Escoffier	36 26.68' N	32 42.92' W	16.2	252	16.7	254	16.1	385.2	2008.4	0
2	Trilogic	Eric Bruneel	37 27.08' N	27 53.52' W	16	261	16	252	13.9	334.5	2240.8	232.5
3	Laiterie de Saint-Malo	Victorien Erussard	39 35.80' N	26 32.96' W	17	244	14.9	248	12.9	310.1	2354.7	346.3
4	Jean Stalaven	Pascal Quintin	41 56.16' N	26 53.40' W	13.1	234	12.7	236	12.5	299.7	2408	399.7
5	Le Bon Marche - Rive Gauche	Anne Caseneuve	41 12.28' N	23 44.20' W	20.4	256	15	253	12.8	307.9	2512.7	504.3
6	Gifi	Dominique Demachy	41 00.92' N	23 28.08' W	9.3	246	11.4	242	11.3	270.1	2518.7	510.4
7	Négocéane	Roger Langevin	41 51.52' N	22 50.55' W	12.8	250	12.5	249	9.7	233.8	2550.2	541.9
8	Deleage & DIAZO	Loic Escofier	43 07.12' N	19 59.28' W	14	262	12.7	269	10.9	261.4	2712.2	703.8
	Class 3 multis
1	Imagine-Institut des Maladies Génétiques	Pierre Antoine	41 19.52' N	22 47.12' W	10	240	12.2	251	11	264.3	2554.6	0
2	Ideal Stelrad	Ross Hobson	41 38.12' N	21 32.16' W	12.1	254	12.3	261	10	240.5	2613.4	58.8
ABD	Switch.fr	Charlie Capelle
	Class 1 monos
1	Jeunes Dirigeants	Pierre-Yves Guennec	41 46.64' N	19 06.12' W	9.6	201	9.8	201	8.1	193.4	2717.1	0
2	Antilles-Sails.com	Philippe Chevallier	43 12.76' N	17 45.48' W	13.4	258	9.1	270	8.4	200.6	2804.3	87.2
3	TAT Express	Arnaud Dhallenne	42 47.04' N	16 58.84' W	7	266	8.2	222	7.7	184	2816.1	99
4	Ville de Dinard	Bruno Reibel	43 20.92' N	17 31.36' W	12.3	257	8.9	258	8.5	204.1	2816.9	99.8
	Class 2 monos
1	Artforms	Kip Stone	41 48.24' N	25 49.56' W	13.2	252	13.3	254	12.2	292.6	2429.7	0
2	Vedettes de Bréhat Cap Marine	Servane Escoffier	41 46.62' N	22 32.40' W	12.1	260	12.3	252	11.3	272.4	2561.6	132
3	Cap Guadeloupe 971	Luc Coquelin	41 11.60' N	21 32.04' W	13	255	12.9	250	10.9	260.9	2602.8	173.1
4	AOI Solidarité Dentaire Internationale	Denis Douillez	41 19.16' N	16 32.44' W	7	233	8.6	214	7.2	172.7	2815.4	385.7
	Class 3 monos
1	Roaring Forty	Michel Kleinjans	42 33.20' N	22 18.60' W	12	250	9.4	260	9.5	227.8	2605.2	0
2	Charter Regis Guillemot Martinique	Regis Guillemot	43 28.44' N	18 18.68' W	4.5	139	2.6	166	3	71.9	2787.9	182.7
3	DangerousWhenWet	Aurélia Ditton	44 21.28' N	18 26.12' W	8.7	266	7.9	255	8.6	205.6	2803.6	198.4
4	Fantasy Forest	Alain Grinda	44 54.42' N	14 30.90' W	6.9	215	6.7	212	6.1	146.9	2961.5	356.3
ABD	A Fond Contre la Spondylarthrite	Didier Le Villain
ABD	La Promesse	Jankees Lampe
	Class 40
1	Oyster Funds	Gildas Morvan	42 02.40' N	25 09.24' W	12.2	255	13.9	248	12.2	293.7	2478.8	0
