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Francesca Clapcich USA/ITA (11th Hour Racing) 6th IMOCA: “We are flapping about which is frustrating being fairly close to the finish, like 400 miles or so, and we're just here all stuck with the sails flapping. There is some frustration. But there is  not so much that we can do, I guess.  I'm just a bit afraid because my positioning is not amazing compared to what we're expecting next.

I think that the trades are kind of restructuring themselves a little bit with the high pressure moving back to the Azores, so they will definitely come more from the south-southeast, and I'm all the way to the northwest. So, compared to the fleet, even when people will start, I'm going to be the last one getting going, that is a bit frustrating, but it is what it is.


Sam Goodchild FRA/GBR (MACIF Santé Prévoyance) 4th IMOCA: "I am not too bad. A little bit tired, as you can imagine. I've had a bit of a full-on two-day, especially Sunday, which was quite hard work. A couple of breakages, a few issues, and having to fix stuff, and yeah, it's cost me some miles and places, ultimately. It is frustrating. I'm not going to lie to you, It's frustrating. At the moment we are flapping around. The sun's just up, there's no wind now, and there's no wind forecast for the day. it's going to be a slow day. It's a bit weird, though, the notion around timing. It's about six days to get to the last 300 miles, and then three days to do the last 300 miles. It's a bit... It's a bit tough. I do have to try and get some rest. I mean, I've had a pretty hard last two days. I didn't get a lot of sleep and so I am knackered. But at the same time, if there's not a wind at all, you can't just leave the autopilot on, do its own thing, because the wind it's spinning around. I managed to get some sleep last night. So every time there's a little bit of pressure, I go and kip for 30 minutes with alarms on. I need to keep going in the right direction. We've lost enough places without losing more.

The mainsail tack ripped off. That was a few days ago, actually. The tack just came away. I was forced to sail with one reef in for three days, and then I managed to fix it on Sunday. And then on Sunday, going through that low pressure system, I had a couple of squalls of over 40 knots and damaged small sails. And then I had to go up the rig to get something unstuck. And I spent hours and hours trying not to go up, and I ended up going anyway. And that was pretty scary and beat me up quite a lot.

 

And then we had a problem with the foil as well. Two nights ago, with that big reach, when everyone was going fast coming into Guadeloupe, I had a problem with the foil, so I had to stop for an hour. And that was when that Elodie overtook.  So yes, it had just been chasing our tail, really.

 

The mainsail broke on a wave, I'm not entirely sure why. It just popped off a wave in fairly benign conditions. It just gave way. I'm not entirely sure why it happened, but it did.

 

The wind will come in tonight. Some wind will start coming in, and today we're just trying to make the best of what we've got. It looks like it's going to fill in from the south, so that means I won't gain any places, but hopefully I won't lose any places either. If it wants to go the other way around, then I'll take it!"

 

 

Luca Rosetti ITA (Macaferri Futura) 10th Class 40: “After the low pressure it was hard, we had a really strong condition downwind and hard waves. I hurt my back in a wave, so now I have a little bit of back pain but I'm trying to do my best anyway. Now for the end of the race it looks like really light wind, so it will be not an easy race till the end but we try to manage as best as possible.

In terms of weather, I need a little bit of luck now with the forecast because now wind is really really light, it's not easy to sail in these conditions because it's not easy to find the best route to the end. Many things can happen, so I need to be focused and also be a little bit lucky to find the best route to reach Guadeloupe and gain some positions too.

 

The boat is really good, it is top during the whole race. Now at the moment I am upwind with 8-10 knots of wind, some gusts of 15, so at the moment I don't need it. But anyway, the boat has been super all the race. I had a really good speed and it was also quite easy in the strong wind. My problem is that at the start of the race I made a choice, a strategical choice that was to pass north to the first depression and it was not correct because the depression followed me and all the northern group and so we lose a lot of time. But anyway, that's this race.

 

Andrea Fornaro ITA (Influence 2) 13th “ I just got into this second low tropical pressure. Yesterday night, yesterday was absolutely tough. I didn't expect so much wind and big waves, so I set the boat for this big storm. But in the everything was good. It went fine. I was struggling a little bit to steer the boat, but at the end, okay, and now sun is shining and I'm doing breakfast. It looks a bit disgusting, bread with some peanut butter and one cookie and water with a powder of milk.I like it.

The boat is all good, nothing to worry about. A few days ago, I had a problem with a spinnaker and went totally in the water, but I was lucky and I was able to take out from the water and there was just one tear that I repaired it.  But basically the boat is fine. No big issues, just perfect.

 

I think that we have three boats in front of me that I can catch. The conditions are very tricky, very light, so everything is possible. I'm working to take at least two points forward. To get into the top 10 would be great. This is difficult. I don't know if I can do it, but I'll try.

