Sea, Sail & Surf newsJules Verne Trophy
Orange expected between Saturday and Monday
mardi 30 avril 2002 –
"We’re beam reaching" said Sébastien Josse who answered the chat session call this midday. "The boat is passing nicely through the sea and we’re proceeding at the right speed towards the Azores high. Then all there’s left to do is do a tour of the parish and head back to France !" Today less than 2000 miles (or less than 3,700 km) away, the Marseilles giant has slightly curved her route to the NW to on the one hand ease the sails and on the other to cause less suffering to the boat at an angle too close to the wind, and especially to get well placed in relation to the centre of the Azores high. "The game-plan is simple" continued Sébastien : "we mustn’t go playing too far to the east and get too caught up in the calms of the high and not go too far to the west either and extend the route too much". So in clear, what’s going to happen in the next 48 hours ? The maxi-catamaran Orange should be slowing down as she approaches the unstable winds of the high, perhaps she’ll have to multiple gybes before picking up the well settled leading NW winds on the edge of the high which will strengthen with the train of lows that are currently marching across the North Atlantic.
If the scenario for the coming days is almost set, can we talk about an ETA yet ? "If we can rely on all the weather patterns, we’ll be finishing on Sunday or Monday" declared Bruno Peyron. "But we could get slowed down, and then we’ll be finishing on Tuesday. Or, at the other end of the scale, if we accelerated suddenly, it could be Saturday..." So as you will no doubt have understood, the ETA is rather a guess today, it all depends on the time that Bruno Peyron and his men will take to make the transition from the trade winds to the edge of the high. Once on the right side of the Azores high, the Marseilles giant will ease her sheets in a wind progressively orienting NW that will power them to the finishing line. The countdown has really started !
Quote / unquote...
Bruno Peyron : "We have been lucky not to have trades too strong, which has meant that we have been able to beat into a not too rough sea and to make real progress on the direct route"
Jean-Baptiste Epron : "It’s true that we’re torn between enjoying it a bit longer and finishing. We’re both tenser and more relaxed... But I think that a walk in the country, in the woods, with the birds singing would also be quite nice !"
Pierrick Garenne / Mer & Media Agency Translated by David Palmer / SeaSpeak
Dans la même rubrique
Jules Verne Trophy : Orange through the Azores high
Jules Verne Trophy : Peyron’s catamaran in an orange world
Jules Verne Trophy : Peyron : " We had not been expecting much wind anyway "
Jules Verne Trophy : Orange’s heading is gently taking her towards the NW...