2	Atao Audio System	Dominic Vittet	41 12.28' N	24 15.68' W	12.2	236	12.4	242	11.3	271.7	2491.4	12.7
3	philsharpracing.com	Phil Sharp	42 39.84' N	25 05.00' W	13.1	256	13.6	255	11.8	283.1	2499.3	20.6
4	TMI Technologies	Joe Seeten	40 33.44' N	22 18.64' W	11.4	240	11.9	239	10.8	259.1	2555.2	76.4
5	Appart'City	Yvan Noblet	41 01.96' N	22 06.24' W	12	240	12.3	234	11.3	272	2556.8	78.1
6	Chocolats Monbana	Damien Grimont	41 10.20' N	21 16.32' W	11.4	246	11	254	10.3	246.4	2593.3	114.5
7	Tchuda Popka 2	Gw Catherine	41 39.84' N	21 47.04' W	12.3	252	11.8	254	10.8	260.1	2603.9	125.2
8	IXSEA	Olivier Rabine	41 47.92' N	21 41.08' W	9.2	224	11.3	250	10.2	244.5	2611.3	132.6
9	Bolands Mill	Ian Munslow	42 09.88' N	21 30.96' W	14.2	242	10.9	252	9.6	230.1	2627.2	148.5
10	Le Comptoir Immobilier	Guillaume Voizard	42 47.00' N	21 44.32' W	10.2	280	9.6	259	9.8	235.5	2633.9	155.2
11	Lexibook	Hervé Papin	41 48.60' N	20 49.32' W	9.1	250	10.5	263	9.3	222.9	2646.9	168.1
12	Kenmore Homes	Nick Bubb	42 43.00' N	20 47.40' W	9	256	10.9	262	8.6	206.5	2653.9	175.1
13	Cotes d'Armor - Pierres et Mer	Philippe le Gros	41 16.04' N	20 20.24' W	14.3	251	11.5	256	9.5	229.1	2654.2	175.4
14	Guyader L'Esprit de la Mer	Gery Trentseaux	42 31.68' N	20 47.72' W	8.3	239	10.2	252	10	239.6	2665.3	186.6
15	Cinémas Cinéfil.com	JE Criquioche	41 40.04' N	20 11.72' W	11.3	234	9.5	247	9.4	225.4	2669.3	190.6
16	FNAIM Pays de Loire	Lionel Regnier	42 00.20' N	19 54.00' W	10	249	8.8	254	8.6	206.3	2689.3	210.5
17	Nous Entreprenons	Jacques Fournier	42 17.80' N	19 44.92' W	11.1	276	10.6	269	9.2	220.2	2702.3	223.6
18	Cap VAD	Thibaud Derville	42 21.76' N	19 16.80' W	7.4	248	9.4	242	8.4	201.4	2723	244.3
19	Destination Calais	Pierre-Yves Chatelain	43 03.90' N	19 10.62' W	9	206	10	204	8.5	203.8	2735.2	256.5
20	Jardin Bio Equitable	Benoit Parnaudeau	42 29.00' N	19 00.84' W	2	178	9.4	261	8.4	202.5	2736.7	257.9
21	KNAUF Industries	David Lefebvre	43 11.88' N	19 13.60' W	5.3	212	9.5	209	8.2	196.9	2744.6	265.9
22	Paca Entrprendre	Cecile Poujol	42 11.88' N	18 10.96' W	8.3	278	9.1	254	8	191.2	2764.5	285.8
23	Fermiers de Loué - Sarthe	Francois Angoulvant	43 26.80' N	18 45.12' W	8.4	256	6.8	254	6.7	161.9	2769.6	290.8
24	Nouvelle Caledonie	Yves Ecarlat	42 52.86' N	17 54.60' W	7.9	213	8.7	215	8.1	194.2	2783	304.3
25	Siegenia-Aubi	Marc Lepesqueux	46 12.48' N	14 01.48' W	7.1	234	6.1	271	8.1	194.8	3018	539.3

