Barcelona World Race/ Open 60's

Barcelona World Race

from race headquarters:

Having fought hard to reduce Virbac-Paprec 3’s advantage to just 202 miles yesterday evening, Iker Martinez and Xabi Fernandez (ESP) have struggled to hold onto the French duo for periods of the day. Despite being faster than them by over a knot of average speed this afternoon at 16.9 knots the gap to MAPFRE has grown to 271 miles.


http://www.barcelonaworldrace.org/en/index.php

 

Barcelona World Race / Open 60's

from the site:

Staying together

Virbac-Paprec 3 hold the upper hand as they close progressively towards the centre of the high pressure system. They will be monitoring its track carefully and have the option all the time today to sail a deeper angle, make further east so maintain better pressure, or perhaps even gybe out.
MAPFRE have clearly chosen the easterly route just now and will be expecting to compress all the time to the race leaders until Virbac-Paprec 3 start to emerge into the stronger wind on the north side of the high.

In direct, straight line terms the distance between Virbac 3 and MAPFRE is closer to 315 miles, but there will a lot of compression from here. We have already seen a further nine miles cut by MAPFRE this morning, averaging fiver knots quicker than the leaders and that differential will likely continue today. The high is developing, ridging more east, getting more difficult for both.

 

Barcelona World Race / Open 60's

From the race site:

Sweet and sour

It is a painful but crucial morning for second placed MAPFRE and perhaps decisive moments to savour for Virbac-Paprec 3, but in effect one of the more difficult scenarios to take in any race. Life is sweet for the leaders, but sour for the second placed duo.

The leader has emerged into the new breeze and is stripping away miles with a speed differential of over 10 knots and you are trapped with 5 knots - or less - of breeze.
Every hour you are crawling towards the exit door of the high pressure is another 10 miles to be fought back.
Iker Martinez and Xabi Fernandez's overnight losses amount to 86 miles, their deficit to Jean-Pierre Dick and Loick Peyron at 243.6 miles this morning, Virbac Paprec 3 making nearly 14 knots and MAPFRE stalled at less than 2 and having made just 20 miles overnight. And for the leaders it is plain sailing in SE'ly winds of around 15 kts. Could this be the final big weather feature to be negotiated before the finish

UPDATE: V3 leads by 347 miles at 1:54 Eastern. She is going four times as fast as Mapfre right now(16 vs 4).
----V3 leads by 414 miles @ 6pm Eastern.....still going about 3.5 times as fast with Mapfre stuck near the center of the high.

UPDATE: 3/11/11, 8:40AM Eastern- V3 ahead by 526 miles.

UPDATE: 3/11/11, 5:38 pm Eastern-Mapfre is now back in it going faster than V3....

Go V3!!

 

Barcelona World Race / Open 60's-Group Bel retires

from race headquarters:

“Our round-the-world ends at the far end of the world” Kito de Pavant and Seb Audigane forced to retire from the Barcelona World Race

After arriving in Ushuaia on Wednesday evening Kito de Pavant and Sébastien Audigane and their team completed the full assessment of Groupe Bel’s keel damage The appendage itself and surrounding areas inside the hull are too damaged to allow any safe chance to repair them on site and resume racing.
And so the duo has decided to abandon the Barcelona World Race and officially informed the race management this Friday at 1736hrs UTC.
The Groupe Bel Team is now organizing the return of the IMOCA Open 60 to Europe by cargo ship.
“Our round-the-world ends at the far end of the world”, said De Pavant, “an unfortunate end after two months of racing, three oceans crossed and the rounding of three capes. Stopping the race is obviously as heartbreaking for us sailors, as it is for those who share their adventures every day through what they have written and their pictures. This difficult decision was made with the support of Bel Group, which puts the safety of its men first.

 

Barcelona World Race / Open 60's

Mapfre is now going 50% faster than V3! They've whittled down V3's lead to
390 miles.....

