Sea, Sail & Surf newsSolitaire du Figaro
On track under spinnaker…
dimanche 11 août 2002 –
The charts and weather forecasts are colourful to say the least. It’s certainly a mad race for speed which awaits the soloists turning from the Irish Sea into the Atlantic. « An aggressive round which Eric Drouglazet is cut out for », thinks Gilles Chiorri (32 01 de Météo Consult). « The first part of the race will be for old seadogs like Droug’ », comments Antoine Koch (Saunier Duval). A run for the markers, with the swots being the specialists of the long glides under spinnaker to edge back the smallest margins. The second round will greatly resemble the last one which lead the race title holder to victory, last year in Hendaye. The spinnaker was hoisted high and for the sake of endurance and the craving to win, Eric Drouglazet (David Olivier) gave it his all so as to be able to harvest the laurels in the tough wind conditions.
And that’s just the start. Today’s sky in Ireland, a sure indicator of the speedy passage of a depression, is added confirmation. It is indeed from the north-west at 20-25 knots that the skippers will put the wind into their sails so we should see the spinnakers flying. A bracing and physical entry into the race which promises 24 hours of high speed racing… to eat up the miles. On the skippers menu : strong offwind sailing and some squalls to thrash out as an appetizer. The rest of the leg should also take on a different tone when the soloists get closer to Ushant. « In contrast to the fourth leg last year, these conditions will only last a day. So in theory this should pass by without much difficulty, if there aren’t too many squalls, continues the winner of the first leg. For the remains of the course, between l’île de Sein and the Sables d’Olonne, the wind will let up and change direction a great deal, perhaps with some breezy spells and of course the currents. This part of the race will be more open to everyone in terms of speed, as well as being more favourable for tactical coups. » This should season things up a bit whilst replacing the neurons of the simmering soloists, playing the more capricious winds and tides.
« We’re going to pass from a depression with a fairly active sky, to an anticyclone with a ridge of high pressure », explains Sébastien Josse (Créaline) from his point of view. They are ready to cast off : the bows directed towards the start point of the Vendée Globe, homeland of the soloists. It will certainly be with a ridge of high pressure on the back that the skippers will do battle. The winds will beat around this south west-south sector and are likely to decrease. Eyes will be riveted on the barometer and the search for signs in a change in the mood of Aeolus, setting the pace for a more tactical race on the winding route past L’île d’Yeu and the Vendée coastline. These little tricks on the dessert menu will satisfy the appetites of the specialists of tactical ruses subject to entertaining developments and promising a final full of surprises.
We’ll leave the last word with Kito de Pavant (Malice), who knows that anything can happen as the very small time differences between them all prove that the race has only just begun : « There will be traps everywhere, but I don’t know where yet. We’ll see what the weather has to offer us. You really have to guard against having any preconceived ideas about how a round will go. There could be a bubble of air which hangs around, a level passage where the only thing I am sure of is … don’t assume anything until you’re in the bar. »
Laure Faÿ
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