Sailors have a great capacity to constantly adapt to the changes in weather. However, when they're down to the final miles and home is not too far away – at least compared with the 13,000 miles they've covered since leaving Hong Kong – the desire to complete their mission is becoming increasingly pressing!: “This morning, whilst the forecast grib files didn't bode well and we were making slow headway at 10 knots in a capricious wind, I have to say that the troop's morale wasn't great… However, we've had some new, more optimistic grib files since then and the good humour has returned. In the last days of a long voyage like the Tea Route, the atmosphere is always split between the desire to get there and the nostalgia of returning home” confided Lionel Lemonchois.
As regards the weather, the ten sailors of Gitana Team know that they can count on the talent and the receptiveness of Sylvain Mondon to try to evade the pitfalls dotted across their course. In fact the telephone and email exchanges between the onboard navigator and the onshore router have been numerous recently: “Gitana 13 is sailing upwind on the approach to a stormy low with N'ly winds fluctuating at the mercy of the associated cold air. This is why the crew are making headway at a moderate speed of between 10 and 15 knots. This is set to be the way of things for some time and in fact the situation may become more exaggerated tonight and tomorrow morning. Indeed, in around twenty hours time, the maxi-catamaran will begin the most tricky phase to the south of the low in fairly light winds. This transition zone located immediately to the NW of the Canaries will nevertheless be an important passage as the winds will then fill in slowly to start with, before increasing as they shift round to the west and then the south-west during Friday” explained Sylvain Mondon before concluding: “From then on, Gitana 13 will be able to slip along downwind at speeds in excess of 20 knots, which will enable it to close rapidly on Cape Finisterre over the course of Friday night”. This change in pace is something the ten sailors have been looking forward to, but for the time being they're paying a high price for it.
Setting out from Hong Kong on 14th August 2008, Lionel Lemonchois and his nine crew attacked their sixth week at sea this morning, and sincerely hope it will be their last. Indeed, though an exact ETA is very difficult to provide today, everyone is agreed on an arrival at the entrance to the River Thames between 23rd and 25th September. In the meantime, the Bay of Biscay and the English Channel await, and it's certainly not going to be an enjoyable ride: “From Sunday, the wind will have continued to swing round so that the crew are faced with an E'ly wind at the approach to the Bay of Biscay. More close-hauled sailing is in store for Gitana 13 then in a steady E to NE'ly breeze as they traverse the Bay of Biscay and make the climb along the English Channel. The ten sailors of Gitana Team will have to make a series of tack changes as far as Pas-de-Calais so the last few miles will be extremely strenuous. Doubtless the climb up the Thames in downwind conditions will be a relief for the whole crew, even if the river traffic will warrant increased vigilance all the way to London.”
Today's figures
Departure from Hong Kong: Thursday 14th August at 07h55'32'' (UT)
Thursday 18th September at 1415 (UT)
Latitude: 29°17.47 N – Longitude : 22°33.12 W
Distance left to go: 1,760 miles
Gitana 13's crew
Watch No1: Lionel Lemonchois (Skipper / watch leader / helmsman) / Olivier Wroczynski (trimmer /head of computers and power) / David Boileau (Bowman / head of deck fittings)
Watch No.2: Ludovic Aglaor (watch leader / helmsman) / Laurent Mermod (trimmer) / Ronan Le Goff (Bowman)
Watch No.3: Pascal Blouin (Watch leader / helmsman) / Ronan Guérin (trimmer) / Léopold Lucet (No.1, head of supplies and doctor)
Outside the watch system: Dominic Vittet (navigator)
Gitana 13's records
Route de l'Or (New York – San Francisco, via Cape Horn): in 43 days 3 minutes 18 seconds (February 2008)
North Pacific Crossing (San Francisco – Yokohama): in 11 days 12 minutes 55 seconds (April 2008)
Yokohama – Dalian: 3 days 20 hours 19 minutes and 11 seconds
Dalian – Qingdao: 23 hours 50 minutes and 20 seconds
Qingdao – Taiwan: 3 days 52 minutes and 15 seconds
Taipei – Hong-Kong: 1 day 58 minutes 27 seconds
Gitana, a passion for sailing
Spurred on by Baron Benjamin de Rothschild, the Gitana story opened towards multihulls in 2000 with Gitana IX. An ‘armada' followed with Gitana X in 2002, Gitana 11 (Ex-Belgacom) in 2004, then Gitana 12 (Ex-Bonduelle) in 2006 to replace Gitana X. In 2007, a year after the arrival of Loïck Peyron at the head of the Gitana Team, the fleet diversified: Gitana 11, the 60 foot Orma multihull and outright winner of the Route du Rhum 2006, was then accompanied by Gitana Eighty, a 60 foot Imoca monohull, and Gitana 13, a 33 metre maxi-catamaran was devoted to discovery. Crewed records for Gitana 13 and solo races for Gitana Eighty: this new season already promises to etch some fine lines in the histories of the Gitana boats…
Press contact: Zephyr Communication
Tiphaine Combot-Seta
+ 33 6 85 58 53 00 or tiphaine@zephyrcom.com
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