UPDATE-3/14/11: V3 is much faster today but total separation is now down to 368 and going up...

 

Barcelona World Race / --Mirabaud Dismasted

Mirabaud Dismasted!

Currently racing in sixth place Mirabaud was dismasted today shortly after 1600hrs UTC. At the time, the boat was sailing in difficult conditions with very rough seas. Thankfully the crew are unharmed and are currently securing the different sections of mast.
Race Direction of Barcelona World Race in Barcelona were informed of the dismasting of the IMOCA Open 60 Mirabaud at 1646 UTChrs this evening.
The yacht skippered by Dominque Wavre (SUI) and Michèle Paret (FRA) had been racing in difficult conditions since this morning, with strong headwinds and rough seas. During his daily radio transmission at 2pm, Dominique Wavre stated that the wind was strong (but not storm force) and the seas were making life very difficult.
At 1640hrs UTC he informed his shore team of the breakage during a very brief radio transmission made under extremely difficult conditions.

“We are not injured,” he reassured the head of his shore team, Magali Paret, before returning on deck to secure the different sections of the broken spar; at the time of writing this operation is still underway.
Mirabaud’s position was 650 nautical miles east of Argentina and 450 miles north of the Falkland Isles.

First reports are that mast broke above the third set of spreaders. The duo were trying to lower the sails and secure the rig as best as possible.

The weather outlook is unfavourable as the duo were starting to deal with a deep low pressure system expected over the coming hours.
Race Director Denis Horeau, has informed the MRCC (Maritime Rescue and Coordination Center) of the incident and the rescue services are closely following Mirabaud’s situation.

 

Barcelona World Race / Open 60's

from the race site: (Mapfre 456 miles behind)

Status quo

MAPFRE this morning remain in their more headed course, Virbac-Paprec 3 are more lifted and sailing faster on a more direct N’ly route and so we can expect to see their margin grow a little today perhaps. For their passage between about 16 deg S and 13 deg S it looks like MAPFRE will be slower relative to the same stretch for the race leader, but they will be starting to get into the Doldrums proper.
At present the Doldrums do look active and quite complex, with signs that they might move south a little as the SE’ly trade winds fold a little more in the south.

MAPFRE need to keep getting north as quick as possible as the Cabo Frio low moves away and skews the tradew winds more northerly.

The Doldrums are quite active with no wind to the south and the winds are almost due North to the north of the zine so there is quite a large area of no wind, if anything pushing south, nothing in way of wind to push it back north

===============
6:19pm Eastern:

Halt!

And, as predicted, the first sniff of the Doldrums, or rather the decaying trade winds, sees Virbac-Paprec 3 slow to three knots this evening and the balance once again tips back towards the 2004 Olympic champions.
Virbac-Paprec 3 makes under five knots and MAPFRE hold their speeds at over 11 knots for the moment.

Is there are option for Iker Martinez and Xabi Fernandez to do something different?
Iker said today:
“We've spent a few days now working out how to negotiate the area, because it will influence the ideal route further ahead. It's clear that if the distances with the entries behind stick at the current level, the climb up the Atlantic may give us the opportunity to take some risks, so we've also been looking at those possibilities for the past few days too."

“We are preparing as best we can to get through the Doldrums over the next few days and here we are, with light wind, but slowly and surely moving forward, without stopping, which is what matters," added Xabi. “We are preparing as best we can to get through the Doldrums over the next few days."
“We'll see how ‘Virbac Paprec 3’ deals with it over the next two or three days"It's also important to keep the yachts behind us at the distance they are now, and that will give us the peace of mind to finish without having too push too hard.

 

Barcelona World Race / Open 60's

V3 over 200m ahead-both Mapfre and V3 out of the doldrums, V3 .5k faster this morning:

"Only Virbac-Paprec 3 and MAPFRE currently appear to have a straightforward future, sailing upwind towards the Cape Verde islands. Their next hurdle will come as they get ever closer to the North African coastline, but for now, straight line speed is king. Over the course of the morning their pace has been just 0.5* knots different, with Virbac-Paprec 3’s advantage stretching by less than four miles, to 220."

