Sea, Sail & Surf newsJules Verne Trophy
Peyron : " We had not been expecting much wind anyway "
vendredi 26 avril 2002 –
Pretty much as the wind information promised, there’s not much cause for partying on board. Which is probably just as well. For all the guys on board would like to have a decent wind to sail the boat faster, head seas are to be avoided at all costs right now in view of the cursed broken ball joint. Thankfully, the sea has taken a rain check and Orange is gliding along, albeit slowly, but without suffering... Bruno Peyron at lunchtime today : " Fortunately the sea has calmed since yesterday evening. A fair bit of light air ahead and a little more perhaps over the next 24 hours. But we’ll be sticking to this course for four or five more days yet. Patience is of the essence - on this course you can find yourself flying down waves in the Southern Ocean at speeds of 30 knots and climbing up the Atlantic at just 8 knots ! ".
That self same patience makes the crew overly attentive when up on deck. Bruno again : " As every sailor knows, light winds are often worse than heavy weather. You have to be that much more attentive and concentrate all the more in light winds where every mile clocked up is worth two or three what it would be otherwise ". Current trends bear this out. The watch up on deck trim the sails to the nearest millimetre, the helmsman picks up on the slightest rotation of the wind to steer the boat in the right direction. Whilst it is great to sail fast, sailing in the right direction is better still. " We’d much prefer to be on a heading of 330° rather than 300° " conceded Bruno. He knows that they have to put some west into their heading today in order to preserve the mast, whilst keeping a careful eye out not to loose out on the north/north-east, which is where the way out to the Trophée Jules Verne lies.
What’s morale like on board then ? " We’re only too aware that it could all come to an end anytime," announced JB, aka Jean-Baptiste Epron. But the crew remains highly motivated and we’re sailing with blinkers on. We’re keeping our eyes firmly set dead ahead and we know we have to get on with it. As for the atmosphere on board, nothing’s changed. It’s excellent. There’s no question of letting things go. If a piece of clothing which is drying falls down and you’re on watch, you are the one who gets up and puts it back in place, even if it’s not yours. We’ll be keeping an eye out for each other right through to the very end ! ".
Quote/Unquote :
Bruno Peyron : " Tell my friends in Marseille to light a candle in the " Bonne Mère " (the Church of Notre Dame de la Garde) for our mast foot. We’re relying on them ! "
Sébastien Josse : " We know that we’ve still got five days upwind sailing ahead of us. So be it, if that’s what Aeolus has decided ! Right now, we are making 9 knots in rather stable conditions but our main aim in life at the moment is to avoid having the boat slam around in the waves in order to preserve the mast ".
Pierrick Garenne / Mer & Media Agency / Translation by Nikki Scott-Despaigne
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