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Trans-Atlantic Jacques Vabre coverage Race updates: Home and hosed in Bahia! Trimarans negotiate the doldrums Flying toward the Canary Isles Blocked synoptic pattern preceding the start Preview: We preview the Trans-Atlantic Jacques Vabre, 2001 Weather links: Weather links for the Jacques Vabre Steady winds around the November 24, 2001 Compared to the North Atlantic, weather south of the equator proved remarkably stable for everyone in the Transatlantic Jacques Vabre. The synoptic situation in the South Atlantic was as simple as it ever gets: High pressure dominated the central ocean basin, locked in place by a trough of low pressure over the African Continent and another from Rio south. Circulating counter-clockwise around the high's centre were winds ranging in strength from 10 to 20 knots. For the trimaran fleet heading for Ascension Island, winds were south-east, backing to the east after they rounded the island and backing again to the north-east as they approached Brazil. For the Open 60s and Open 50s, winds were south-east after crossing the doldrums backing to the east then north-east as they approached Bahia - the port of Salvador to the north of Rio. The trough over South America never worried the leading trimaran sailors, but did begin an eastward migration as the Open 60s were finishing and helped to develop windless holes for the Open 50 fleet as they approached the end to the last offshore race of the European sailing season. South Atlantic surface winds This wind chart illustrates how straight-forward the synoptic situation was in the South Atlantic as the trimaran fleet headed towards Brazil after rounding Ascension Island. At the same time the Open 60 fleet had passed through the doldrums - shown at the top of the image as a region well 'bridged' with trade winds from both hemispheres converging cleanly with few windless holes. Upwind to Ascension After leaving the doldrums, the trimaran fleet headed due south for Ascension Island, a waypoint designed to bring the faster multihulls home closer to the Open 60s. This section of the race worked best for those closest to the rhumb line - Groupama and Foncia-Kingfisher - followed by Fujifilm, positioned furthest east and amongst the lightest winds during the doldrums crossing. Typically racing yachts cross the ITCZ about 25-28 degrees west - an area known for producing the best winds between the two hemispheres, but this time the doldrums were well bridged right across the Atlantic. While Fujifilm slowed up more than Belgacom and Bonduelle in the west, Loicke Peyron and Loic Le Mignon benefited by being positioned higher, or further upwind compared to the others. They approached Ascension Island close hauled and avoided losing much distance on unfavourable tacks. Belgacom's Jean Luc Nelias and Michael Desjoyeux , on the pother hand, were faced with a big tack away from the island in order to get upwind far enough to round it - losing valuable time and sailing a greater distance. Problems with the new boat's mainsheet traveler didn't help either, and hindered their trimming ability. While Yvan Bourgonon aboard Nautica described his easterly track through the doldrums as windless in the extreme, the doldrums were in fact co-operative for the Jacques Vabre fleet. Not so pleasant was the upwind pounding on the way to Ascension Island, 800 miles to the south. Three trimarans retired and while Nautica didn't, the older vessel received a structural king-hit, threatening to literally split in two as she approached Brazil. Trimaran routes Image courtesy of Jacques Vabre This image shows the routes taken by the Trimaran fleet from Le Havre to Bahia in the Trans Atlantic Jacques Vabre. The fleet leaders were neck and neck after the doldrums, but soon split and you can see why when you look closely at the routes taken by those in the west. Note the massive tacks which had to be taken by Belgacom and Bonduelle furthest west after crossing the ITCZ. Fujifilm, to the east, remained upwind of the others and made the island without losing so much distance. Fujifilm rounded the island in third behind Groupama and Foncia-Kingfisher. These two leaders, positioned closest to the rhumb line, had the advantage of narrower doldrums and better winds when compared to Fujifilm, while at the same time better upwind positioning compared to Belgacom. The compromise, it appears, paid handsome dividends. Also note how the trimaran fleet began to jibe downwind as they approached Brazil, marking a shift in the