Bulletin: 29th October 2006
A ‘warm-up, a running-in and a desire to do well’ sums up Dominique Wavre’s Route du Rhum
With just two days to go till the start of the Route du Rhum - la Banque Postale, there is a real buzz on the pontoons and the boats. The crowd of spectators massed around the basins is confirmation of the success of this infamous quadrennial event, that skippers are keen to add to their track record. The shore crews are busying themselves with the final preparations, while the skippers respond to the demands of the media.
Though the favourites are numerous within the increasingly high level Imoca fleet, all eyes will inevitably be turned towards the three latest additions. However, Dominique insists that the favourites are not necessarily part of this trio. These latest generation boats are going to have to be ‘tamed’ first and what better zone of discovery than a spicy transatlantic to do just that.
And though Dominique will be trying to rank as highly as he can in what promises to be a bitterly contested race, the sailor isn’t losing sight of his initial objectives: to learn his boat, to grade it, measure it, and get it to work for him…
When he talks about TEMENOS II, the skipper is generous with his compliments about the boat, the qualities of which he has already been able to appreciate during his first test sails.
“TEMENOS II is fantastic, she is just as I imagined her, high performance, technically honed, and geared up for ocean racing. The new boats continue to progress technologically. It’s an incredibly lively boat, with a great deal of character and personality.”
When you discuss his goals with him, the skipper immediately re-centres on his objectives. It will clearly take time before he really knows the boat like the back of his hand and be able to get the most out of it.
“To compete effectively for the top spot, you have to know your boat inside out and I don’t know it well enough yet to be able to aspire to victory. This transatlantic is a test gallop for both TEMENOS and myself; a privileged warm-up lap during which we’ll be able to measure ourselves against the other boats. From a sporting point of view we’ll do the best we can of course, but with the little hitches that are inherent with a new boat, there will inevitably be some tweaking required. I will have to feel my way around a little and each time you do that on the race track you are bound to lose some ground on your adversaries.”
This transatlantic should enable Dominique to gain his first, but nonetheless solid racing experience with his new boat.
“At the end of this transatlantic, I hope to have learnt the vast majority of TEMENOS II ropes. While racing, there is an immediate response. If you have the wrong trim you have to pay the price when the ranking falls two hours late and that spurs you on to find solutions. It’s the best possible trial run.”
The Route du Rhum - La Banque Postale – occurs very early in the programme of these recently launched boats when the uncertainties and the questions are numerous. However, for the skipper, there is no doubt that the preparation of his monohull is far from lacking.
“The boat is as ready as it can be given the time that has been devoted to its fine tuning since last June (launch date). It’s a prototype aboard which the durability has not been tested. We’re heading out on a kind of journey into the unknown, unaware of its weak points, unaware of how the brand new custom parts will behave, like the rig, the sails, the electricity, the sheets, the electronics….”
Preparing to take the start of this 8th Route du Rhum - La Banque Postale – this Sunday, the skipper views the event as a mix between a warm-up, a running-in and a desire to do well. Dominique is really looking forward to it and has a great curiosity to learn. The 74 registered boats will all set off together on a single start line at 13h02 exactly. The latest forecasts announce clement conditions for the first few days of sailing, in stark contrast to those of the previous edition, where the violent winds decimated a large number of the boats; a scenario which nobody wants to see repeated…