Transat Jacques-Vabre 2011

Classe 40 -lost keel

from the race website:

Initiatives-Alex Olivier suffer keel loss

This Sunday at 1218hrs UTC/GMT Tanguy de Lamotte and Eric Peron suddenly lost their keel of their Class 40 Initiatives – Alex Olivier when they were lying in third place in the Transat Jacques Vabre transatlantic race from Le Havre to Puerto Limon, Costa Rica, some 450 miles to the west of La Coruna, Spain.
At the time the boat was making around 12 to 14kts in a southerly wind of 25 to 30kts and unruly seas.

Initiatives - Alex Olivier was sailing with one reef in the main and the Solent headsail when the crew heard a popping sound and found that the boat suddenly became unmanageable.
De Lamotte and Peron immediately dropped the mainand the Solent and set a storm jib. All heavy equipment and sails were was stacked in the center of the boat, the lowest point and the filled ballast (750 liters) filled to stabilize the boat.
The two sailors are on their way steadily now about 7 knots to the northeast, pushed by the prevailing southerly wind in the area. Both have on life jackets and have their all their safety and survival equipment immediately at hand. Skipper Tanguy de Lamotte was keen to stress that the crew of Initiatives - Alex Olivier are not in distress and have not requested assistance.

Tanguy De Lamotte skipper Initiatives Alex Olivier: “Things happened quickly with no noise. I was inside, Eric on watch but the boat was under pilot because the boat it was too wet. We were on port tack on a reach making about 12-14kts with one reef and the Solent. We heard a popping sound, nothing loud. The pilot pulled the helm hard to the corner but the boat became unsteerable. The boat went in to a broach. It was Eric who said he thought we had lost the keel. I looked to see if there was something orange under the boat (the keel is painted fluorescent orange) and I could see nothing. We dropped the mainsail, dropped the Solent and set the storm jobs and filled the ballast tanks. The helm did not feel right at all. We stacked all the gear in the middle of the boat and gybed on to starboard gybe.
We are sailing on a course of 45 degrees but we do not know where we will go as the boat is crabbing (making leeway sideways). We will see where we go when the weather settles a bit. It was 12:18UTC we had 28-30kts wind and a big sea. It has been hard on the boat and it was not a pleasant sensation.
We have life jackets on, the safety gear is to hand but we are not in a state of distress. We are both very careful and will not take any risks.”




Breaking news: http://www.transat-jacques-vabre.com/english-section

 

Transat

Hugo Boss in first in Open 60's, V3 2nd. Maitre Jacques first in the Multi match race.


Race tracker: http://transat-jacques-vabre.geovoile.com/2011/

 

Transat

From Scuttlebutt Europe:

* Around 0330hrs (UTC/GMT) this Friday morning skipper Arnaud Boissieres confirmed that the mast of their IMOCA Open 60 Akena Verandas had broken some 270 miles WNW of the Breton peninsula. The duo had been lying in ninth place in the Transat Jacques Vabre double handed Transatlantic race which set off from Le Havre, France on Wednesday.

Arnaud Boissieres� reported that both he and Akena Verandas' co-skipper Gerald Veniard were uninjured. The mast is said to have broken in several places and the duo have managed to retain only a deck spreader, the boom and a short piece of tube. They are making progress towards the French coast around 2.5 kts. "We are not hurt other than our pride. There was a very large crack.It was as if we had hit a cliff at ten knots� The mast is broken in several places." Reported Boissieres to his team early this morning.
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Another Open 60 in trouble:

* At press time:
At 23 hours Sunday, sailing 130 miles from the Azores in 30 knots of breeze, Bernard Stamm and Jean-Francois Cuzon contacted the race director and shore team to inform them they were victims of a major water leak. The origin of it is located on the starboard bow and the reason for its occurrence is currently unknown. The crew of Cheminees Poujoulat do not seek assistance at the moment.

 

Transat

Good news: V3 is leading the Open 60's/ Actual leading the muli match race.
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From the race website:

Cheminees Poujoulat(Open 60) have set off their distress beacon

Last night when they were sailing 130 miles north of the Azores, the crew of Cheminees Poujoulat - Bernard Stamm and Jean Francois Cuzon - informed race direction of the Transat Jacques Vabre race from Le Havre to Costa Rica that they have a significant leak on their IMOCA Open 60.
After analysis of their current situation in communication with race director Jean Maurel, they have triggered their distress beacon.
The signal was received by the CROSS Griz Nez which relayed information to MRCC Punta Delgada in the Azores. Help procedures were immediately activated and a helicopter took off at 1050hrs CET/0950hrs UTC/GMT to recover the crew from the yacht which was positioned approximately 230 miles to the north of Punta Delgada on the Azores island of San Miguel.
Further information will be released as it becomes available.


UPDATE: CROSS Gris Nez, which coordinates rescue operations in France, informed race director of the Transat Jacques Vabre race from Le Havre to Costa Rica at 1354hrs CET (1254 UTC/GMT) that Bernard Stamm and Jean-François Cuzon had been recovered by the Portuguese rescue authorities.
MRCC Punta Delgada said the helicopter was heading now towards the island of Terceira, where both skippers were due to land imminently.

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PRB(Open60) heading for Azores-fractured bulkhead

PRB on Vendée Globe winner Vincent Riou is heading to the Azores for a pit-stop to see what they can do about a fracture in a forward bulkhead. After the passage of the front last night with winds of 35-40kts it is reported that Vincent Riou and Hugues Destremau made a check to ensure the boat was not damaged.
At 0430hrs CET they reported that the bulkhead of the forward sail locker is cracked According to the duo there is no water ingress but they plan to head to the Azores to assess.
“I think it is better to go there and see what we can do, given the future wind and sea states, rather than risk anything.” They have said they will head for the island of Terceira where they plan to dock at Praia de Vitoria. The duo were making 8-9kts towards the haven and were around 100 miles away.
“I think we will need at least three days to complete the necessary repairs.” Riou reported to his team this morning.
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Thats 4 of 13 Open 60's out of the race...

