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20.01.2011
Onboard jour 20



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20.01.2011 Back to news

"The luck of the draw"

Maybe yes, maybe no! For Kito and Seb, on board Groupe Bel, by 26 11 36 W and 24 10 73 S, the fleet has an uncertain feel about it. After a good acceleration during the night, with some slaloming between clouds, which enabled them to gain 30 miles on Estrella Damm, the scenario behind is, to say the least, unclear. Still in the match, 3rd in the 15:00 hours clock-in, only 4 miles from Foncia, the new runner-up to the Spanish Pella-Ribes duo, the Groupe Bel crew is making headway to Gough Island; the first obligatory marker of the course. They are sailing at an average of 14 knots, which should make Seb happy; a round-the-worlder, who has been in need of sensations these last few hours. However, slightly off their route to the west, Foncia and Virbac-Paprec 3 are truly playing the spoilsports.

The Roaring Forties are obviously playing hard-to-get! After a Wednesday worthy of a wrongly located doldrums, the wind finally returned this Thursday to the boats furthest East in this Barcelona World Race. For how much longer? Nothing could be less sure! Determined not to let go, since “this is only the beginning of the adventure”, the two sailors are taking advantage of each moment’s rest to make sure that everything is in order for the challenge of the Greath South, scouring the boat from top to bottom, and making a quick visit to the top of the mast. They will never have been quite so ready!

Kito de Pavant contacted by his team at midday:
“We have a twenty knot east wind and Groupe Bel is making progress at between 13 and 15 knots; good conditions, I hope, to be able to cross to Gough Island, but nothing could be less sure. The night was difficult, since after a day of calm, Seb and I worked very hard together to make good progress. We played with the clouds on our route to gain a little speed. We moved away when we had to, and came closer at other times. It seems to have been fairly fruitful!

A lot can happen in the next few hours, since the boats furthest to the West still have the best conditions, which will not be good for our ranking! Finally their pit-stop in Recife was advantageous to them, since they benefitted from the lows that were forming to the South of Brazil. This also means that their sailing conditions are less comfortable, while we are still in the heat and sun. We have resigned ourselves to this. We didn’t really have any choice. We are continuing to do our best, but it’s really pot luck.

We should pass Gough Island in approximately one week, since we’re 1,800 from it. According to the weather data, which is always uncertain, we are going to have fairly peaceful conditions for 5 days, followed by an east wind, and then we will be taking on the hardest chunk, with, I hope, a marked acceleration.”

The major news of the day:
- Despite the calm, the game of backgammon still hasn’t moved from its place by the bunk!
- Seb still hasn’t decided whether to shave off his beard or not, to Kito’s despair.
- Kito enjoyed a film called Kill Bill
- At this pace, Kito fears that he will miss the final of the League Cup: OM – Montpellier on 23 April!
- Seb woke two Brazilian black-legged Kittiwakes “snoozing” on the stanchions during the night.

DJ O’Dhiggan’s play-list of the day : “La Soledad” by Pink Martini

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