wind from east to north-east. Open 60 routes Image courtesy of Jacques Vabre The monohulls stuck close to the rhumb line (shown here as a dotted brown line) during this race, with the exception of some opting to sail west around low pressure near the Canary Islands and others who sailed close to the African coast on their approach to the doldrums. Downwind to Brazil Having rounded Ascension Island, the trimarans experienced an equal downwind heaven to counter that upwind hell. With winds initially from the south-east at 15-20 knots, first Groupama then Foncia-Kingfisher followed by Fujifilm, Bonduelle and Belgacom slackened sheets. Seconds later they were surfing at 23 knots in perfect ocean racing conditions. The only way the leader board would change now was if a boat broke down. Kingfisher-Foncia had held the lead for several days until a broken bowsprit, hydraulic problems and blown out gennaker slowed them up sufficiently for Groupama to steal victory in the final 24 hours of the race. Kingfisher-Foncia's average speed on the official course of 5188.6m was 14.88 knots, but as they sailed a total of 6,096 miles their average speed was 17.48 knots. Comparing the new trimarans Loick Peyron aboard Fujifilm commented on their race: "It's been a good chance for us to compare our performance with Jean Luc Nelias' Belgacom, my assessment is that our 'engines' are the same, our podium finish has been more the result of where we went on the course. We messed up at the Canaries, which lead us to go on the inside track through the Doldrums. When you are behind you change your tactics. The boat is in perfect condition because we broke all we could before we even started this race!" Open 60s If the multihulls had an easy time in the doldrums, the Open 60s literally breezed through. At times the zone was totally bridged with south-east winds and north-east winds converging with hardly any light airs. Of course, light winds did exist, and thunderstorms created locally enhanced pockets of wind in one place, while killing the wind in another. Those who found that wind benefited and those that didn't wallowed. As the Open 60s approached Brazil, that trough of low pressure began its eastward migration, resulting in lighter north-east winds closest to the coast. Gear failure was the only way Roland Jourdain's Sill was going to slow down and in the end, that just didn't happen. Jourdain and co-skipper Gael Le Cleac'h took the lead off the African coast before the doldrums and held it to the end. Race publicist Mary Ambler described Sill's win as a 'flawless race for this Lombard-designed Open 60, after finishing second in the EDS Atlantic Challenge, despite a dismasting, and third in the Vendée Globe'. As a result of his podium finish, Roland Jourdain became the first skipper to win the Transat Jacques Vabre in both monohulls and multihulls, after he co-skippered with Paul Vatine on Région Haute Normandie to victory in 1995. Of course, the real race took place between Englishmen Mike Golding and Mark Hutchinson aboard Ecover and Australian Nick Maloney, with Ellen MacArthur's shore team manager Mark Turner on Casto-Darty-But (formerly Kingfisher, and now named after that company's French interests). "These final miles are going to be hard going mentally," noted Maloney in an email to race headquarters. "There's just 80 to go, but not only do we need to be ready to
take advantage of any slip up by Ecover, we also need to be careful about ex-Gartmore
and Fila who are not so far behind. It will be total concentration to the end,
as ever every fraction of a knot of boatspeed, every wave to surf on, every
windshift to Light winds from the north-east - almost dead astern - were creating problems for the Australian skipper who couldn't use his big spinnaker. Ecover, optimised for downwind sailing, was sliding out ahead of Casto-Darty-But, to ultimately take second place with just half a dozen miles between them. Not bad after 4500 miles of racing in two oceans! Open 50s By the time Englishman Alex Bennett and Australian Paul Larsen approached Bahia, they were less than two days behind the winning Open 60 Sill, after leading their class from the Bay of Biscay. Their boat, One Dream One Mission has a history of proud performance, starting as Aqua Quorum with Pete Goss in the 1996 Vendee Globe, followed by Ellen Macarthur winning the 1998 Route Du Rhum and Emma Richards winning her class in the 2000 solo trans-Atlantic. While older and slower than their nearest rivals Renaud Le Youdec and Jean Bacave aboard Saving, One Dream One Mission had the advantage of weather router Lee Bruce (who also routed for Jean Luc Nelias' Belgacom). Saving had no router to help them avoid windless holes and lost the use of their gennaker halyard after a masthead block broke. © Jamie Brown/weather-wise.com 2001 Finishing positions Open 60 Multihull Rankings (Time reference + difference from leader) 14d 22hrs 11m 35s + 13hrs 08m 10s 1-One Dream : One Mission (Bennett/Larsen) British skipper Ellen MacArthur was crowned FICO-LACOSTE 2001 World Champion,
