W-Hotels hook a line

IMOCA 60s south of Newfoundland on the New York to Barcelona transoceanic sailing record

Into Day 3 of their race and life is simple aboard the two New York to Barcelona Transoceanic Sailing Record Open 60s Estrella Damm and W-Hotels. The stiff but favourable winds which have been the perfect slingshot into the North Atlantic have remained consistently above 25 knots and so the routine for the two teams has been the same, the pursuit of maximum speed peppered by some rest and nutrition.

The only problem so far has been experienced by W-Hotels which had to throttle right back when they hooked a long fishing or lobster pot line, an occupational hazard in these latitudes perhaps, but their American co-skipper Peter Becker reckoned this afternoon that the slowdown, which ultimately required them to cut themselves free after it snagged itself around their canard, cost them some 10 miles or so against their opposition.

They reported that they dragged the long line for a while before finally cutting it, bringing nearly 10 metres on board and suspect there is some minor damage to the daggerboard which may require repair.

W-Hotels’ co-skipper Pachi Rivero (ESP) sounded full of energy when called from Barcelona Race Direction HQ this afternoon, despite chatting after a long night of hard labour. He remarked that he felt they perhaps had been seeing a small speed deficit on their challengers Estrella Damm but they had been working incessantly to try and close the gap, which was down to less than 6 miles this morning (ECT), but had increased again to just over 10 miles on their sistership. But in fact both boats have been very evenly matched over recent hours, Estrella Damm recording just one tenth of a knot faster averages over a four hour interval. Rivero confessed that yesterday midday they had tried to change to a reaching headsail in their quest to close the gap, but they lost a few miles and so in the end they have been sticking with the same sailplan as Ribes, Pella and Schreyer on Estrella Damm, with a reefed main and Solent for a wind angle of around 100 degrees, wind speeds of 25 to 30 knots.

Estrella Damm have been setting a great pace, making over 430 miles during one 24 hours period into this afternoon (ECT). Skipper Pepe Ribes again confirmed today that they were trying to keep ahead of the front and had not thought too much about the strategy to deal with the high pressure system which is developing in front of them, or the low pressure which will develop over the Azores which may require them to detour south to avoid long spells upwind. Sail changes have been occasional rather than regular, although Ribes said they had little time to rest last night as the wind was varying between 25 and 35 knots.

Pepe Ribes said: “Last night the Gulf Stream was really strong. We had a few squalls and showers and the wind was up and down a lot so it was a long night for us. We could not rest much because we had to be waiting all the time to react to what was happening with the wind, it was going from 25-35 knots. The night was very changeable but it got better early this morning. The waves are hard, right in our faces we are making 18-19 knots and hoping to stay in front of the front. We don’t really know what is going to happen with the high pressure ahead which will come until it settles. Life on board with Stan is really good. He is adapting really well to the watches, we try to keep with him on his watch or at least for part of it, so that he can learn the boat and do everything, making good team work. So far he has not asked too many questions simply because there has been little time, we are just sailing and resting.”

Stan Schreyer added: “I really tried not to try and think what this would be like, so I had no real preconceived ideas.. It has been a great trip so far. It has been very easy for me because Pepe and Alex have been working together for such a long time and they have done a lot of sailing like this. I don’t have a lot of training on a boat like this myself, but they have been helping me a lot. We have our watch systems going and the guys have been helping me on my watch. We all do some cooking because it is freeze dried and so it is just add water. We have a regular schedule we stick to, and it is on the wall so I know when I’m on and off. It is very wet! Up on deck it is like a fire-hose. Leaving New York was interesting, passing the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island thinking I was leaving New York to sail to another country, I thought that was very interesting.”

Peter Becker (USA) did not need prompted to admit he is absolutely loving the ride so far on W-Hotels, especially after driving for four hours straight yesterday as they pressed hard to try and catch Estrella Damm. “It is just marvellous. We have been working hard.”

Pachi Rivero reported: “Maybe Estrella Damm is a little bit quicker than us, but it is very hard to tell because of the lobster pot issue, that made us lose some time. We had a really good start and we have really had the same winds virtually since the start. We made a change to the reacher but that cost us some miles too. The water has been quite warm, 20 degrees yesterday and 18 degrees today, but it is getting colder. At the moment we have a wind at 110 degrees 26 knots, the most we have seen so far is 33 knots. We could feel some Gulf Stream current yesterday. Life on board with Peter is really good, he is a really hard working guy and contributes all the time. He puts a lot of effort into everything he does and is always asking a lot about these Open 60s.”