* updated
============
3/23/11 ---from Scuttlebutt:

OPPORTUNITY AHEAD

(March 23, 2011, Day 81) - The tension of looking behind was also evident
for race leaders Virbac Paprec 3 today, as Loick Peyron (FRA) admitted to
"pleading in front of the computer like a muppet!" every time a position
report came in. The French leading duo have added just 17 miles to their
advantage over MAPFRE in the past 24 hours, as Iker Martinez and Xabi
Fernandez (ESP) pile on the pressure.

But when it comes to their planned strategy for shaking off the Spanish
pair around an imminent high pressure system, Peyron would not be drawn,
wryly commenting: "We all know there are two ways to pass a high pressure,
or two sides I should say, and we have to choose one side, in a few days,
but you are not going to know what side we're going to choose, that's for
sure!" -- Event website: http://www.barcelonaworldrace.comRace Tracker: http://tracking.barcelonaworldrace.org

Standings (top 5 of 14 as of 20:01:03)
1. Virbac-Paprec 3, Jean Pierre Dick/Loick Peyron (FRA/FRA), 2089 nm DTF
2. Mapfre, Iker Martinez/Xabi Fernandez (ESP/ESP), 249.8 nm DTL
3. Renault, Pachi Rivero/Antonio Piris (ESP/ESP), 1071.3 nm DTL
4. Estrella Damm Sailing Team,Alex Pella/Pepe Rives (ESP/ESP),1220.8 nm DTL
5. Neutrogena, Boris Herrmann/Ryan Breymaier (GER/USA), 1258.8 nm DTL

Full Rankings: http://www.barcelonaworldrace.org/en/ranking

BACKGROUND: This is the second edition of the non-stop Barcelona World
Race, the only double-handed race around the world. Fourteen teams are
competing on Open 60s which started December 31st and is expected to finish
by late March. The 25,000 nautical mile course is from Barcelona to
Barcelona via three capes: Good Hope, Leeuwin and Horn, Cook Strait,
putting Antarctica to starboard. Race website:
http://www.barcelonaworldrace.org

 

Barcelona World Race / Open 60's

from the race site:

Let’s play!

Loick Peyron and Jean-Pierre Dick (FRA) have never been ones to shy away from a little psychological game-playing, and this morning was no exception as they announced that Virbac-Paprec 3 will be going into ghost mode this morning.


After teasingly explaining in yesterday’s video conference that “We all know there are two ways to pass a high pressure, and we have to choose one side in a few days, but you are not going to know what side we’re going to choose, that’s for sure!” the leaders have ensured that no-one, least of all their nearest rival MAPFRE will be able to see which tactic they opt for as they approach an expanding high pressure system en route to the Canary Islands.

Virbac-Paprec 3 notified Race Direction that they will be in ghost mode from 1000hrs (UTC) this morning, enabling them to conceal their position on the water in all rankings and position reports for 36 hours, reappearing in the results at 2000hrs tomorrow. In an email from the boat they wrote: “We’ve engaged ghost mode as of the next classification because the Atlantic Ocean is such a large playing field… so let's play!”

UPDATE: as of early 3/25/11 both Mapfre and V3 are in ghost mode-no position reports-trying to fake each other out.....

 

Barcelona World Race / Open 60's

V3 is out of ghost mode but her stats mean nothing until Mapfre comes "out" later today.
From a design standpoint it is interesting to note that the two leaders, each using a daggerboard that develops vertical lift along with lateral resistance, are approx. 800 miles ahead of third place...
V3 uses curved lifting foils originally pioneered in multihulls and Mapfre uses angled boards-angled exactly opposite of the angle used in the past: on older boats the boards were angled so that they were more or less vertical when the boat was at "X" angle of heel. On Mapfre, the opposite is the case: the boards are angled a bit more toward the horizontal allowing more vertical lift as the boat heels.

