Sea, Sail & Surf newsTransat Jacques Vabre
Anglosaxons are on top after cracking Monohull start
samedi 1er novembre 2003 –
- Pindar a pris le meilleur départ, bâbord amurre, devant les autres Open 60.
- Photo : C.Borlenghi / Sea&See.it
The majority of the fleet grouped together in the final minute to the gun just off the cliffs at La Heve, all under mainsail with one reef and staysail heading towards the pin end of the line, marked by a naval ship, on starboard tack. Pindar (Richards/Sanderson) came in on port tack at the committee end of the line and at the gun signal, cleared the start line first and to windward of the main pack, lead by the first Farr 60 Virbac (Jean-Pierre Dick-Nicolas Abiven), PRB (Vincent Riou-Jérémie Beyou), Sill (Roland Jourdain-Alex Thomson) and Ecover (Mike Golding-Brian Thompson). Cheminées Poujoulat/Armor Lux (Bernard Stamm-Christophe Lebas) was the furthest boat to leeward in this close grouping and accelerating below PRB at a fair rate. Leading boat Pindar was the first to tack off a few minutes after the start as the fleet began their upwind battle towards the second mark of the course, North cardinal ’Metzinger’ to the North of the starting zone. The pack of boats behind spread as they chose their moment to tack, with Ecover holding her own on starboard tack pulling ahead of Sill and PRB. At the Metzinger buoy, the last mark of the course before the finish line in Brazil, Ecover and PRB were neck and neck rounding the mark, followed by Cheminées Poujoulat/Armor Lux, Pindar, Team Cowes (Nick Moloney-Sam Davies) and Sill.
• Open 50 Monohulls
The first Open 50 across the line was Storagetek (Régis Guillemot-Olivier Salnelle), followed by Labesfal (Ricardo Diniz-Mark Taylor) and Defi Vendéen (Jean-François Durand-Stéphane Chemin). The 50’s were taking more strain in these conditions, healing more despite reefing, and leading multihull Mollymawk (Ross Hobson/Andi Newman) bravely manoeuvred upwind in the short seas with spray flying in her wake. By the first position report at 1600hrs French time, the formidable Brit-Aussie duo of Humphreys and Larsen on Hellomoto were up in the lead.
• First official position report - 1500hrs GMT
The first official position report at 1600hrs French time now reveals the British pairing of Golding and Thompson still in the lead on Ecover by a fraction of a mile, followed by French team Riou and Beyou on PRB, second British boat Pindar with leading female skipper Emma Richards at the helm, tailed closely by Anglo-French pair Roland Jourdain and Alex Thomson on Sill - all of these within a mile of the leader.
So the Anglo-Saxons are on top at the start of the 6th edition of this classic double-handed Transat Jacques Vabre Transat Jacques Vabre #TJV2015 from Le Havre, France to Salvador da Bahia, Brazil, some 4,340 miles down the track. With a wet and wild night guaranteed ahead thanks to the low pressure system moving into the English Channel, all 24 boats and 48 skippers will have two - three days at least of uncomfortable upwind boat-bashing racing in the world’s busiest shipping waters, during which time it is unlikely that they will get much rest or respite as they manage the boat round the clock with an infernal rhythm. It’s going to take some real guts and perseverance to punch through this first phase of the race. In brief, it’s a hard upwind slog all the way to the Canaries, which in theory should favour the proven yachts in the fleet but given that Ecover, the latest Owen-Clarke Open 60 design, is leading the fleet out of Le Havre, the race from the outset is going to be unpredictable and eventful.
Multihull start : The 14 Open 60 multihulls will wait until 1100hrs French time tomorrow to find out when they will take their start, which was scheduled for 1500hrs French time Sunday 2nd November. The extreme conditions predicted tomorrow in the narrow and busy English Channel led the Race Organisation Organisation #organisation to postpone their start until at least Tuesday.
• POSITIONS - 15:00:00 GMT
IMOCA
Imoca
#IMOCA
Open 60’s
1. Ecover (Mike Golding-Brian Thompson)
2. PRB (Vincent Riou-Jérémie Beyou)
3. Pindar (Emma Richard-Mike Sanderson)
4. Sill (Roland Jourdain-Alex Thomson)
Multihull Open 50’s
1. Atlantic Nature (Anne Caseneuve-Christophe Houdet)
2. Mollymawk (Ross Hobson-Andi Newman)
Open 50 Monohulls
1. Hellomoto (Conrad Humphreys-Paul Larsen)
2. Défi Vendéen (Jean-François Durand-Stéphane Chemin)
3. Storagetek (Régis Guillemot-Olivier Salnelle)
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