skippers' category, after a passionately fought race in the Transat Jacques
Vabre 2001 on board trimaran Kingfisher-Foncia with skipper Alain Gautier, in
which they sacrificed their 1st place to Groupama in the last 24hrs due to rig
and technical problems. The FICO-LACOSTE 2001 World Championship is awarded to the best performances
achieved in the following races, recognised by FICO, over a two year period
between 2000 and 2001 and involving five major offshore races : Challenge
Mondial Assistance (multihulls), Europe Trans-Atlantic Jacques Vabre coverage Trimarans through the doldrums November 14: With the trimaran fleet through the doldrums, Ascension Island beckons - an upwind drag-race, where we may see some real differences in speed between those in the east - closest to the rhumb line and upwind from the rest of the fleet - and those in the west. Crossing the Inter tropical convergence zone was standard practice for the Tri fleet, with lightest winds closest to the African coast, and better breeze filling in beyond of 20 degrees west . Ordinarily, yachts cross the zone between 25-28 degrees west, but the trimarans were keen to stay as far east as possible, owing to the Ascension Island race way-point. In this year's Jacques Vabre, Loick Peyron and Loic Le Mignon aboard Fujifilm crossed as close as 18 degrees west - 600 miles closer to the windless coast of Africa and about 540 miles away from Banque Populaire, with Lalou Roucayrol and Yves Parlier aboard, which crossed the doldrums closest to Brazil, about 27 degrees W. What we will see next is a drag race between Fujifilm in the east, Belgacom in the west and Groupama and Foncia in the middle as all four yachts have a similar distance to sail to Ascension Island. Those in the east will have a better windward slant against the prevailing south-east trades, while those in the west will have it on-the-nose, but with better winds in the west immediately south of the doldrums, the extra miles and upwind course may remain at an advantage. Keep tabs on the fleet during the next couple of days! Once the trimarans round Ascension, expect south-east trades to remain moderate and steady as high pressure builds in the wake of retreating low pressure further south. Fine reaching conditions should bring the multihulls home with a smile on their dial! While the doldrums fluctuate all the time, the models seem to show winds bridging the zone for the next few days, with an indication that the trades will bridge this zone best by the time the Open 60s cross, about 28 degrees west. Ascension Island is not a waypoint for the monohulls, so the crossing should be straight-forward - for the doldrums anyway! © Jamie Brown/weather-wise.com 2001
Surface
winds in the doldrums, Image courtesy of NOAA. Who's complaining about the doldrums? This is as good as it gets in this corner of the tropical Atlantic. You can see clearly the wedge-shaped region of light airs off the Guinea coast, just south of 10 degrees N and extending to the west almost to the 25 degree W longitude line. When this surface wind snap-shot was taken there were no tropical waves disturbing - or enhancing - the progress of the trimaran fleet. Those closest to Africa had to work the tropical squall clouds a bit more than those closer to Brazil. Trimaran fleet positions through
the doldrums Image courtesy of Jacques Vabre Race leaders after the doldrums were Fujifilm in the east (7), Belgacom in the west (3) and Groupama (9) and Foncia-Kingfisher (6) in the middle. The red dots mark previous positions every 12 hours and if you study the the route taken by number 6 you can see how frustrating the doldrums can be for racing yachts. Ellen MacArthur aboard Foncia-Kingfisher wrote to race HQ of her irritation in seeing number 5 (Jean le Cam and Jacques Caraes' Bonduelle) gain 100 miles plus in the previous 12 hours while she and Alain Gautier dawdled. But when the race began all over, it was Foncia-Kingfisher about 100 miles to the east, that grabbed the right downdrafts from thunderstorms