 

Barcelona World Race / Open 60's

from the site: (V3 ahead by 211 miles)

A long beat to Barcelona

Second placed MAPFRE emerged from ghost mode this afternoon having made a net gain of some 33 miles on Barcelona World Race leaders Jean-Pierre Dick and Loïck Peyron.

The French duo are still very much in a controlling position on what promises to be a long windward leg to the Straits of Gibraltar, but it is the Azores high pressure which is still dictating terms to the leaders, forcing them east and on the wind.

As they approach the Canary Islands from the west, even Virbac-Paprec 3’s Loïck Peyron sounded slightly wearied today, hardly inspired by the prospect of six more days at least of windward sailing in moderate breezes, but the duo will be content to have their Spanish adversaries back ‘in vision’ this afternoon.

And while Iker Martinez and Xabi Fernandez may have gained a few miles as the leaders flirted closer to the centre of the prevailing anticyclone, slowed in lighter breezes, now it will be their turn to stretch slightly as they sail east, theoretically into more wind pressure.

Peyron would not be drawn on their best estimate for Gibraltar, but it looks likely for early on 1st April. With just under 1600 miles to go and a VMG of under eight knots, the final days will be a test of patience as much as skill, guile and boat speed.

MAPFRE was making east on a parallel track to Virbac-Paprec 3 this afternoon, taking each wind shift or extra pressure that they could, making at least two or three short tacks over the course of today as they step north then east, their raw boat speed slightly down on Virbac-Paprec 3 sailing in slightly lighter NE’ly trade winds.

UPDATE: 3/27/11 V3 is 242 miles in front and stretching a bit...

 

Barcelona World Race / Open 60's

from the race site: http://www.barcelonaworldrace.org/en/index.php

One Last Blast

Sounding slightly anxious this morning Jean-Pierre Dick admitted that he and Loïck Peyron have one last blast of strong winds and agitated seas to pass through before the challenges of Gibraltar, where the 2007-8 Barcelona World Race winning skipper confirms that he expects to pass during the night of Thursday 31st March to Friday 1st April. He is leaving nothing to chance, and will be remaining extra vigilant through the spell of strong winds which are set to top 40 knots, Virbac-Paprec 3 closing directly towards Essaouira on the Moroccan coast.

Today Dick and Peyron passed under the 1000 miles to the finish mark, but with the boat slamming in the short seas, and the winds set to build, the French duo were in conservation mode, perhaps paying little heed to the fact that their lead to MAPFRE increased to over 310(325.7 dl) miles this afternoon while the Spanish duo Iker Martinez and Xabi Fernandez were slowed as they approached the Canary Islands, setting up to pass to the south of La Palma, but losing speed in the shifty, more unsettled breezes. MAPFRE average this afternoon had dropped to 5.4 knots compared with Virbac-Paprec 3 just under 10 knots.

While Dick and Peyron were getting to grips with the prospect of their final gale, their 24 hours distance record set on January 22nd was ratified today by the WSSRC at 506.33 miles.

Jean-Pierre sounds his note of anxiety and caution:
“We are a bit anxious. We feel a bit vulnerable and the seas let you know that, but these are the dangers of the course, and so we lift the pressure a little and try not to break anything at this stage.”

For both of the leaders the wind prospects still show headwinds all the way through the Straits of Gibraltar, with a possible reprise of the strong Easterly Levante wind which slowed Paprec-Virbac 2 en route to triumph in February 2008.