UPDATE-5 out of 16 Open 40's out-back problem, fractured bulkhead, hull delamination etc. http://www.transat-jacques-vabre.com/fr/sam-goodchild-morning-pretty-devastated

 

Transat Jaques-Vabre

V3 is 47 miles ahead of second and 283+ miles ahead of third!

Actual leads it's match race partner by 222 miles....

 

Transat Jacques-Vabre

Virbac-Paprec 3 almost finished-100miles+ ahead of 2nd place. The Multi 50 Actual still in the lead of her match race+100 miles....

 

Transat Jacques Vabre

Though this is from todays Scuttlebutt Europe the news is about 3 days old:

Transat Jacques Vabre


Jean Pierre Dick confirmed his supremacy again this morning as the ultimate double handed monohull ocean racer when he and co-skipper Jeremie Beyou brought Virbac Paprec 3 across the finish line of the tenth edition of the Transat Jacques Vabre to win in the very early hours of the morning in Puerto Limon, Costa Rica.

Victory completes a remarkable year for Dick, who also won the two handed Barcelona World Race around the world on April 4th this spring, winning with co-skipper Loïc Peyron, and for Beyou who won the intense solo one design Solitaire du Figaro this summer.

They set a new record time from Le Havre to Puerto Limon for the mononulls beating the 2009 record by one hour and seven minutes, setting the mark at 15 days 18 hours and 54 seconds.

* Alex Thomson (GBR) and Guillermo Altadill (ESP) sailed Hugo Boss across the finish line off Puerto Limon, Costa Rica this Friday evening at 23hrs 20 mins 0 secs UTC, 17hrs 20 mins 00secs local time, to finish the tenth edition of the Transat Jacques Vabre double handed Transatlantic race in second place in the IMOCA Open 60 Class.

Hugo Boss completed the 4730 miles theoretical course distance in 16 days 9 hours 20 minutes 0 sec at an average speed of 12,03kts. They finished 15 hrs 4 mins 6 secs after Jean Pierre Dick and Jeremie Beyou on Virbac Paprec 3

* Francois Gabart and Christopher Pratt completed the IMOCA podium of the tenth edition of the Transat Jacques Vabre when the duo, looking tired, drawn, but brought their IMOCA Open 60 Banque Populaire across the finish line in Puerto Limon, Costa Rica.

Banque Populaire finish third behind victors, three times winner Jean Pierre Dick with Jeremie Beyou on Virbac Paprec 3 and Britain's Alex Thomson and Spain's Guillermo Altadill on Hugo Boss.

Finishing around five hours and 40 minutes behind Hugo Boss, the duo expressed their satisfaction at winning the 'race of the south', when they lead in today's regular stream of finishers which had chosen the more southerly routing, the opposite to that which proved ultimately decisive for the first two duos.

After a head to head duel which has run relentlessly through the last seven days Banque Populaire finally eclipsed near sistership MACIF sailed by Francois Gabart and Christopher Pratt who broke the finish line only 1 hour and 50 minutes later.

"The fight with MACIF has been really great. This afternoon we were worried we would not come third, so it's great to make it. We won the race of the southerners, in the end the northerners were too strong." Said Le Cleac'h who finished second in the last Vendee Globe.

* The Multi 50 of Yves Le Blevec and Samuel Manuard Actual crossed the finish line of the Transat Jacques Vabre to win the Multi class this Sunday morning, November 20, to at 07h 07mn 43sec UTC/GMT. That sets an elapsed time for the theoretical course of 5323 miles from Le Havre to Puerto Limon, Costa Rica of 17 days, 17 hours, 07 minutes and 43 seconds, sailing at an average speed 12.52 knots. Their measured actual course is 6508 miles at an actual average 15.31 knots.

Victory in this race is something of a bonus for Yves Le Blevec and Sam Manuard. In many respects their target was to simply finish. Two years ago Le Blevec capsized on the first night at sea of the 2009 edition of the Transat Jacques Vabre and a year ago he had to retire from the Route du Rhum-La Banque Postale. And only a matter of weeks before the start of this race they were dismasted.

They sailed a shrewd, smart race to win, setting the required rhythm early, sharing the lead with Crepes Whaou! from the second day on the course. But that duel was cut short when the three times winning skipper Franck Yves Escoffier had to retire with Crepes Whaou! after sustaining a back injury. Indeed four Multi 50's were forced to retire in a very short time frame.www.transat-jacques-vabre.com

 

Transat Jacques-Vabre

This was a wild race especially right after the start where the majority of 50' multihulls had to retire. And several of the Open 60's also had to retire. The 40 foot monohulls are still racing and had no where near the retirements of the multis. Whats wrong with this picture???

 

I wouldn't read too much into many of the retirements a lot of those boats are run on a shoestring budget and are old boats that have been tweaked up to keep up with the rule. The greatest thing we can take from the race is that leading edge boats that push materials to the limit are more prone to failure.

The real exception is Prince de Bretagne with its ongoing structural problems which are dissapointing. They obviously thought they had sorted it out but not yet. Crepe's retired due to a crew injury not a problem with the boat.

Racers are prepared to accept higher structural risks than would be acceptable to cruisers when I received the updated plans from Kurt which include carbon fibre beams on my Formula 40 project I was glad to see he had put in extensive ripstop segments to prevent cracking and delamination over large areas it gives some peace of mind.