 

Pep Costa ESP (VSF Sports) Class 40 9th: "I'm trying to catch up with this little group in front of me that is driving me nuts. But I'm not giving up a single metre, which I think is good. I'm quite optimistic about the fact that I can keep on fighting.Yesterday I overtook William (Mathelin Moreaux), which is good news. He’s very close by, but still it's nice. We have had a bit of a match race with him, we have the same boat, which is kind of cool. It helps me also to stay very focused on the race and try to give my best, to try to do the best trajectory as I can. I think my trace is quite good. It's quite nice.

Let's try to continue like that. I think the next few days will be very complicated with very light winds, hopefully for everyone. Hopefully I can take the most out of this complicated situation and keep on moving forward.

Yesterday, with the low pressure, it was a very complicated passage, but I'm happy with how I managed it, which is good. It will be good news if I can have a little compression and be able to stay as close as possible.

 

Last night I was quite tired because yesterday I gave my absolute best for this low pressure to be able to sail even more than 100% of the boat. I took a little risk because I was sailing very fast and everything, but I was very full on. I was in the cockpit all the time, so it was kind of stressful, but I knew that I made some important gains over there. Last night, when the wind was dropping, definitely I was tired. I slept quite a few times in 20 minutes.

I would say I slept a few hours tonight, which was more than necessary. Otherwise, I kind of do little naps of 20 minutes and then I check the boat.”

 

Rupert Henry AUS (Eora) 21st Class 40: "Gorgeous morning here. It's warm weather. Nice. Last night was shit. Another one of those low-pressure systems, but now it's lovely.To be honest, I think there's been a bit of misleading advertising, but it's supposed to be a few days of upwind and then sailing in  sunshine to paradise. A lot of sail changes. I wanted to be in the top half. I can see young Thomas Lurton right on my bow. We've been tracker buddies. He doesn't have his spinnaker up If I overtake him, I'll be in top 20. To be honest, I'm getting a bit tired. It's been a while. Unpredictable, but unstable weather. There's been a lot of style changes and changes of mode. Now I think we're going to run into a no wind zone pretty shortly. It's easier to sleep when the boat's settled down. The boat's been going pretty well. I think I had to maybe change a lashing on a block. That's about it. The boat preparations paid off well. I'm feeling a bit under-practised on my manoeuvres. That's the big difference between the guys that live in France, the pros, and hunters like me. They're just so slick at the transitions. They're always on the right sail straight away, and they just creep away with it. They're so good at it."

 

 

2 days ago
7 min read

After the stress and massive efforts of the race, the relentless work rate required by the low pressure systems, the tropical storm north of Guadeloupe and the big low at the Azores for Class 40 now it is light winds which are the big cause of frustration among many classes. And as most solo skippers will tell you it is when the winds are very light or calm that is when it is most tiring. Here is a round up of some of the Internationals...




Francesca Clapcich USA/ITA (11th Hour Racing) 6th IMOCA: “We are flapping about which is frustrating being fairly close to the finish, like 400 miles or so, and we're just here all stuck with the sails flapping. There is some frustration. But there is  not so much that we can do, I guess.  I'm just a bit afraid because my positioning is not amazing compared to what we're expecting next.

I think that the trades are kind of restructuring themselves a little bit with the high pressure moving back to the Azores, so they will definitely come more from the south-southeast, and I'm all the way to the northwest. So, compared to the fleet, even when people will start, I'm going to be the last one getting going, that is a bit frustrating, but it is what it is.


Sam Goodchild FRA/GBR (MACIF Santé Prévoyance) 4th IMOCA: "I am not too bad. A little bit tired, as you can imagine. I've had a bit of a full-on two-day, especially Sunday, which was quite hard work. A couple of breakages, a few issues, and having to fix stuff, and yeah, it's cost me some miles and places, ultimately. It is frustrating. I'm not going to lie to you, It's frustrating. At the moment we are flapping around. The sun's just up, there's no wind now, and there's no wind forecast for the day. it's going to be a slow day. It's a bit weird, though, the notion around timing. It's about six days to get to the last 300 miles, and then three days to do the last 300 miles. It's a bit... It's a bit tough. I do have to try and get some rest. I mean, I've had a pretty hard last two days. I didn't get a lot of sleep and so I am knackered. But at the same time, if there's not a wind at all, you can't just leave the autopilot on, do its own thing, because the wind it's spinning around. I managed to get some sleep last night. So every time there's a little bit of pressure, I go and kip for 30 minutes with alarms on. I need to keep going in the right direction. We've lost enough places without losing more.

The mainsail tack ripped off. That was a few days ago, actually. The tack just came away. I was forced to sail with one reef in for three days, and then I managed to fix it on Sunday. And then on Sunday, going through that low pressure system, I had a couple of squalls of over 40 knots and damaged small sails. And then I had to go up the rig to get something unstuck. And I spent hours and hours trying not to go up, and I ended up going anyway. And that was pretty scary and beat me up quite a lot.

 

And then we had a problem with the foil as well. Two nights ago, with that big reach, when everyone was going fast coming into Guadeloupe, I had a problem with the foil, so I had to stop for an hour. And that was when that Elodie overtook.  So yes, it had just been chasing our tail, really.