to sprint ahead of Bonduelle by an equal distance 12 hours later. Trans-Atlantic Jacques Vabre coverage Hectic reaching down the Portuguese coast as low pressure and high pressure create gradient wind, but light winds will span the racecourse north of the Canaries until Friday before gradient winds return November 7, 2001 It has been three days since the 60 foot trimarans began the Jacques Vabre at Le Havre and already the leaders are ahead of the Open 60 monohulls by 150 miles as Groupama sailed past Madeira at noon today. How's that for flying! The figure is impressive enough, but don't forget these butterflies of the sea started a full 24 hours behind the monohulls, albeit in marginally better winds. Moderate breeze from the north-north-east at 10-15 knots and smooth seas propelled the trimarans swiftly out of the channel and into the Bay of Biscay. Conditions were ideal for fast, smooth reaching as a ridge of high pressure filled in from the west and followed the fleet south. Windy Finisterre The synoptic situation which created the ridge also manufactured strong gradient winds to its south. As a result the last 36 hours have been hectic indeed with 40 knots from the north-east off Cape Finisterre and steady 30 knots plus down the Portuguese coast. The situation has meant little sleep as the short-handed crew trim sails and steer constantly to keep things under control. Jean le Cam's Bonduelle clocked 501.8 miles in one 24 hours period averaging between 20 to 25 knots. "The sea-state is horrible, reported Jean's off-sider Jacques Caraes aboard Bonduelle, positioned well west of the rhumb line and within the greatest pressure. "You have to have one hand on the sheets and the other on the helm and stay totally on the ball - so no sleep for either of us last night. We've put all the sails and food - the heavy stuff - towards the back of the boat to lighten the bows. We are now positioning ourselves more in the west to keep up this performance for the next few hours." Skipper Jean-Luc Nelias described life on board Belgacom, equally west of the rhumb line: "The sea was big last night with 40 knots of wind, we've been surfing, trying to control the boat and avoid pitching it into the waves too much." The reason Belgacom wants to stay west is because she hopes to sail around an emerging low pressure cell, south-west of Cape St Vincent, using favourable northerly winds to transport her south and away from windless conditions under the low. In coming days, compare Bonduelle and Belgacom with Yvan Bourgnon and Yvan Ravussin's Nautica, 200 miles to the east. This tri is one of the oldest in the fleet, albeit well maintained, and cannot compete in light airs with the newer boats. Nautica is currently the only tri positioned east of the rhumb line and cannot hope to sail around the low. Models point to winds building along the African coast after Thursday, November 9 while moderate winds will replace light airs west of the Cape Verde islands creating a good bridge through the doldrums. With these winds expected to fill from the east, there may be a shake-up within the fleet leadership. Keep an eye on Nautor and see if her Eastern route pays long-term dividends, or whether Belgacom to the west can glide through light airs quick enough to latch onto building gradient wind later in the week. A similar situation exists for the leaders of the Open 60 monohulls. Keep an eye on Mike golding and Marcus Hutchinson's Ecover and Roland Jourdain and Gael Le Cleach's Sill Plein Fruit - well west in the Open 60 fleet and compare it with Bruno Laurent and Massimo Rufini aboard Fila. positioned furthest east. My bet is Fila will fail badly at first in the looming light airs while those well west could pick up favourable northerlies as low pressure moves east. But if winds fill in from the east after Thursday we may see Fila gain in the long-term. Back of the fleet Not far behind behind the leading 60 footers lie the fleet of Open 50 foot monohulls. The Bay of Biscay was smooth and swift sailing for the larger yachts, although the Open 50s were not able to catch such a ride as the ridge of high pressure dominated the bay. Never-the-less British/Australian duo Alex Bennet and Paul Larsen aboard One Dream One Mission, are only 120 miles north of Fila which crossed the 35th parallel just after midday today. The pair lead by some 50 miles over Saving, sailed by Renaud Le Youdec and Jean Bacave. Now that the leading 50 footers have grabbed gradient winds, those who love this game are putting their hand up high. "Although