"I
took a very bad start as the solent halyard got stocked
two minutes before the start. I was not pleased at
all even if the start of such a long race is not that
important. Eventhough, I was not discouraged and in
accordance with the recommendations given by Bernard
Dunant, the weather router of Dominique Wavre during
the Vendée Globe, I sailed on the direct route
to the Cape Finisterre.
When
the nigth fell, the wing got stronger and I thought
that it was time to drop the big spinnaker for the
small one. This is where my problems began as when
I tried to put on the autopilot the boat gybed at
more than 10 knots. I was sat on my deck chain in
the water. Fortunately, nothing was broken. After
a long fight , I managed to put the spinnaker safely
inside the boat.
However, it was important to go as fast as possible
during the first night to try to catch some downwind
conditions along the Portuguese coast. I therefore
decided to hois the small spinnaker but I could only
manage to break it and made a big hole of more than
2 meters. The wind was already too strong . I thought
it was time to calm down a little bit as it was more
important to arrive than to break everything. I sailed
all night with one reef in the main sail and the solent
an d it is in these conditions that I broke the record
of the boat at 16.9 knots !!!
On Sunday morning I started to be seasick, exactly
as we explained to you in our precedent news! It was
the worst time in my sailing carreer.
 |
Then
the wind eased a little bit and I thought it would
be good to hoist the gennaker. But it was not
my day as I broke the outhaul and the top of the
furler (brand new ! ) which meant that my halyard
got stocked at the top of the mas t for the rest
of the leg. |
After having passed Cape Finisterre and contrary to
the forecast from Meteo France, we sailed the whole
Spanish and Portuguese Coast upwind. This is where
I took the option to go west to cross the depresession
and take advantage of a favorable wind shift. Even
if this meant to do more mileage, it was eventually
a good option as I jumped from 11th to 5th.
|
The winds were quite strong during this depression
(3 reefs in the mainsail and a reef in the solent)
and I damaged quite badly my solent. I repared
it later with some tape at the same time as my
spinnaker. |
 |
As
it happens quite often, you jumped from one extreme
to another : after the strong wind, I was caught in
the middle of the Azores high with very light conditions
and no weather forecast as France Meteo was on strike
! These nerves breaking conditions lasted 2-3 days
with an important swell which prohibited the sails
to be correctly tuned. I had no idea of my ranking
as I could not catch Monaco Radio to listen to the
full ranking given by the organisers. I learnt the
good news only last Sunday and this obviously boosted
my moral.
Three days before the finish I lost one of my two
backstays( this is a wire which holds the mast at
the back). If the two had broken, I could have lost
my mast !
Finally, a good force 5 Northerly wind blew which
let me finish at Lanzarote Friday morning at 1h00
in the morning, beating the 6th for 2 minutes and
the 7th for one hour".
Did you get enough food ?
With Muriel, we had planned food for 10 days. A s
I was sick during almost 2 days, I had plenty of food.
Did you listen to any music ?
I did once before my Minidisc player stopped working.
The same happened as well for my video recorder, the
recorder I use to record the weather forecast and
my cooking timer (that I use as an alarm clock for
my 20 minutes naps). I suppose that they did not like
the humidity.
What is you physical and psychological form now
?
The physical form is good except some humidity spot
on my bottom. For the moral, with such a good result,
it is easy to guess ….
Did you see any other competitors during the race
?
The last time was at Cape Finisterre and since then
I saw nobody until Lanzarote where we were 5 boats
to arrive more or less togheter.
Was this first leg what you were expecting ?
Not quite as I thought that the strongest part was
up to Cape Finisterre. And actually, this was the
easy part and it got more difficult afterwards.
What did you miss most ?
The lack of communication with my wife or my friends.
I would have liked to share my bad moments and my
good times with someone as they happen. One week later,
it is more difficult to tell them.
 |
The
drawing s that my friendsand Robin did in the
cabin were quite helpful and really encouraged
me. |
This
race was by far the most difficult I did so far. For
the second leg, I hope that the conditions will be
as anticipated which, even if they are not easy, you
are mentally prepared for.
Did you have time to do anything else than driving
and sleeping ?
I sewed my sails ….. and I read a cartoon from
Asterix (the great crossing) that my friend Jean-Marc
gave me before the start.
What is your best memory ?
20 to 30 dolphins which followed me during 15 minutes.
It was incredible.
