11.11.2006
DECISION TIME ON CHEMINEES POUJOULAT
Early this morning, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston contacted the VELUX 5 OCEANS race office with his daily update and described conditions yesterday, beclamed just south of the Cape Verde Islands: "Friday was a lost day. The sun was blistering from a clear and cloudless blue sky and I took shelter early. I made a couple of sail changes during the day, but feel a little burned from just that exposure." On Friday, Knox-Johnston was making such slow progress that the race office called to check on his status, although everything was fine on Open 60 SAGA Insurance: "Indeed, the race director phoned to ask if I was alright. Nice to know the race control is on the ball, though."
The sixty-seven year-old skipper is not optimistic about his progress in the near future: "The wind prognosis is not good. The easterly winds that enabled the leaders to rush through the Equator are disappearing and being replaced by south-east ones," he explained with a hint of frustration, suggesting that further headwinds now look likely: "It has largely been a beat all the way down here and it looks like its going to continue. This poor boat is never going to get an opportunity to show what she is capable of at this rate."
In the South Atlantic, 2,000 miles ahead of Knox-Johnston, race leader Bernard Stamm sent a swift e-mail to the race office this morning: "Always under spinaker, I receive the wind more from behind than Mike and Koji, they are going always a little faster." Although Ecover and Spirit of Yukoh are currently reaching, Stamm is still continuing to record speeds of 15 knots and holding his lead. It is, however, a critical time on Cheminees Poujoulat: "I'm concentrating on the weather to reach the Roaring Forties," he wrote, later admitting that the weather system ahead and the choices were complex: "It is quiet complicated and tody we will be obliged to take important decision about the course."
Closing down Bernard Stamm's lead to 336 miles overnight was a revelation for Mike Golding: "I know, it is good. I'm even surprised myself that I am still taking miles off Bernard" he commented in a satellite phone call to his team this morning, delighted by the 20 mile overnight gain on frontrunner, Cheminees Poujoulat. Golding realizes that every gain banked will pay considerable interest in the Southern Ocean: "I am still pretty convinced he [Stamm] can get through the weather ahead easier, but the more we close the distance, the less effect it has on us. So we shall see. The more we can do just now it might make quite a big difference further on."
Alex Thomson, 594 miles north of Stamm in fourth place, is pleased with his recent pace on Hugo Boss: "It's great to see the degrees of latitude get bigger and bigger so quickly. It really feels like we are making good progress and clocking up roughly 300 miles per day in the right direction." But like Stamm, Golding and Shiraishi ahead of him, Thomson's thoughts are centred on a fast link to the westerly winds in the south. "The route to the Southern Ocean is still not clear for me yet," he reported to his team today, "although I suspect the choice may soon be made for me. There is a window in the current weather that makes the best route one that takes us towards Cape Town, but the further forward you are, the easier it is." As the weather system to the south develops, Thomson's options will diminish and he is preparing for the prospect of a long, circuitous route to the west, away from his target course: "Bernard will almost certainly get through, and there's a good chance Mike and Koji will make it too, but it is not so likely for me."
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