I consider myself a one-eyed multihull sailor," reported Aussie larrikin Larsen, "I must admit that I'm having a bloody ball!" Towards the doldrums The six-day synoptic forecast is a mixed bag. Very soon the sleepless nights and adrenaline rush will fade to a game of subtle tactics before the fun picks up again. For the next 48 hours expect winds on the rhumb line west of Gibraltar to ease right off as low pressure south-west of Cape St Vincent moves to the west. During this time weak low pressure will persist from Cape Verde to the Caribbean. From Friday November 9 the same mid-Atlantic high which created trade winds off the Portuguese coast will go through another transformation as it moves east into the Bay of Biscay. The European and AVN models show a ridge of high pressure will squeeze southward towards the Cape Verde Islands between low pressure mid-Atlantic and another cell over the Mediterranean. Winds circulating clock-wise around this ridge will create north-east flow in the 20 knot range and may benefit Yvan Bourgnon's trimaran Nautor as winds look like filling first from the east. Fine reaching conditions look like persisting through the weekend before the ridge retreats and high pressure builds over the Cape Verde Islands. Excellent sailing may persist long enough to drive the trimarans through the doldrums. Whether these winds will take the Open 60s through ... we wait and see. Certainly the window will close for the slower Open 50s. All the info at the official site! © Jamie Brown/weather-wise.com 2001 A look at the weather Infra-red and pressure composite Image courtesy of UK Met Bureau. High pressure dominates the mid-Atlantic west of Ireland with a ridge extending east into the Bay of Biscay. Low pressure is squeezing this high on its north-east and south-east flanks, delivering powerful (35 knots plus) gradient winds in these quarters. Simply speaking, the trade winds are unusually far north for this time of year, but this synoptic situation won't last. Surface winds off Cape Finisterre Image courtesy of NOAA. North-east trade winds pump off the Portuguese coast as high pressure Mid Atlantic presses against low pressure forming off Cape St Vincent. 72 hour forecast for November 9, 1200gmt Image courtesy of European Centre for Medium Range weather forecasts The ridge extending south of high pressure west of the Bay of Biscay will create a return to gentle reaching for the all yachts in the Transat-Jacques Vabre as they glide towards the doldrums. Trans-Atlantic Jacques Vabre coverage Calm
start for the Ridge of high pressure to retreat to the west followed by building north-east then north-west winds to provide near-perfect downwind reaching after Ile D'Ouessant November 4, 2001 However, gentle gradient winds force 3-4 will fill in from the east as the nearly stationary high north of the Azores consolidates and the ridge over the English Channel retreats. Winds circulating clock-wise around the high will come first from the north-east then the north and north west providing ideal reaching conditions for these down-wind optimised yachts. It is easy to forget just how swift these Open 60 trimarans and Open 60 and 50 foot monohulls are in moderate winds. As the leading yachts round Cape Finisterre sometime on Monday, November 5, they will have crossed the ridge of high pressure over the Bay of Biscay and should find themselves in strong gradient wind from the north-east for a swift reach down the Portuguese coast. Approaching the Canary Islands, the models are showing low pressure developing over the Canary Islands from Monday, which may increase those gradient winds along the Portuguese coast, but may trap leading yachts in lights airs unless the high continues to move south to its 'normal' position and bring trade winds to their 'normal' slot - between the Canary and Cape Verde Islands. In the week before the start ... In the week leading up to the race, from Le Havre, France to Bahia, Brazil, a blocked high pressure pattern asserted itself, with low pressure over northern Europe and a tropical low mid-Atlantic. Viewed from 20,000 feet, the 500mb jet stream charts showed west to east flow locked in a classic ‘Omega’ shape, indicating stable high pressure underneath the kink in the stream. Earlier predictions showed the blocked pattern subsiding by the time the race began, with the potential for swift west to east passage of storms across the North Atlantic. As race day arrived, however, the models pointing to a renewed blocking pattern with ex-tropical low Lorenzo positioned