 

V3

From Scuttlebutt tonight:

The World Sailing Speed Record Council has ratified a new 60 ft monohull
24 hour distance record. The new record, set by co-skippers Jean Pierre
Dick/Loick Peyron (FRA/FRA) on the Open 60 Virbac-Paprec 3 while competing
in the Barcelona World Race on January 21-22, is now 506.333 nm for an
average speed of 21.1 kts. The previous record of 501.3 nm/20.9kts was set
in 2007 by Alex Thompson/Andrew Cape (GBR/GBR) on the Open 60Hugo Boss. -- http://tinyurl.com/WSSRC-032911

 

V3, 296.2 miles ahead, is about to enter the Med. From the race site:

Constant Craving

Upwind, upwind, upwind. That’s the constant, groundhog day, reality for Jean-Pierre Dick and Loïck Peyron on Virbac-Paprec 3 with the prospect of an accelerated Levante, E’ly breeze for their passage of Gibraltar Straits tonight. With the addition of a strong west-east current, wind against current, it is likely to be quite an unpleasant and consistently testing passage for the French duo. Winds could top 30-35 knots at times.

But in fact at, compared to the lottery which the Med can serve up in spring and summer, the duo would probably gladly settle for the penance of a predictable slog where they can direct their efforts to prudence and vigilance rather than, after 89 days at sea, grappling with the unknown and unpredictable.

So as it stands just now Virbac-Paprec 3 will tack again back to the Moroccan coast this afternoon to make sure they are approaching the Strait hard along the coast, rather than finding themselves directly downwind of the entrance. So Virbac-Paprec 3 remain on schedule to be leaving the Strait by around 0300hrs UTC tomorrow morning. Still it looks like they will remain upwind to the latitude of Ibiza and that will be probably Sunday early morning, which keeps the finish line ETA still Monday morning, probably in very light breezes.

 

from the race site:

the Gates of Enlightenment

Across his two combined Barcelona World Races French skipper Jean Pierre Dick has only ever passed the magnificent Pillars of Hercules – the 426 metres Rock of Gibraltar to the north and Morocco’s 851 metre high Jebel Musa to the south, the iconic rock monoliths which guard the narrow gateway between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean in one position. First.

Eighty seven days ago on Monday January 3rd , Dick and Loïck Peyron lead the 14 boat fleet second edition of the Barcelona World Race out into the Atlantic on the blue hulled Virbac-Paprec 3. Tonight the French duo will pass back through the magnificent gates with a comfortable lead. The duo passed out into the Atlantic not knowing what their first circumnavigation together would hold for them, their minds collectively and individually a churning mix of anticipation, focus, uncertainty and anticipation.

Myth has it that the giant Atlas was given the task of supporting the weight of the World at the Pillars of Hercules, it would be fair to say Dick and Peyron will be unburdened by many of their concerns and fears once finally back into the same sea as the finish line.

As they pass back into the Mediterranean tonight, they will have earned many of their answers already, some gained weeks ago, some more recently but Peyron and Dick still have the challenge of a final 550 miles: first and foremost the busy shipping traffic funnelling through the narrow gap and awkward seas in the Strait, then the Alboran Sea and ahead of that, and the as yet undefined but almost certainly fickle breezes between the Balearics and Barcelona.

Virbac-Paprec 3is expected to pass the longitude 5 deg 37 W at around 0300hrs GMT Friday morning, with up to 35 knots of Levante wind and difficult, short, steep choppy seas kicked up by the constant current produced by the Atlantic refilling the evaporating Mediterranean.

If nothing else, the duo have also endured a new upwind marathon since the Equator, Dick confirming today to a Paris Visio-Conference that neither he nor his vastly experience co-skipper have ever spent as long on one upwind stretch. And their final tacks off the Moroccan coast this afternoon are certainly not going to be their last together, with some weather models showing windward sailing all the way to the finish line! Current ETA still has Virbac-Paprec 3 finishing Monday morning.

Dick and Peyron have a lead of 284 miles this afternoon, enough to ensure that they do not need to press the foot unnecessarily hard on the accelerator. MAPFRE’s Iker Martinez said today that they expect to be passing Gibraltar on Saturday with the prospect a reaching and downwind approach.