Out of the shed

Seb Josse's BT Open 60 relaunched

After a week spent out of the water, the BT Open 60 will be re-launched tomorrow at the French sailing base in Lorient, where the team has everything neatly packed and organised for the 'big' journey (aka the Vendée Globe!). Food supplies and spares have been labelled, and it's only a matter of hours before the boat adopts her race ready configuration. For the BT shore team, the excitement is comparable to setting off on a marathon drive destined for the family's annual holiday - though in this case there is no need to sit on the 'luggage' to make the contents fit!

'Quickly in and out' was the brief for BT's latest shed escapade. A final check-up, a nice cleaning session in order to get to Les Sables d'Olonne with an immaculate hull plus a few details to optimise here and there: "Since the boat has been ready for a while, we could afford to concentrate on details we would have overlooked in a normal last-minute rush situation," reports the technical team. The keel profile was refined, the fin and the
bulb's surfaces now being as smooth as can be, just like the bottom of the hull. That surfacing job was naturally also a good opportunity to scrutinise every square centimetre of the underwater structure. Inside, the team has been busy with the final tweaks on the electronics system, a comprehensive state-of-the-art combination of monitoring, routing and communicating devices. "We also worked on the comfort," says Paul-Ed Henry, in charge of logistics, with a laugh. "We added a courtesy mirror for Seb, in case he wants to check his appearance before answering his video phone! Plus a few wall-mounted pouches in the kitchen area, so he can keep his spice jars handy! All the food is packed and ready to go on board. Putting the supplies on the boat is on our job list for Saturday."

Food matters

Unlike some of his rivals, Sébastien is not a convert of the 100% freeze-dried diet, as he explains: "When you're racing, food is a fuel, but I'm not ready to compromise when it comes to quality, as it remains the only little luxury I can have onboard. I take 100 kilos of food supplies, only 30% of which is freeze-dried, to be consumed when the conditions don't allow me to cook a 'proper' meal. These are pre-packed and only need to be heated.

"I very rarely take my time to eat - it has to be rather fast because there is always a sail to trim, a weather file to analyse or something awaiting repairs. And even if there is not a lot to do, I would feel that 15 minutes are better spent sleeping than eating. I need about 5000 to 6000 calories a day, depending on the outside temperature, which is about twice as much as a person needs in a daily urban environment (in the Southern Ocean, this figure rises to 8000 calories a day!). For my water needs, I rely on a water-maker which produces 1.5 litres of fresh water using sea water."

Re-launched tomorrow, the BT Open 60 will be loaded this weekend and will have her mast re-stepped on Monday, and will spend her last week in Brittany before taking off towards Les Sables d'Olonne next Friday!