Sea, Sail & Surf newsJules Verne Trophy
Small respite before further difficulties ahead for Orange
mardi 26 mars 2002 –
On catching up the ridge of high pressure this morning, Orange is momentarily short of wind. The sea is flattening out behind a residual swell. A timid sun is trying to put in an appearance. The sailors’ gazes oscillate between the chart table and the imperturbable flight of the albatrosses.
Slowly the wind is veering to the south-west. Later in the day it will veer further to the north-west. Then Orange will be slipping along to the east of the Kerguelens, looking for a way out from a new meteorological headache imposed by the elements. "We know that the southerly flows create a very difficult seaway that prevents us from descending" explained Peyron. "We constantly need to search for the best compromise between wind angle, sea state, heading and boat speed. This year none of these factors would seem to come together to allow Orange to give her best. I maintain in any case, that preservation of the equipment is the sine qua non for any chance of achieving a result. On board we’re coping with the frustration of having to manage a difficult sea state in abnormally oriented winds in a geographic region of the globe where Orange should be notching up some impressive averages. But Orange’s crew is made up of professional sailors who know what it takes to drive a boat in these difficult seas. We’re chafing at the bit and doing our utmost to get out of this zone as quickly as possible, with a boat with her full potential intact. We’re sailing as best we can with the wind and the sea, attentive to how the boat is trimmed and to maintenance, with a "conservative" approach, the only guarantee in our eyes of taking the project all the way through".
Orange is taking advantage of the calmer reaching winds to gain a little southing and make up some of the difference in latitude with Olivier de Kersauson’s route in 1997, a difference that makes it difficult to calculate the number of miles lead that Peyron has over the Jules Verne trophy record Record #sailingrecord .
Difficult days ahead for the maxi-catamaran, with strong winds and a sea once again made furious by the pressure of the elements. Peyron and his men know the facts ; find the vein, the passage, the Eldorado ? that narrow corridor of clement wind and sea for crossing the front, without damage, so that they can put the Giant from Marseilles back in phase with the rhythm of the Southern Ocean.
Quote / unquote...
Gilles Chiorri : Last week, off Tristan da Cunha, our choice of going to the east rather than the south was justified by our strategy favouring each time the speed/preservation of the boat compromise. Joining the Deep South straight out of the Atlantic would have plunged us into violent winds, indeed synonymous with speed but just as boat breaking. The east enabled us to quickly pass Good Hope. The nasty surprise came with the confrontation at an abnormally southern latitude between the south-west high that rapidly caught up with us and a low located ahead of us. The closing in of the isobars in our zone was translated into 65 knot winds and an unmanageable sea, obliging us to considerably slow down."
Bruno Peyron : "Our current speed is absolutely unsatisfactory. The culprit is the direction and state of the sea preventing us from putting on the power on pain of breaking the boat. We have got a little respite today. But a new problem will be facing us in two days time : violent winds, rough seas.. reduced speed..."
Denis van den Brink / Mer & Média. Translation David Palmer - SeaSpeak. Orange. Map : Geronimo vs Orange
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Photo : JP Epron / Maxi Catamaran Orange
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