 

The mainsail broke on a wave, I'm not entirely sure why. It just popped off a wave in fairly benign conditions. It just gave way. I'm not entirely sure why it happened, but it did.

 

The wind will come in tonight. Some wind will start coming in, and today we're just trying to make the best of what we've got. It looks like it's going to fill in from the south, so that means I won't gain any places, but hopefully I won't lose any places either. If it wants to go the other way around, then I'll take it!"

 

 

Luca Rosetti ITA (Macaferri Futura) 10th Class 40: “After the low pressure it was hard, we had a really strong condition downwind and hard waves. I hurt my back in a wave, so now I have a little bit of back pain but I'm trying to do my best anyway. Now for the end of the race it looks like really light wind, so it will be not an easy race till the end but we try to manage as best as possible.

In terms of weather, I need a little bit of luck now with the forecast because now wind is really really light, it's not easy to sail in these conditions because it's not easy to find the best route to the end. Many things can happen, so I need to be focused and also be a little bit lucky to find the best route to reach Guadeloupe and gain some positions too.

 

The boat is really good, it is top during the whole race. Now at the moment I am upwind with 8-10 knots of wind, some gusts of 15, so at the moment I don't need it. But anyway, the boat has been super all the race. I had a really good speed and it was also quite easy in the strong wind. My problem is that at the start of the race I made a choice, a strategical choice that was to pass north to the first depression and it was not correct because the depression followed me and all the northern group and so we lose a lot of time. But anyway, that's this race.

 

Andrea Fornaro ITA (Influence 2) 13th “ I just got into this second low tropical pressure. Yesterday night, yesterday was absolutely tough. I didn't expect so much wind and big waves, so I set the boat for this big storm. But in the everything was good. It went fine. I was struggling a little bit to steer the boat, but at the end, okay, and now sun is shining and I'm doing breakfast. It looks a bit disgusting, bread with some peanut butter and one cookie and water with a powder of milk.I like it.

The boat is all good, nothing to worry about. A few days ago, I had a problem with a spinnaker and went totally in the water, but I was lucky and I was able to take out from the water and there was just one tear that I repaired it.  But basically the boat is fine. No big issues, just perfect.

 

I think that we have three boats in front of me that I can catch. The conditions are very tricky, very light, so everything is possible. I'm working to take at least two points forward. To get into the top 10 would be great. This is difficult. I don't know if I can do it, but I'll try.

 

Pep Costa ESP (VSF Sports) Class 40 9th: "I'm trying to catch up with this little group in front of me that is driving me nuts. But I'm not giving up a single metre, which I think is good. I'm quite optimistic about the fact that I can keep on fighting.Yesterday I overtook William (Mathelin Moreaux), which is good news. He’s very close by, but still it's nice. We have had a bit of a match race with him, we have the same boat, which is kind of cool. It helps me also to stay very focused on the race and try to give my best, to try to do the best trajectory as I can. I think my trace is quite good. It's quite nice.

Let's try to continue like that. I think the next few days will be very complicated with very light winds, hopefully for everyone. Hopefully I can take the most out of this complicated situation and keep on moving forward.

Yesterday, with the low pressure, it was a very complicated passage, but I'm happy with how I managed it, which is good. It will be good news if I can have a little compression and be able to stay as close as possible.

 

Last night I was quite tired because yesterday I gave my absolute best for this low pressure to be able to sail even more than 100% of the boat. I took a little risk because I was sailing very fast and everything, but I was very full on. I was in the cockpit all the time, so it was kind of stressful, but I knew that I made some important gains over there. Last night, when the wind was dropping, definitely I was tired. I slept quite a few times in 20 minutes.

I would say I slept a few hours tonight, which was more than necessary. Otherwise, I kind of do little naps of 20 minutes and then I check the boat.”

 

Rupert Henry AUS (Eora) 21st Class 40: "Gorgeous morning here. It's warm weather. Nice. Last night was shit. Another one of those low-pressure systems, but now it's lovely.To be honest, I think there's been a bit of misleading advertising, but it's supposed to be a few days of upwind and then sailing in  sunshine to paradise. A lot of sail changes. I wanted to be in the top half. I can see young Thomas Lurton right on my bow. We've been tracker buddies. He doesn't have his spinnaker up If I overtake him, I'll be in top 20. To be honest, I'm getting a bit tired. It's been a while. Unpredictable, but unstable weather. There's been a lot of style changes and changes of mode. Now I think we're going to run into a no wind zone pretty shortly. It's easier to sleep when the boat's settled down. The boat's been going pretty well. I think I had to maybe change a lashing on a block. That's about it. The boat preparations paid off well. I'm feeling a bit under-practised on my manoeuvres. That's the big difference between the guys that live in France, the pros, and hunters like me. They're just so slick at the transitions. They're always on the right sail straight away, and they just creep away with it. They're so good at it."

 

 

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