Vendée Globe, arrivederci Doldrums
OceanoVelaVendée Globe 26 Gennaio 2009 Zerogradinord 0
[singlepic=1531,250,170,,left]Vendée Globe – Oceano Atlantico – Un passaggio dei Doldrums all’acqua di rose per Armel Le Cléac’h. Lo skipper di Brit Air, che con i suoi 31 anni è il più giovane tra quelli rimasti in gara, plaude alla buona sorte e vede il vantaggio su Marc Guillemot aumentare di ora in ora. Con poco più di 3000 miglia da percorrere per arrivare a Les Sables d’Olonne, Le Cléac’h comincia a credere di poter tenere Safran a debita distanza e, di conseguenza, di poter compesare l’abbuono di 82 ore che la Giuria ha riconosciuto all’avversario per aver partecipato al recupero di Yann Eliés.
Guillemot, da giorni ormai accompagnatosi a Sam Davies, è alle prese con le prime avvisaglie delle calme equatoriali e spera in un passaggio veloce, che gli consenta di tenere accesa la fiamella della speranza. Safran e Roxy, entrati nel mirino di Bahrain Team Pindar e di Aviva sin dal passaggio di questi ultimi al traverso delle Falkland, possono tirare un sospiro di sollievo. Brian Thompson e Dee Caffari, infatti, hanno tirato il freno, bloccati in una bolla di alta pressione che impedisce velocità superiori ai 7-8 nodi.
Al comando della regata, Michel Desjoyeaux, seguendo il bordo esterno dell’alta pressione che staziona tra le Canarie e le Capo Verde, è riuscito a mettere la prua verso l’arrivo. Lontano poco più di 2000 miglia da Les Sables d’Olonne, lo skipper di Foncia, seguito a 497 miglia da Veolia Environnement, potrebbe giungere a destinazione già all’inizio della prossima settimana.
Day 77, 20.00 GMT, ranking
1 – Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) DTF 2007.7 nm
2 – Roland Jourdain (Veolia Environnement) +497.2 nm
3 – Armel Le Cléac’h (Brit Air) +1040.7 nm
4 – Marc Guillemot (Safran) +2103.2 nm
5 – Samantha Davies (Roxy) +2149.4 nm
Per seguire la regata sul web clicca qui.
[flashvideo filename=video/oceano/Vendee_250109.flv /]
Video courtesy Vendée Globe.
VENDEE GLOBE, A ROOKIE RIGHT OF PASSAGE?
[Vendée Globe Press Release] The Doldrums have been very kind to Armel Le Cléac’h. Is it because at the age of 31 he is the youngest competitors left in the race?
Or because he is the leading rookie, a Vendee Globe first timer? Or maybe simple because he again respected the tradition of sharing a glass of glass of champagne with King Neptune? The meteorologists at Météo France would provide a scientific, logical reason why Brit Air was given a free pass through the Doldrums and the leaders weren’t, but it does look as if he has done enough to hold off the podium challenge from Marc Guillemot
Even with his 82-hours of redress, the task of grabbing third place looks increasingly difficult for the skipper of Safran. Along with Sam Davies, he finally made it out of the tricky weather off Brazil and they are now both in the trade winds, but these are weak to say the least, blowing merely between 10 and 15 knots.
The South Atlantic weather was kinder for a while for Brian Thompson and Dee Caffari, who stepped up the pace to narrow the gap on Guillemot and Davies, but now they find themselves having to endure the frustrating ‘Rio Doldrums’ conditions their predecessors have just escaped from.
In the 15h rankings, Bahrain Team Pindar was down to 7 knots and Aviva was only managing five. On Saturday evening Thompson had his first taste of just how unpredictable these localized squalls and calms, with big wind sucking clouds just like the ‘real’ Inter Tropical Convergence Zone, when he was ground to a near standstill by a cloud. He remarked this morning that over two or three hours around sunset he was pointing in just about ever direction trying to make forwards motion. He has since managed to pull back another 10 miles on Caffari. There are just 334 miles now between Caffari and Davies.
Steve White has been plugging his way northwards on Toe in the Water, taking a favourable and very welcome lift as the breeze backed for him today. With his route blocked by the high pressure ridge, his improved angle was a source of some satisfaction on a leg which has so far mostly been directly on Toe in the Water’s Achilles Heel, upwind in 15-20 knots of wind.
Rich Wilson, USA, (Great American III) had 206 miles to go to Cape Horn at 17.30 GMT. Having passed the point at which he was capsized in 1990 he admitted today that any real catharsis will not happen for him until he has passed Staten Island, to the east of the Horn.
Day 77, 20.00 GMT, ranking
1 – Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) DTF 2007.7 nm
2 – Roland Jourdain (Veolia Environnement) +497.2 nm
3 – Armel Le Cléac’h (Brit Air) +1040.7 nm
4 – Marc Guillemot (Safran) +2103.2 nm
5 – Samantha Davies (Roxy) +2149.4 nm
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