TOUR DE BRETAGNE
A LA VOILE - 18-24 MAY 2003
PRE-LEG 3 : PERROS GUIREC – BREST STARTING
AT 2100 HRS TONIGHT DISTANCE : 90 MILES FORECAST
: 20 knots W / starting against the tide / racing
close to shore
IN BRIEF:
*
The SKANDIA team of Sam Davies, Emma Westmacott
and shore team Nick Black have had a frantic day
preparing their Figaro...damage to jib, mainsail
and boat's computer were top of the job list along
with studying the all important navigation for
the 90 mile overnight leg...
*
The 26-boat fleet will be starting in approx 20
knots of breeze from the west against a strong
tide...upwind sailing, close into shore...a dangerous
prospect in darkness...
*
SKANDIA's strategy: "To play the tides and
wind shifts like we are racing round the cans
- the only difference being it is for 90 miles!"
said Davies.
IN DETAIL:
The
atmosphere on the dock has been one of quiet concentrations
as the 26 Figaro teams prepare their boats for
leg 3 of the Tour de Bretagne - a 90 mile course
from Perros Guirec to Brest starting tonight at
2100 hrs. Repairing damage from yesterday's leg
2 in 35+ knot winds, problem solving and studying
the weather has pre-occupied the skippers: "Everyone
has their heads down preparing boat and nearly
everyone has had some sort of problem," said
Davies. "It's good to be able to share some
of the problems, especially with the experienced
skippers, so you know what to do if they happen
to you."
Even
after two legs, the pattern is there...you have
to make the least amount of mistakes as possible,
you have to be consistent and you have to finish
in the top ten to stand any chance of being at
the top of the leaderboard. These spots are currently
occupied by the experienced team of Charles Caudrelier
Benac and Pascal Bidegorry on Bostik Findley.
Sharing the same number of points but in second
place overall after a fourth in leg 2 compared
to Bostik Findley's second, is Jeremie Beyou and
Gilles Chiorri on Delta Dore - Tabarly, Drouglazet,
Pace, Elies and Peyron are all stacked up behind.
A bad result now can put a boat out of contention
for good at this halfway stage.
The
forecast is for 20+ knots from the west - upwind,
upwind and more upwind... The fleet will be starting
against the tide forcing them to race as close
inshore as possible. "The first few hours
are going to be really tacticaly," said Davies.
"We will be against the tide for the first
five hours beating upwind along the north coast
of Brittany. By daylight we should be closing
on the NW corner of France but, hopefully, once
we turn the corner we will be on more of a reach
- the last part we will hopefully get the big
spinnaker up but will be against the tide again."
Both
SKANDIA'S mainsail and jib are going under repair
and not expected to be delivered back until one
hour before SKANDIA leaves the dock at 2000 hrs.
To overcome the problems of yesterday, the bolt
rope in the headsails have been replaced with
a larger size to prevent them from ripping out
of the head foil. "We also damaged our Sony
laptop in a knock down yesterday so it is not
working 100% which means we are going to have
to navigate more using the GPS and charts rather
than relying on the computer."
For
Davies and Westmacott their strategy is simple:
"We're going to play the tides and wind shifts
like we are racing round the cans - the only difference
being it is for 90 miles," said Davies. "Won't
get any sleep at all and we will survive on energy
bars until we arrive at Brest tomorrow lunchtime.
We're just going to go for it."
RESULTS
TOUR DE BRETAGNE - AFTER 2 LEGS:
Skipper
/ co-skipper / boat (L1-L2=pts)
26 starters
1st
Charles CAUDRELIER-BENAC / Pascal BIDEGORRY -
BOSTIK FINDLEY (6-2=8)
2nd Jeremie BEYOU / Gilles CHIORRI - DELTA DORE
(4-4=8)
3rd Erwan TABARLY / Philippe VICARIOT - THALES
(1-8=9)
4th Benoit PETIT / Tangi MAHE / DEFE SANTE VOILE
(3-6=9)
5th Gildas MORVAN / Bertrand PACE - CERCLE VERT
(11-1=12)
6th Thierry CHABAGNY / Corentin DOUGUET - PETIT
NAVIRE (7-5=12)
7th Yann ELIES / Loick PEYRON - GROUPE GENERALI
ASSURANCES (5-7=12)
8th Eric DROUGLAZET / Hans BOUSCHOLTE - DAVID
OLIVIER (10-3=13)
9th Ronan GUERIN / Yves PAJOT - CAMUS IMMOBILIER
(2-19=21)
10th Bruno JOURDAIN / Jean-Marie DAURIUS - D'AUCY
(9-12=21)
25th Sam DAVIES / Emma WESTMACOTT - SKANDIA (21-25=46)
See
full race results at http://www.tourdebretagnealavoile.com
Sunday
18 May, Saint-Malo to Saint-Quay Portrieux
Monday 19 May, Saint-Quay Portrieux to Perros
Guirec
Tuesday 20 May to Wednesday 21 May, Perros Guirec
– Brest
Thursday 22 May, Brest – Port La Forêt
Friday 23 May, Port La Forêt – Lorient
Saturday 24 May, Lorient, parcours « banane
» et côtier
UKSA : The Official Watersports Training Facility
for the Offshore Challenges Sailing Team http://www.samdavies.com/uksa