The lead ORMA 60 multihulls are continuing their record breaking pace towards Guadeloupe even if the wind a little too far astern for for ultimate 60ft trimaran speeds. Nonetheless race leader Lionel Lemonchois on Gitana 11 has notched up a useful 562.5 miles in the last 24 hours, some 13 miles more than second placed Pascal Bidegorry on Banque Populaire. It is perhaps worth bearing in mind that up until May this year when Yves Parlier set a new record of 585 miles - read about this here - 562.5 would have been a new ORMA 60 singlehanded 24 hour world record...

At the moment it is very much a downhill drag race. Only Sodebo and Groupama II in a desperate bid to get back into the action has taken a more northerly track hoping to get the shift to the east early allowing them to gybe south. There doesn't seem to be any tactical advantage to doing this hence why Michel Desjoyeaux on Geant and Yvan Bourgnon on Brossard are effectively following in Lemonchois' wake.

Meanwhile Steve Ravussin on Orange Project continues to head for the Azores to repair Orange Proecjt after her collision with a container yesterday. At 7 this morning, his trimaran was located 58 miles from Horta, on Faial making 7-8 knots and should hook up with his support team led by Pierre-Yves Moreau early this afternoon. Since the collision yesterday morning with a container floating just under the surface, Stève Ravussin has been able to give the boat a thorough check-up.

As far as the good news is concerned, no ingress of water has been found, in spite of the violence of the collision. However, with her steering lost following the accident, the solent was torn. Disappointed and a little bit angry because of this unpredictable accident, Stève still wants to set off again as soon as possible to finish the Route du Rhum in the best time possible.

"No, I shan’t be getting any rest in Horta," claims Ravussin. The first phase will involve sending down a diver to examine the central hull. Stève has not found any sign of a crack in the daggerboard casing. He hopes that this terrible collision has not weakened the structure of the boat. Only an examination by a diver will reassure him about this. The second phase involves the daggerboard itself - it has lost at least a metre and will need to be sanded down to offer a minimum level of efficiency. The third phase will concern the rudder. It broke up under the shock. There is also some damage to the rudder stock casing. Stève and his team hope to replace the parts individually and the main appendage by a rudder lent by Sopra, Orange project’s sistership.

The rudder stock will have to be refitted perfectly for Stève to set sail again. The wrecked Solent will have to be replaced and the stay rechecked. In all, the Orange Sailing Team is expecting to spend 24 hours in the Azores, and plan to start again on Saturday.

As we reported last night an interesting tactical situation has been taking place overnight in the Open 60s as they have passed the Azores. Yesterday's leader Roland Jourdain on Sill et Veolia, now the most southerly boat has sacrificed his lead by taking a passage between the island s of Sao Miguel and Terceira while his competitors have continued to the north of the islands. As a result Jean-Pierre Dick has reclaimed the lead followed by the wily Jean le Cam in second place and with Brian Thompson on Artemis and Dominique Wavre on Temenos (his position just below 'Orange Project' on the chart above). While the lead trimarans followed Jourdain's route through the islands when they passed through the wind was more easterly, now with the wind in the northeast it is possible Jourdain may find himself suffering slightly from the wind shadow of the islands. Otherwise for the Open 60s to the norh it is likely they will continue on their westerly track for at least another 24 ours until they see the next shift to the east allowing them to gybe south for Guadeloupe.

In the Class 40s battle still rages between the lead trio of Gildas Morvan on Oyster Funds, Dominique Vittet on ATAO Audio Systems and Britain's Phil Sharp. Over the last 24 hours Morvan and Vittet has crossed gybes, Vittet now to the south with Morvan and Sharp taking a more northerly track. Since yesterday Morvan has ekked out slightly more separation and is now 12.7 miles ahead of Vittet. Ian Munslow on Bolands Mill has dropped to ninth place following a similar track to Vittet.

Gildas Morvan, who is being routed by Figaro dames Sam Davies and Jean Gregoire back in Port la Foret, reported this morning; "It is a superb morning. The weather is nice and the sea was calmed. I take my coffee in the 'terrace' [his doghouse] by listening to the last album of Miossec! Last night the conditions calmed. The boat is pleasant and goes well without having to force it. We've made beautiful averages for these last hours. I have always been between 12 and 17 knots overnight and this morning. I try to respect the fixed routing and to stick to the polars I created. I avoid looking at too much in the rear view mirror. I do not focus on Dominique Vittet. The girls had a go at me for not sleeping enough. They are thoroughly behind me, pushing me so that I always am at the maximum. They supervise me closely and it is pleasant to feel them so committed! ” Too right.