The top trio stamp the pace
Like metronomes, the trimarans in the Krys Ocean Race are attacking their third day at sea. Still on the leading edge of the cold front, which has been propelling them towards Europe since the first few hours of racing, the crews of the MOD 70’s don’t appear to have decided to ease off the pace. This is particularly true given that the big seas, picked up by the proximity of the banks of Newfoundland, are now in their wake and that the wind has stabilised to between 20 and 25 knots and is still carrying them downwind. Aboard Edmond de Rothschild Group, Sébastien Josse and his five crew are keeping pace and are still in second position. They conceded a few miles on the leader, Spindrift Racing, last night, but nothing serious since they had a deficit of 42 miles at the 0700 UTC standing this Tuesday morning.

Extracts from the radio link-up between Sébastien Josse and Press HQ this Tuesday 10 July

“The dampness has been omnipresent aboard the boat since the start. We really haven’t had the time to dry out and, given the weather forecast, I don’t think we’re going to be able to do that before Brest.”

“The conditions are still just as testing for the boat and the crew! There is now a top trio and the pressure’s on to keep pace with the others. However, the worst of the bad weather is behind us now or should be soon at least.”

“It’s down to me to find the right pace so that the crew can rest and that we can maintain these high speeds safely. We’re close to the edge on these boats. We’re playing with the limits but you mustn’t go beyond them. Getting rest when we’re tired is doable must it certainly hasn’t been easy to get off to sleep since the start with the crashing halts we have to endure when the bow buries into a wave. However, though we’re not sleeping, we’re still managing to take a break and cast our minds to other things. For the past 24 hours, the freeze-dried foods have come out and we’re managing to get some food down quite normally.”

The day ahead is set to see 20-25 knots of breeze still, with a little more at times and waves of 2.50m, 140° to the wind. This will stay with us virtually all the way to the finish… Our ‘nominal’ speed is thirty knots! After that, we regulate it according to the sea state.”

Message sent from on board in the early hours

“All’s well aboard Edmond de Rothschild Group. Last night the wind eased a tad and the sea flattened out. We had to put in a fair number of manoeuvres to adapt the sail plan to the new conditions. Everyone was on deck for a few hours. The rhythm of the watch systems clicked in again after that, over the course of the night, and the wind is gradually building, which is enabling us to slip along nicely under gennaker with 25 knots of wind. The temperature is dropping gently, which is making things considerably better down below! As such I’m going to make the most of the situation and get 2 hours sleep! See you soon, Antoine.”

Standing on Tuesday 10 July at 0700 UTC
  1. Spindrift Racing – 1,485.8 miles from the finish (44 28.44’ N – 38 52.88’ W)
  2. Edmond de Rothschild Group – 42.7 miles astern of the leader (43 39.92’ N – 39 25.52’ W)
  3. Foncia – 46.2 miles (43 23.85’ N – 39 19.30’ W)
  4. Musandam – Oman Sail 165.6 miles (41 45.99’ N – 41 10.48’ W)
  5. Race for Water – Not polled
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