Knitting knots and sitting ducks

Those in the north, Sam Goodchild (MACIF Santé Prévoyance) and Ambrogio Beccaria (Allagrande Mapei). This morning they looked to have just and no more broken through the old front and got into the new northerly breeze but in fact instead of it moving west it looks like the westerly fringe has shrunk back west and snared these two especially.

A very frustrated Ambrogio reported, “This sport can be truly cruel sometimes. I just can’t get far enough south to cross this line and pick up the wind on the other side, which he (Corentin Horeau) managed to do. Like an idiot, I let him go south. It was a disastrous decision. My God, unbelievable.The problem is that this front is no longer moving east. It’s pulling away, and that’s why I can’t get through it. I’m trying absolutely everything, but I’m afraid I won’t make it. If I can’t get through, it’s a disaster. There’s no wind behind it. It’s a shitty position to be in, so I can’t even imagine a scenario where I don’t get through this front. But perhaps I should accept that I can’t. I just can’t. I really can’t.”

Meanwhile his compatriot Francesca Clapcich (11^th Hour Racing) and German Boris Herrmann (Malizia 4) have managed to work their way south and are in second and third for the moment. They are making around 11 or 12 knots, Horeau is running away at over 24 knots. Clapcich explains, “Here aboard 11th Hour Racing, I’m positioned much further south than the group of boats that headed north. To be honest, I had already given up on the idea of crossing this front some time ago. The front has basically stalled and is no longer moving eastwards. It’s a very old weather front now, and it seems to be remaining stationary or even retreating slightly towards the west. The only one who managed to get through the gate was Corentin, who is now doing what the French call tricotage (knitting) — a term I only learned the other day. Basically, he’s gybing back and forth within this corridor of wind on the other side of the front. I really don’t know whether the boats further north will eventually manage to get through or not. From where I am, the front should eventually dissipate, but as you can see, there’s very little wind here too. Earlier, I had a bit more breeze, although that was mainly due to the clouds. Now I’ve got this east-southeasterly wind, so we’ll see how things develop. It’s a complicated situation, especially because our positioning now will have a major impact on how we navigate around Thursday’s low-pressure system. If you can’t get around it and head down its western side, things become much more difficult. With these boats, going around the eastern side means taking quite a beating, particularly with such tight sailing angles. The boat really struggles in those conditions. Anyway, I’m staying fairly positive because at least I’m still moving, even if it’s slowly. Over the past few hours, my main objective has simply been to keep the boat moving forward. Even if I’m not going particularly fast, at least I’m making progress. I’m more or less heading towards Guadeloupe. There are still plenty of miles to cover, but at least I’m sailing roughly in the right direction. We’ll see what happens over the next few hours. I feel a bit sorry for Ambrogio and the others, because I think they may be stuck up there. But it’s not necessarily the same situation for them. In fact, where they are positioned, the band of light winds ahead of the front was theoretically extremely narrow. So it was actually a very good position from which to cross it at a 90-degree angle. That was my original objective too. But I made a gybe a little too early, and after that I couldn’t quite match their course, so I had to head a bit further south. We’ll see how things turn out.”

Nov 3

3 min read

It was veteran French meteo expert Jean Yves Bernor who surveyed the Atlantic pre-start and described the picture ahead as ‘a mess’. And surveying the scene this Tuesday evening he seems to be very much correct. It is the leading group of IMOCAs which has so far suffered most, the exception seeming to be the wily Corentin Horeau (MACSF) who has been able to gybe down a corridor of breeze and he has seen a slender lead multiply to over 100 miles.

Those in the north, Sam Goodchild (MACIF Santé Prévoyance) and Ambrogio Beccaria (Allagrande Mapei). This morning they looked to have just and no more broken through the old front and got into the new northerly breeze but in fact instead of it moving west it looks like the westerly fringe has shrunk back west and snared these two especially.

A very frustrated Ambrogio reported, “This sport can be truly cruel sometimes. I just can’t get far enough south to cross this line and pick up the wind on the other side, which he (Corentin Horeau) managed to do. Like an idiot, I let him go south. It was a disastrous decision. My God, unbelievable.The problem is that this front is no longer moving east. It’s pulling away, and that’s why I can’t get through it. I’m trying absolutely everything, but I’m afraid I won’t make it. If I can’t get through, it’s a disaster. There’s no wind behind it. It’s a shitty position to be in, so I can’t even imagine a scenario where I don’t get through this front. But perhaps I should accept that I can’t. I just can’t. I really can’t.”

Meanwhile his compatriot Francesca Clapcich (11^th Hour Racing) and German Boris Herrmann (Malizia 4) have managed to work their way south and are in second and third for the moment. They are making around 11 or 12 knots, Horeau is running away at over 24 knots. Clapcich explains, “Here aboard 11th Hour Racing, I’m positioned much further south than the group of boats that headed north. To be honest, I had already given up on the idea of crossing this front some time ago. The front has basically stalled and is no longer moving eastwards. It’s a very old weather front now, and it seems to be remaining stationary or even retreating slightly towards the west. The only one who managed to get through the gate was Corentin, who is now doing what the French call tricotage (knitting) — a term I only learned the other day. Basically, he’s gybing back and forth within this corridor of wind on the other side of the front. I really don’t know whether the boats further north will eventually manage to get through or not. From where I am, the front should eventually dissipate, but as you can see, there’s very little wind here too. Earlier, I had a bit more breeze, although that was mainly due to the clouds. Now I’ve got this east-southeasterly wind, so we’ll see how things develop. It’s a complicated situation, especially because our positioning now will have a major impact on how we navigate around Thursday’s low-pressure system. If you can’t get around it and head down its western side, things become much more difficult. With these boats, going around the eastern side means taking quite a beating, particularly with such tight sailing angles. The boat really struggles in those conditions. Anyway, I’m staying fairly positive because at least I’m still moving, even if it’s slowly. Over the past few hours, my main objective has simply been to keep the boat moving forward. Even if I’m not going particularly fast, at least I’m making progress. I’m more or less heading towards Guadeloupe. There are still plenty of miles to cover, but at least I’m sailing roughly in the right direction. We’ll see what happens over the next few hours. I feel a bit sorry for Ambrogio and the others, because I think they may be stuck up there. But it’s not necessarily the same situation for them. In fact, where they are positioned, the band of light winds ahead of the front was theoretically extremely narrow. So it was actually a very good position from which to cross it at a 90-degree angle. That was my original objective too. But I made a gybe a little too early, and after that I couldn’t quite match their course, so I had to head a bit further south. We’ll see how things turn out.”