A l’instar de l’étoile du nord, François Gabart joue les express dans sa remontée vers les hautes latitudes, malgré une nuit complexe où les grains sont venus mettre un peu de piment dans une navigation jusque là plutôt tranquille. Le skipper de MACIF a pris un avantage psychologique et matériel certains sur le reste de la flotte, à l’exception de Jean-Pierre Dick qui, sur une route plus ouest, reste à hauteur. Derrière, on attend maintenant la grande bataille stratégique qui se profile.
– Mise en train plus ou moins facile pour les navigateurs solitaires
– François Gabart et Jean-Pierre Dick très bien placés
– Une dernière nuit difficile
– Vacations téléchargeables dans l’espace presse du site www.transatbtob-imoca.org
– Horaires vacations: 14h00-15h00 (en direct du Nautic – Stand Lorient – jusqu’au 11 décembre)
Il ne fallait pas être grand clerc pour deviner, au ton de sa voix, que Vincent Riou aurait volontiers échangé sa place contre celle de François Gabart, au classement de ce matin. Le skipper de PRB, reconnaissait que la stratégie de MACIF et de Virbac-Paprec 3 qui avaient choisi de glisser sous la flotte pour monter au plus vite vers le nord était visiblement la bonne. Car si François Gabart a laissé sa place de leader au profit d’Armel le Cléac’h sur Banque Populaire, le classement ne reflète pas vraiment la physionomie de la course. Plus éloignés de l’orthodromie, la route directe vers Lorient, François Gabart et Jean-Pierre Dick ne capitalisent pas leur gain comme ils le devraient. Plus significatif est l’écart réel sur la route du nord, une trentaine de milles environ.
Des marques encore à prendre
La performance de François Gabart est d’autant plus remarquable que la veille même du départ, son équipe technique étaient encore à travailler d’arrache-pied pour le bateau soit prêt. Mais le bonhomme, qui avait bien pris soin de conserver un rythme sportif élevé, est entré immédiatement dans le match pour se positionner d’emblée dans le peloton de tête. Pour d’autres, ce fut plus difficile : Louis Burton, sur Bureau Vallée, reconnaissait payer un aller-retour éclair en France pour d’excellentes raisons familiales. Fatigué, le navigateur solitaire, avouait avoir choisi de partir sur un rythme moins soutenu que ses adversaires. Sécurité oblige, Louis sentait qu’il y avait des limites à ne pas dépasser, sous peine de perdre en lucidité et mettre en danger le matériel, voire sa propre personne. Marc Guillemot a tout juste eu le temps de se remettre de la collision subie au départ, qu’il lui a fallu gérer un début d’insolation : à force de médicaments contre la fièvre et de bouteilles d’eau, le skipper de Safran a réussi à vaincre le mal. Mais c’est aussi au prix de précieux milles perdus sur ses concurrents.
Décision dans quarante-huit heures
On n’en est néanmoins qu’au deuxième jour de course et, au vu des conditions à venir, bien des retournements de situation sont encore possibles. Aux routages de début de semaine qui, pour certains, pronostiquaient une route plein nord pendant plus de cinq jours, se sont substituées des analyses beaucoup plus complexes avec une route à négocier entre centres anticycloniques et petits talwegs qui permettrait de gagner un peu dans l’est. Néanmoins, les portes sont encore étroites et le chemin pour pouvoir accrocher les régimes d’ouest qui pourraient propulser la flotte à grande vitesse vers Lorient ne s’avère pas d’une grande clarté. De quoi remettre un peu de baume au cœur à ceux qui ont égaré quelques milles sur la route. D’ici une quarantaine d’heures, les logiciels de navigation devraient tourner à plein.
