Bulletin: 21st November 2007
High pressure for TEMENOS II
No big upsets for the skippers in the Barcelona World Race on this the 11th day of racing. The race continues, still as intense as ever and bitterly contested. The various options taken by the boats yesterday have gently reshuffled the ranking in the chasing pack once again.
The small W’ly tack at the exit from the Canaries doesn’t seem to have come off too badly for Delta Dore, which has managed to get ahead of Hugo Boss. But it is Véolia Environnement, which really seems to have struck gold after following its own W'ly option all the way through to the end. As shown in the 1700 hour ranking, the latter was continuing its southward descent without being slowed too much, contrary to some of its rivals who have been plagued by light winds throughout the day.
Positioned on a S’ly course since escaping the Canaries, TEMENOS II has come off fairly well for the time being. By reeling in a little Westing, the boat has managed to get away from its travelling companion Estrella Damm, which it was sailing alongside the previous day. It has also made up some ground on Hugo Boss, the latter nearly 35 miles ahead yesterday at 1700 hours.
However, we know only to well that the reliability of the weather models in the light airs leaves a lot to chance, and things can change rapidly, as a result of the slightest shift in the zone of high pressure. A few miles can be enough to upset this precarious hierarchy and solely the tradewinds will be able to lift this feeling of uncertainty.
At the point where contact was re-established with the shore crew midway through this afternoon, Dominique admitted that at that very moment they had penetrated the zone of high pressure.
The boat had slowed considerably, as the leaders had been before them. Dominique was nevertheless hoping that the separation they’d gained last night would enable them to limit the damage.
TEMENOS II in red
"Seeing the others stuck on the coast, we decided to get a bit of westing in our course. For the time being it’s very light. We have less than 5 knots of breeze, but with the swell coming from astern, we’re managing to gently make headway. The weather forecasts change from one file to the next so it's difficult to draw any conclusions from them. At the moment we have a fine covering of cloud over our heads and we’re right inside a zone of high pressure. We’re hoping that we can get going again fairly rapidly. We can feel the influence of Africa. It's beginning to get really hot and with the lack of wind, it's becoming stifling, so we're trying to get a little current of air running through the boat. Things will get better once we've found a bit of air again.”
Clearly the tradewinds are still something which is on everyone’s lips and in everyone’s minds in this Barcelona World Race, but for now the weather is continuing to tease the skippers…
| Ranking 17:00 |
| Rk |
Boat |
Dist to lead |
Vmg |
Latitude |
Longtitude |
Average speed |
| 1 |
PAPREC-VIRBAC 2 |
0,0 |
5,8 |
22 08.80' N |
17 10.83' W |
9,3 |
| 2 |
PRB |
27,7 |
4,2 |
22 27.22' N |
16 45.59' W |
4,4 |
| 3 |
VEOLIA ENVIRONNEMENT |
44,4 |
10,5 |
24 09.79' N |
19 34.81' W |
10,7 |
| 4 |
DELTA DORE |
83,5 |
1,2 |
23 23.30' N |
16 29.55' W |
1,5 |
| 5 |
HUGO BOSS |
96,6 |
5,0 |
23 43.30' N |
16 38.83' W |
6,8 |
| 6 |
TEMENOS 2 |
101,2 |
4,1 |
23 51.78' N |
16 44.85' W |
5,9 |
| 7 |
ESTRELLA DAMM |
113,8 |
3,3 |
23 58.48' N |
16 30.01' W |
5,8 |
| 8 |
MUTUA MADRILENA |
125,9 |
10,3 |
24 57.47' N |
18 02.92' W |
10,7 |
| 9 |
EDUCACION SIN FRONTERAS |
384,4 |
4 |
28 15.63' N |
14 46.79' W |
4,1 |