After the calm thirties soon the roaring forties

It is been slack, still and calm, but they are off again. There have been plenty of adjectives on board Groupe Bel on this 24th day of the Barcelona World Race.Now on the other side of the anticyclone barrier, Kito de Pavant and Seb Audigane will at last experience better times, with the progressive strengthening of a Westerly wind flow, a good thing for those who already saw themselves becoming masters in the art of sailing in light winds! Although the leitmotiv of the moment, "the road is still long", is still appropriate, a few days from passing the first course gate, the crew's spirits are as good as ever, and this morning they received the unfailing support of dozens of Bel Group workers; enough to blow a little wind into their sails.At 15:00, Kito and Seb clocked in in 4th position, 622 miles from Virbac-Paprec 3 who has taken off in the lead.

All things come to he who waits
At the end of the day, on Sunday, the two sailors hit a West wind and Groupe Bel is now sailing on a port tack after almost a week on the same tack!Prisoners of still difficult weather conditions, nothing was more frustrating this weekend than for the Groupe Bel crew to see their friends in the race getting away with incredible averages; Virbac-Paprec 3 even achieving the longest distance run in 24 hours on an IMOCA, i.e. 516 miles.However “Corto and Raspoutine” as they call themselves have doubled their efforts to reach Gough Island.They may well pass this well-known island, which seems even more inaccessible in reality that it is on paper, by the middle of the week.

Kito de Pavant this morning for a special radio contact with Bel Group sites of Cléry (21), Dole (39) and Sablé (72):
“Things are much better since yesterday evening!We got moving again yesterday towards the end of the day with Estrella Damm, who isn’t far, but we got stuck again this morning in another windless area.Now, we’re off again. Groupe Bel is making headway at 10 knots under “spirate” and full mainsail. I hope this time the wind will hold!The Saint Helen anticyclone has really played games with us. We thought we knew how it was going to work out and at the last minute the wind dropped again.The fact that the organizers have changed the first gate* may turn out to be good for us. It will mean we can stay warmer a little longer and reduce our distance from the leaders, since they will have to sail back up slightly.I think that it is interesting for Foncia to go into “ghost” mode* since the weather situation may enable them to maneuver a clear option.As for us, there is no question of us using it for the moment, since there are no man oeuvres to be made where we are at present.
We have been more than three weeks at sea, and yet we don’t feel the time pass.We have planned for roughly 90 days of supplies. We wouldn’t want to take one or two weeks longer.If the worst should happen, we should have a fishing line stowed away somewhere, so we’d be able to fish for food if necessary.In any case, we can rest easy when it comes to energy.The solar panels are working full blast and our two hydrogenerators too.”

MESSAGE FROM KITO DE PAVANT DURING THE NIGHT OF 23 TO 24 JANUARY
“There’s a light breeze” Don't get carried away, I said light ! And you know what? We’ve changed sides; we’re on a starboard tack!Yes, yes!Just as I said.And what else?We’re under spinnaker (to be specific the “spirate).And what’s more?A light wind has returned, where no one was expecting it.”
Read the rest on www.sharingsmilestour.com

This week DJ O’Dhiggan left his turntable choice to Kito. Here is his play list: “J’accuse” by Saez, “Everything” by Jehro and “ De Youth” by Queen Omega.

RANKING MONDAY 24 JANUARY AT 15:00 HOURS (UTC +1):
1 - Virbac-Paprec 3 / Jean-Pierre Dick & Loick Peyron, 19,142 miles distance to finish
2 - Foncia / Michel Desjoyeaux & François Gabart, in stealth mode
3 - Mapfre / Iker Martinez & Xabi Fernandez, 476 miles distance
4 - Groupe Bel / Kito de Pavant & Seb Audigane, 622 miles distance
5 - Estrella Damm / Alex Pella & Pepe Ribes, 634 miles distance
6 - Renault / Pachi Rivero & Antonio Piris 687 miles distance
7 - Mirabaud / Dominique Wavre & Michèle Parret, 726 miles distance
8 - Neutrogena / Boris Herrmann & Ryan Breymaier, 775 miles distance
9- Gaes / Dee Caffari & Anna Corbella, 790 miles distance
10 – Central Lechera Asturiana / Juan Merediz & Fran Palacio, 901 miles distance

See the rest of the ranking on the race website.

* A stealth mode which enables crews to disappear for 36 hours from the charts and the rankings, often used for strategical or tactical reasons.

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