Ils ont dit :
François Gabart (MACIF)
« La dernière nuit a été complexe. On a dû subir des petits orages où le vent pouvait passer de dix à trente nœuds, avec pas mal d’éclairs. Personnellement, j’ai déjà subi la foudre pendant le Tour de l’Europe sur le bateau de Kito de Pavant et je préfèrerais m’en passer. Nos bateaux ont beaucoup d’électronique embarquée et prendre la foudre pourrait griller tous nos instruments. Autant dire, qu’en solitaire, une navigation sans ces aides serait quasiment impossible. Pour le reste tout va très bien : je suis en plaine forme physique. J’ai veillé à m’entretenir après la transat Jacques Vabre et j’ai pu, du même coup, être à l’attaque d’entrée. »
Louis Burton (Bureau Vallée)
« Je suis parti assez fatigué. J’ai donc fait le choix de naviguer à ma main, de faire attention à me reposer, rester lucide. Ce qui m’inquiète le plus, c’est le risque de collision. J’ai croisé cette nuit un voilier de plaisance qui ne disposait ni de l’AIS, ni d’alarme radar. Heureusement, leur équipage veillait sur le pont et ils ont pu m’avertir par VHF… »
Marc Guillemot (Safran)
« La journée d’hier s’est avérée assez pénible. J’ai attrapé une insolation et j’ai dû me soigner et lutter contre la fièvre. Résultat j’ai un peu subi ce début de course, mais la route est encore longue. Concernant, l’incident du départ, il est derrière nous, mais il ne faut pas le minimiser : c’était un vrai carton qui aurait pu se terminer beaucoup plus mal. »
The second edition of the Transat B to B is proving to be a tale of highs and lows in every sense this Wednesday 7 December. Indeed, over the next 3 days, the Imoca 60 fleet will have to negotiate a zone of high pressure, slightly to their East, before linking onto a thalweg (low pressure between different pressure systems) and then having to contend with a migratory zone of high pressure, in a bid to latch onto the lows rolling eastward across the Atlantic. Those heading the groups favouring the West and East in the battle northwards appear to be in high spirits, whilst those who are trailing had voices to match the tone on board. Tonight the wind is set to drop at the front of the pack as the drag race North is complicated by the negotiation of some tricky systems which will certainly colour the next stage of the fleet’s eastbound sprint across the North Atlantic.
– Armel Le Cléac’h (Banque Populaire) cashing in on his easterly option to take the lead of the Imoca 60 fleet at 1530 UTC
– François Gabart (Macif) well-positioned and on a reach leading the push due North from Saint Barts with Jean-Pierre Dick (Virbac Paprec 3)
– British skipper Alex Thomson (Hugo Boss) on the pace in third as the crunch decision of when to hang a right approaches
– Ambience: slamming, squall dodging and making headway North as fast as possible, the wind set to drop tonight
– Radio Sessions to dowload on the « press page » on the transat website
– Schedule for Radio Sessions : everyday at 2.00 pm live on the website
At today’s live radio chat sessions hosted at the Nautic Paris Boat Show, those leading the easterly mission northwards appeared to be out of satellite range but the furthest North, on a more westerly option, François Gabart (Macif) was very upbeat: “It would be difficult to complain about where I’m positioned at the moment. Overnight everyone seems to have fallen into line behind me so I’m enjoying myself now. Conditions are fairly comfortable as we’re on more of a reach now and the boat is making headway pretty much on her own. We’re making lots of sail changes in the shifting wind which will ease soon. We’re nearly through into the downwind conditions.”
On a similar course in the wake of Macif and Virbac Paprec 3, Vincent Riou (PRB) wasn’t cherishing being on the hunt but is fully behind the westerly course pushing North: “I really got tossed about last night but conditions have eased since daybreak. There were storms and lightning all around but I escaped without being hassled. I’m currently making about 20 knots at 80 degrees to the wind under one reef and solent with the sea causing us to slam. I had some issues for a while and I ended up too far to the East whilst I tried to resolve the issue so I’m not happy with where I am. Virbac and Macif are in a good spot. Tonight we’re likely to hit the high pressure so it’ll be a question of hoisting the spinnaker at some stage and putting in a gybe. There’s still a way to go but hopefully we’ll stay with the breeze.
