| ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
07.02.2011 Back to news
In single file...
 | © Kito de Pavant/Groupe Bel |
Little injuries of the Great South
After 37 days at sea, in the end there has been no rest for the racers since the race began in Barcelona. Vigilant as they are, injuries do happen! On Sunday, as he was hoisting the spinnaker, Seb lost his balance and fell on a toe rail, “I fell on my coccyx. It hurt at the time, but I was able to finish the manoeuvre. I took some anti-inflammatory drugs and in a few days I’ll feel much better.” Seb is tall and strong, and the favourable weather at the moment should help him recover quickly! “We are in a 20-25 westerly flow. It’s nice, she’s surfing well and we’re happy at the helm. The race is all down to speed now, until we reach New Zealand”, says the man from Brest.
As for Kito, who is back to 100% of his capacity, he went for a little climb up to the top of the mast to sort out a hook problem (system blocking a sail at the top of the mast), “The replacement cable was stuck. In fact, I went up there for nothing really. We hadn’t pulled it hard enough! It was an opportunity to check the rigging. I didn’t stay there long, since with the cross swell, it’s not very pleasant to be at a height of 30 m. You really need to hang on to a wingmast which is fairly wide. I spent 30 minutes up top. Luckily the weather was fine. I hate doing this and I do it as little as possible. However, everything is fine up there” said the skipper, who is discovering “cold” sailing little by little. “The spray is a little “icy”, but things are fine!”
In single file
After long hours at an average of more than 20 knots, Groupe Bel has returned to more appropriate speeds. The crew had slowed the pace a little for safety reasons, because it is never repeated enough, “to win you need to finish”, and this Monday, the monohull is starting a new speed race in the Indian Ocean, in full sail, under spinnaker and mainsail. You have to face the facts, because of the obligatory safety gates, there’s little to be attempted at the moment, but the race could open up again quickly near New Zealand, so for the moment she’s got to make headway fast and well! “We are going to remain in single file for a while, with these gates so far north and with such distances to run. The wind will change to the north east, and we are going to gybe this evening to position ourselves to the north of a low that is heading east and which will take us straight to the next gate, call the “Australian Barrier”. Then, the high pressure north of the gate should allow us to pass and the westerly wind flow just behind it looks fairly regular. It is becoming complicated for the racers ahead and there may be some surprises after New Zealand” explains Seb.
MESSAGE FROM KITO DE PAVANT DURING THE NIGHT OF 06 TO 07 FEBRUARY
“On board Groupe Bel, we have enjoyed a much calmer 24 hours than these last few days. It's very sunny, the sea has calmed down, there’s not a cloud in the sky, despite a small westerly by which we are making headway. Despite this, we're not bored. First we had to adapt the sails to these unusual conditions and we tested the Cow's full set until we finally opted for the large “Spirate Frankenstein” (the spinnaker the sailors had to resew after the Cape of Good Hope) and full mainsail (it’s been a long time since we’ve seen all of her). This mild weather (dry deck) has meant that we've been able to enjoy the pleasure of listening to music again, while steering and watching the stars in the southern hemisphere and I can’t resist telling you what my latest playlist is..
DJKito’s playlist on 7 February:
“Dans le port d'Amsterdam” by Jacques Brel (I’ve had this song in my head since yesterday morning, goodness knows why!)
The Reggae/Biniou version of “I wish you were here” by Alpha Blondy
“Sunday with a Flu” by Yodelice, because it was Sunday
| Read more | |||||||||
| All the news |
|
|
|
||||||
