Patience and time
Yann Guichard must now put up with the delay in getting to Guadeloupe whilst the first two ‘ultimate’ multihulls have crossed the finish line; Franck Cammas on Tuesday afternoon, Francis Joyon last night. For everyone, the last few miles are the longest…
Yann Guichard has had everything thrown at him: Gitana 11 is certainly being propelled along by the tradewinds, but they’re proving to be very out of puff! Ranging between three and eight knots on Tuesday afternoon, they’ve seen a slight increase in power to between ten and twelve knots, but they are now coming from the East. This is rotten luck for the skipper of the trimaran fitted out by Baron Benjamin de Rothschild as Gitana 11 will now have to put in a series of gybes to reach the West Indies. In fact, given that this light breeze seems steadier to the South, Yann Guichard is gradually slipping along towards the SW, but has planned on six or seven gybes throughout the day to reposition himself, with just as many in view over the course of tonight!
After crossing the finish midway through Tuesday local time in the West Indies after 9 days 3 hours and 14 minutes, Franck Cammas indicated during his press conference that his giant trimaran was certainly tough to helm, but it also enabled him to withstand the squalls without constantly having to perform manœuvres. The winner also noted that he’d have never been able to keep up that rhythm on his former Groupama 2, the 60 footer with which he took the start of the Route du Rhum in 2006.
Francis Joyon also completed the race late yesterday (local time) ten and a half hours later, while Thomas Coville was still becalmed this Wednesday morning to the North of Guadeloupe making 1.4 knots of boat speed… As such the end of the course for Gitana 11 is still set to be a while in coming and Yann Guichard isn’t expected into Pointe-à-Pitre before Thursday lunchtime (local time) as he will again have to battle with evanescent breezes as far as the Caribbean archipelago, not to mention the circumnavigation of the island which is turning into an ordeal for all the solo sailors.
Ranking for the Ultimate Category on 10th November at 0700 GMT
1- Groupama 3 finished on Tuesday 9th November at 15h 16’ 47 GMT in 9d 3h 14’ 47’’
2- Idec finished on Wednesday 10th November at 1h52’ 48 GMT in 9d 13h 50’ 48’’
3- Sodebo 51 miles from the finish
4- Gitana 11 some 415 miles from the finish
5- La Boite à Pizza 973 miles from the finish
6- Défi Cancale 1,361 miles from the finish
7- Saint-Malo 2015 some 1,367 miles from the finish
Abandon- Côte d'Or II
Abandon- Oman Air Majan