Le Défi Atlantique - Open 60 Fleet Exits The Doldrums And Heads Towards A Low
samedi 06 déc. 16:09

The Defi Atlantique is showing some fantastic and close yacht racing. The satellite polling problems have been fixed, so more information will be available in the forthcoming days enabling the skippers to race tactically again and the world to be able to follow this interesting race.

Golding is in 3rd place, but hopeful that once the fleet has passed the low forecast for Monday 8 December north of the Cape Verdes islands, that he will be able to get more power out of the team's new Owen Clarke Open 60 ECOVER.

He rang in earlier to talk through the past and future hours. "I've had a monster kip - a grand total of three 40-minute sessions. Bliss! We are out of the Doldrums, but got quite a patch of light air to go through in the next few days. We're almost in the trades, but not quite as there are big light patches. We'll probably see the low pressure in a day and a half's time and we'll probably sail right into it. We wouldn't normally deliberately do that, but it could be the only way to get on the right side of it. It should kick in on Monday, but we will start to feel the wind shift before that. The breeze could be as low as 6 knots. There are 2 distinct routes up the Atlantic - I've been worrying about the one on the west side, where Jean-Pierre and Alex are, but it could be too late for them to get where they want to be, so in theory, we could start gaining some ground maybe. VMI could have a small advantage on the east.."

"We're not going upwind, which is part of my problem with PRB. The old boats are looking really good. ECOVER and Virbac have got loads of power, but that means a lot of hard work when you are single-handed. I'm still getting to know this boat really, I've spent the morning changing all the configurations, had the Code Eco up and down, sail trimming this way and that, moving the ballast to optimise ECOVER's trim for varying conditions."

"PRB and I haven't really been sailing the course, but more racing against each other. It means we can cross check against each other, which helps us make sure we are on the pace, which consequently makes us quicker. I'm really learning loads, which is great for next year. The other Finot's really are very fast."

"We're doing lots of reaching on the course. Looks like a very light downwind finish, so I reckon we'll get in on the 17th or maybe the 18th. This bit of the race now, is really crucial. Nobody will want to get this bit wrong...."

Source: Mike Golding Yacht Racing

For Race Information go to www.defi-atlantique.org