At the moment, Domaine du Mont d'Arbois is sailing under mainsail and spinnaker, in a north-westerly wind of roughly 10 knots. The day promises to be fairly calm, but in the latter part of the night, the competitors are likely to encounter much tougher conditions in the shape of a 25 to 30-knot northerly wind, rising to 35 in the squalls.
Thierry Duprey du Vorsent on the phone at 10:00 this morning:
On his spinnaker problems
“It's going better than yesterday today… I'm gradually getting used to the pace of the boat. Up until midday yesterday, I was still in quite a good position. I was sailing spinnaker up and went inside to put away the genoa. The wind suddenly picked up a few knots and by the time I'd come back out and righted her, the spi had taken a knock and torn below the head board. It was my brand-new big blue one, so I was a bit disappointed, especially as I also had to repair my spare when I found three holes in it. I patched them up with insignia patches, but these events all made me lose time, energy and places in the ranking! I had to sail for a bit with the small spinnaker and I've already done plenty of repair work after just two day's racing!”
On the weather“The conditions are tranquil and there's fine sunshine this morning, but I was really cold last night, despite a beautiful moon!”
On life onboard“I'm fairly pleased with myself as I've managed my sleep well so far. I've been sleeping in 15-minute chunks max, as we were surrounded by cargo ships so I had to stay alert, but I was able to allow myself 6 or 7 of these micro-sleep phases during the night, which isn't too bad. And now, I should be able to sleep for 45 minutes… what a luxury! The start of the race has of course been tiring, as it's my first solo experience in a Figaro and I have to say that on account of not having acquired all the right reflexes yet, this boat actually seems to be tiring me out more than a multihull, which really takes the biscuit! I'm aware that it's a very long race and I have try to conserve energy. I've managed to find the right pilot settings, which is at least allowing me to sleep more easily.”
On the next phase“The idea now is to head down to the Azores as fast as possible to try to pass below the anticyclone, but that's no foregone conclusion!”
Ranking, Tuesday 27 March, at 9:00 this morning :
Place Boat / Skipper Latitude Longitude Speed. Cap Dist. But Dist. 1st
1 Lenze-Franck Le Gal 44 56.48' N 10 06.08' W 7.7 211 3109.9 0.0
2 Gédimat-Armel Tripon 45 35.90' N 10 20.32' W 7.4 251 3112.0 2.2
3 Suzuki Automobiles-Eric Defert 45 31.88' N 10 07.10' W 7.4 255 3119.2 9.4
4 Art Immobilier Construction-Daniel Dupont 45 23.89' N 9 59.20' W 7.3 242 3122.0 12.2
5 Bostik-Charles Caudrelier 44 00.57' N 9 22.86' W 8.6 209 3123.5 13.6
…
14 Banque Populaire-Jeanne Grégoire 44 08.94' N 9 19.53' W 6.4 171 3128.3 18.4
15 Le Comptoir Immobilier-Gildas Mahé 44 11.98' N 9 17.67' W 7.4 212 3128.3 18.5
16 Défi Mousquetaires-Thomas Rouxel 44 06.62' N 9 15.97' W 7.4 209 3129.8 19.9
17 Domaine du Mont d'Arbois-Thierry Duprey du Vorsent 44 25.68' N / 9 16.26' W / 8.4 / 224 / 3130.6 / 20.7
18 Groupe Céléos-Ronan Treussart 44 07.99' N 9 14.63' W 6.9 208 3130.7 20.9
19 Défi Transat 1-Yannig Livory 44 24.75' N 9 22.31' W 7.4 202 3130.8 20.9
20 Aquarelle.com-Yannick Bestaven 43 50.78' N 9 05.16' W 8.0 223 3131.9 22.1
21 Theolia-Robert Nagy 43 50.64' N 9 04.51' W 7.9 219 3132.5 22.6
22 Baïko-Antonio Pedro da Cruz 44 11.80' N 8 58.55' W 7.5 201 3142.4 32.6
23 Sojasun-Liz Wardley 43 51.56' N 8 46.03' W 7.7 214 3145.9 36.1
24 GFI Group-James Bird 44 21.65' N 8 56.50' W 7.8 226 3146.5 36.7
25 Docteur Valnet – Aromathérapie-Laurent Pellecuer 43 43.79' N 8 38.33' W 7.4 211 3149.3 39.5
26 Pays Marie-Galante-Victor Jean Noël 44 18.41' N 8 13.30' W 8.3 223 3175.8 65.9
ABD Brossard-Servane Escoffier Abandon
*About the Domaine du Mont d'Arbois…
Created in 1922 by Baroness Maurice de Rothschild, the Domaine du Mont d'Arbois illustrates the Art of Living in the purest family tradition: refinement, simplicity and elegance. The Chalet du Mont d'Arbois, a **** hotel affiliated to the Relais et Châteaux chain, is a unique location which was designed as a private chalet. But the Domaine du Mont d'Arbois also means 6 restaurants, a golf course, a spa and the new La Ferme Duvillard/Hôtel du Golf*** situated beneath the winter pistes and at the edge of the greens in summer. Since the creation of the Gitana Team, the Domaine du Mont d'Arbois has been doing its bit by supplying cooked meals to the crews for the ocean races. This year, it will be the special partner of Thierry Duprey du Vorsent for the entire Figaro season, while continuing to work with the whole Gitana Team on each boat's individual programme!
For more info, visit … www.chalet-montarbois.com