The
Atlantic wall
A gigantic anticyclone (1044 millibars) now extends
all the way from Iceland to Siberia and as far
south as Italy. This is an unusual occurrence
in March and, with just two days to go, forms
an unbreachable wall across the Atlantic. The
next depression is still as far west as Newfoundland,
and even this will be unable to penetrate the
wall and will be deflected northwards. The result
of this situation is that all Geronimo can expect
for the next 500 nautical miles are maximum forecast
wind speeds of between 2 and 5 knots. This dire
meteorological scenario is now becoming become
a reality for the powerless members of the Cap
Gemini and Schneider Electric crew. At around
midday today, with just 3 knots of wind, they
were still managing to keep 20 tonnes of trimaran
moving at over 6 knots… but Geronimo is,
after all, a sailing vessel and at this rate,
it would take her five days to reach Brittany.
When her 62nd day at sea ended at 03:00 this morning,
the Cap Gemini and Schneider Electric trimaran
was still two hours ahead of Bruno Peyron's record,
making it all the more difficult to accept the
analysis of the night's weather forecasts. Even
after 20 days of battling her way north through
the Atlantic, Geronimo cannot find the 12 knots
of wind that is all she would need to cross the
finish line in time. It seems little enough to
ask when we remember that on her southward leg
through the Atlantic, Geronimo averaged over 19
knots, and that her average speed from the time
she left Brest until this morning was 17 knots.
What the skipper had to say about the situation:
"Weather problems are rare in the Atlantic
at this time of year, but there's nothing we can
do about it. It's now impossible for us to cross
the finish line off Ushant before midday on Sunday.
There's not the slightest breath of air in the
Atlantic and I can't put it clearer than that.
There's nothing at all. The anemometer has been
showing 3 knots for 20 hours now, and nothing
is going to change either tomorrow or the day
after. What this means is that it's going to take
us 4 or 5 days to cover the last 850 miles to
the finish line. It's a real meteorological catastrophe
and something that no one could have predicted.
At this time of year, you'd expect to have wind
in the Atlantic and none of us have ever seen
anything as bad as this. Geronimo is still making
headway with virtually nothing to go on. We've
succeeded in fighting our way north magnificently
through very slack winds, because this boat is
very fast, but with 3 knots of wind - which is
about the same speed as the breeze you feel on
your face as you walk - its impossible for us
to make the 40 kph we would need to reach Brest
in time".
www.grandsrecords.com
Geronimo's position : Day 62
Geronimo's position at 03:00 GMT