east of Newfoundland and deepening again to 990hp while high pressure to its east will strengthen to 1039 hp. There will be plenty of wind from southeast between these two systems, but bugger-all in the eastern channel and only light but favourable winds in the Bay of Biscay. What this means for yachts in the Jacques Vabre is a light wind start from Le Havre, with winds easing further overnight and remaining lighter for the passage down channel. There will be plenty of sail changing early on and those with the experience to work the tides flowing around Pointe de Barfleur, Cap de la Hague. However, north-east winds followed by north-west should fill in before the yachts arrive off Ile D'Ouessant , so tidal work may not be so critical here, despite its influence being felt more than 20 miles west. © Jamie Brown/weather-wise.com 2001 Trans-Atlantic Jacques Vabre coverage North Atlantic weather pattern leading up to
the North Atlantic jet stream Classic Omega-shaped blocking patterns don't come any better! This wind pattern mid-way up the troposphere is very stable and can last for days as it migrates slowly to the east. The pattern actually reflects mid-level winds flowing over high pressure in the mid-Atlantic. Working with winds at the surface, these mid-level streams help to slow down the west-to-east passage of weather. Forecast winds at 500mb (20,000
feet) for Nov 5 Image courtesy of European Centre for Medium Range weather forecasts Note the difference in omega shape of the upper level winds in these forecast charts made just 24 hours apart. The earlier forecast did not expect such a powerful blocking pattern to emerge so soon. Hot links for the east Atlantic: Forecast Models:North Atlantic European medium range (6 day or 144 hour) forecast models showing surface pressure, 500mb pressure etc. North-east Atlantic three-day animated pressure forecast generated by the UK model. 24 hour forecast for Wind and direction in both the north and south Atlantic, thanks to the ocean modelling branch of NOAA. (forecasts use the AVN model). Also: 48 hour forecast, 72 hour forecast, 96 hour forecast. 12 hour forecast of Surface pressure for the eastern North Atlantic compliments of Ocean Weather using the AVN model. The Aviation Weather Centre offers these terrific flight level charts SIGWX) which show the position of jet streams over much of the globe (mostly Northern Hemisphere). Because upper level winds, like the jet stream, steer our weather systems, knowing where these winds are and how they are behaving helps us to understand whether systems are moving east to west quickly or whether they will stalling because of a kink in the pipe-line. Forecasts up to 18 hours in advance. Infra-red: The UK's met office
offers terrific weather images and information, starting with this animated
satellite image of the eastern Atlantic and Europe, updated every six
hours. Check out winds in more detail with isobars included, in this
cloud
and pressure composite image. View the east Atlantic in infra-red from the UK's met office. The University of Nottingham offers geo-stationary satellite information showing the east Atlantic and Europe/Africa. Surface winds: Quickscat satellite derived winds for the east
Atlantic: Cape Verde Islands to 5 degrees north Ascension Island and St Helena Wind analysis from the University of Wisconsin showing surface, upper and jet stream - or water vapor - winds. As well, there are charts showing wind shear and upper level divergence. For the arm-chair sailor, the low-mid level infra-red winds tell an awful lot about the sea state where the boats are. Colour-coded arrows report wind strengths and direction at different levels. Remember: Friction at the surface slows the wind down a bit, so it will never be as strong at wave height as it shows on the 900hPa chart. More great reading: Read all about the Jacques Vabre race as well as its history at the official web site. We analyse how the Volvo fleet negotiated the North Atlantic and the Doldrums earlier this autumn. Playstation smashes the trans-Atlantic record by 44 hours by surfing the perfect front! Follow the Challenge Mondial Assistance through the official web site and get a preview of weather conditions on the route. Re-live the solo trans-Atlantic race of June 2000 and the Quebec to St Malo of last August. Catch up on all the past action of the recent Vendee Globe in our race archive. Re-live the action between the world's fastest multihulls in The Race Re-live the 2000 Sydney to Hobart yacht race! Break ice in the Ross Sea! |
