Bulletin: 10th June 2007

A meteorological brain-teaser

With the Shetland Islands in their wake, the fleet are finally closing in on Calais. The Imoca monohulls are slipping along quietly, seemingly too quietly for the skippers' liking, as they have quickly had to accept that the downwind conditions are becoming lighter. 

The passage of Shetland by TEMENOS II yesterday evening was a little tricky.

"The counter current on the approach to Shetland cost us some ground. The wind had shifted into a favourable position as forecast but we were still obliged to make a short 300m tack to round the last rock, which wasn’t a very comfortable layline.

Apart from that, the rugged islands in the sunlight were a real sight to behold and the crew were happy to finally be able to hoist the spinnaker" said Dominique when contacted in the middle of the afternoon.

However, the skies have been rather a disappointment. The 20 knots forecast in the grib files, were set to accompany the leaders for several hours after their passage around Shetland, but that’s not quite the real picture.

"We have had 15 knots at the very most and the wind has dropped away a lot quicker than forecast.

We’ve had to make a lot of manœuvres and we’re continuing to do so as the wind is very shifty, which means that we have to do a lot of work on deck.

Right now the conditions are really stormy… we have 7 knots", joked Dominique, visibly resigned to seeing this Calais Round Britain Race end on the same note as it began over a week ago. "We’re in a system of light winds until the finish, and the ETA is extending ever more. It's not very clear how to put a strategy in place with the grib files constantly changing."

The boats will have to wend their way along in light, unsteady and shifty winds, or even no wind at all for the really unlucky ones. The weather forecasts are certainly pushing back the ETAs (estimated time of arrival).

"I don’t even dare to look at the ETAs!" (laughs…) "a finish on 13th seems increasingly utopian, but whilst we’re on the subject, we're tending more towards 14th, or why not 15th!" joked Dominique. When you like what you’re doing you don’t count… except for skippers who instead of the number of days racing prefer to count the number of knots gained on the speedometer.”

"In fact it’s very hard to have a reliable forecast, it doesn't take much and then you can be stuck for hours in a windless zone."

Different routes for different boats

During the variations, the shifty wind sweeps across each boats' heading and course in a different way. In these random conditions, Delta Dore and VM Matériaux are aiming for a higher course whilst TEMENOS II, like PRB, is making its descent towards Calais by sailing as close as possible to the direct course.

"The wind is massively varied. We have a 30 to 40° shift, which makes things difficult. We are finding it hard to find the right course. It’s yours, it’s mine, it’s the least bad strategy shall we say!"

A complicated weather situation, which means essentially that anything is possible, including seeing PRB’s 30 mile disappear. The suspense of this Calais Round Britain Race is clearly set to last.