Towards the tail end of the fleet Marc Guillemot was recovering from an unbearable headache the previous day and Louis Burton was in desperate need of some decent sleep after a fantastic performance in the recent Transat Jacques Vabre, thanks to a tough northerly option. He’s also having to beat off the jet lag from returning to France to see the arrival of his first born just days before the race start too: “The boat’s slamming quite a lot and we had quite big seas last night. I set off feeling pretty tired so I took the decision to rest up a bit. We’re beating into a tradewind sea, with eased sheets. Sleep isn’t that easy to come by with the carbon pounding against the waves so I’m not in great shape. My biggest fear is the risk of collision. I came very close to a Belgian yacht without AIS last night.”
Given the forecast for the next 48 hours, it would appear that though further from the great circle route towards Lorient, François Gabart and Jean-Pierre Dick aren’t currently capitalising on their gains. Much more significant is the actual lateral separation on their push northwards, which amounts to around thirty miles, which means that the two skippers furthest West are likely to be favoured for the next stage of the Transat B to B.
Quotes from the boats:
Vincent Riou (PRB): “I really got tossed about last night but conditions have eased since daybreak. There were storms and lightning all around but I escaped without being hassled. I’m currently making about 20 knots at 80 degrees to the wind under one reef and solent with the sea causing us to slam. I had some issues for a while and I ended up too far to the East whilst I tried to resolve the issue so I’m not happy with where I am. Virbac and Macif are in a good spot. Tonight we’re likely to hit the high pressure so it’ll be a question of hoisting the spinnaker at some stage and putting in a gybe. There’s still a way to go but hopefully we’ll stay with the breeze. I’ll be continuing to check the boat thoroughly and keep an eye on the bulkhead. Nothing’s set in stone yet with this transatlantic.
François Gabart (Macif): “It would be difficult to complain about where I’m positioned at the moment. Overnight everyone seems to have fallen into line behind me so I’m enjoying myself now. Late last night there were quite a few little squalls around and they would last 5 or 10 minutes with lightning colouring some of them. I’ve suffered power failure from such conditions before so I certainly don’t want to suffer that again. Conditions are fairly comfortable as we’re on more of a reach now and the boat is making headway pretty much on her own. We’re making lots of sail changes in the shifting wind and the wind will ease soon. We’re nearly through into the downwind conditions. Before that though, we’re going to have to tackle a thalweg from a depression to the North so we’ll have to set a course to the NE before we encounter a migratory anticyclone. At that stage it may be able to hook onto a depression which could carry us along with it for a fair old way. Meantime I’m sleeping well as you get used to the slamming and I have the advantage that I’m in great shape.”
Marc Guillemot (Safran): “I have a steady wind of 25 knots increasing to 30 at times in the squalls. We’re making headway. Yesterday was a bit tiresome. The boat wasn’t making headway and I had a terrible headache which was simply unbearable and I hardly had any physical pizzazz. I could see PRB, Banque Pop and especially Hugo Boss then. Today I feel much better but the others were firing on all cylinders and have stolen a march on me. My aim is to try and make a comeback and make up some ground to the North. Transatlantics are never that simple. The next 3 days will be crucial and there will be a fair amount of action on deck. It’s pretty wet and the boat is slamming so the tradewinds aren’t being very kind. Obviously I’m keeping a close eye on the boat because it really was a hefty impact we suffered in the collision at the start. Fortunately I am able to spend a fair amount of time in my bunk thank to my automatic pilot.”
Louis Burton (Bureau Vallée): “I’m not too bad. The boat’s slamming quite a lot and we had quite big seas last night. There’s no damage to the boat or the body. I set off feeling pretty tired so I took the decision to rest up a bit. We’re beating into a tradewind sea, with eased sheets. Sleep isn’t that easy to come by with the carbon pounding against the waves so I’m not in great shape. My biggest fear is the risk of collision. I came very close to a Belgian yacht without AIS last night. Fortunately the guys did a great job preparing the boat so it’s working well overall and all the problems I had during the Transat Jacques Vabre have been resolved. I’m not sailing flat out; my aim is simply to qualify for the Vendee Globe. Outside it’s a bit cooler now and less wet. »