Ecover, green sponsor, green boat? |
| Saturday, 15 November 2003 |
| As a sailor and a superstitous Celt, when asked to comment part way through a race by Ecover’s PR department how a boat’s performing, it’s against my basic instincts to comment, never mind predict. So I hasten to pre-empt this column and remind readers that there is over a thousand miles to go, conditions vary throughout the fleet for any one-position report and anything can happen in the next week. In the very same waters only three weeks ago the first and second place yachts in the mini Transat race lost their rigs days before the finish in one case only 80 miles from Salvador. At the same time the winds in these latitudes are benevolent compared to what the TJV Monohull fleet went through in days one to five.
First off (and I know it’s an unwritten PR rule not to mention your competitors, but…..), well done the Farr office, Jean Pierre Dick, Nick Abiven and the extended Virbac team for producing a fast boat and putting together a good program. With half a circumnavigation completed and what is obviously a well-organised campaign they have come to the TJV and shown what a latest generation design is capable of.
At the same time wasn’t that first week a blast for the green boat? If you believe Mike he was holding back a bit too! From a performance perspective we saw Ecover with the same boat speed, and as much as five degrees higher than the best of the competition at times, the trend certainly seemed to be there. What’s more, the fairly radical rig performed well and stayed in the boat, that along with the whole performance in such severe conditions is a credit to all involved for the big push over the last five months.
Seven days into the race however the wheels received a flat as opposed to falling off, when within a few hours of each other both spinnaker halyards chafed through. With only 2000 miles on the boat prior to the race start there were fallback positions pre-arranged for outside leads and blocks. Having said that, none of us were happy to have to rely on them and the collateral damage with kites destroyed, wrapped round appendages and falling behind back into the high pressure ridge cost nearly two hundred miles rather than the fifty miles of pain and sweat for Mike up the rig. Hard enough two handed but an absolute no no for the Vendee and a design and/or halyard specification that will be reviewed in the short time before the return race from Salvador.
By the following Friday however Mike was back in second place, a credit to him, Brian and the boat. Only four days before they had blown the lightweight 0.9oz light kite, their last spinnaker and have been vmg running with the furling code 5 gennaker, which is 2/3 of the area of the big kites. Now four days later and south of the ITCZ they’ll be back up to maximum efficiency for a while. It’s all to play for, but Virbac has a 100 mile lead sailing into pressure and the ‘previous generation boats’ are still close behind, including Team Cowes (ex Kingfisher) who have looked strong throughout the race and currently hold fifth place. Sill, Mike’s familiar adversary is only 15 miles adrift.
For us and MGYR the goal has always been the Vendee and having launched 17 months before we’re happy with where we are now on boat speed and preparation. To make the TJV was a tough call for us, but essential to test the boat against the opposition. We’re very happy, but there’s work a plenty to be done, however as the Kiwis would say: “the Vendee Globe, bring it on!”
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