Downwind to Les Sables d'Olonne!

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Homeward bound

Cold north winds descend on race leaders
as they sprint for the finish

February 7, 2001

After just a day in light airs of the North Atlantic High, leading skipper Michael Desjoyeaux grabbed a north-west change, in the wake of a terrific winter front and surfed to a 100 plus mile lead over rival Ellen MacArthur.

The young Brit and her yacht Kingfisher didn't remain in the fickle airs for long and together this dynamic pair are fast reaching, on a heading for Cape Finisterre and the finish beyond, just 1500 miles away.

With the change in wind direction, and the vigorous low (954hPa) driving this frontal system, these skippers will quickly forget the pleasures of balmy tradewinds on their tender cheeks. Out have come the fleece, beanies and gloves as steady 50 knot winds gust into storm-force.

One thing's for sure, beating to windward is a thing of the past. These sailors are headed off the wind and their Open 60s are fully powered-up. Expect big miles and a rapidly looming end to this epic solo challenge..

Steady winds ... and lots of it!

It will now be very hard for the young Brit and her yacht Kingfisher to eat away at Desjoyeaux's lead as they race towards the Spanish Coast.

They are both in the same wind system, and it is big and powerful. Right behind it is another whopper, forming as a New England nor'easter off the coast of Nova Scotia, it promises to push into the existing north-west winds sooner, rather than later. The change will be quick, and will leave little room for tactical maneuvering.

What a legend

But before we go any further, someone buy that girl a beer!

MacArthur is a legend in her own time, showing a grit and determination rarely seen. She refuses to let a punch keep her down. She has shown that spirit since she sought sponsorship for this game - writing some 2000 letters of inquiry and getting just a handful of responses. She never gave up, and here she is - every bit as gifted in the art of ocean racing as French legend Isabelle Autissier, minus the curse of breaking gear.

Uh, did we say minus the curse?

Actually, MacArthur has had remarkable luck not smashing her boat - that closer-than-close iceberg in the South Atlantic is a case in point. But a container in the tradewind belt of the North Atlantic nearly sunk her chances of even finishing this Vendee Globe.

The container smashed her port daggerboard and could have damaged her rudder. But she has soldiered on, removing the damaged board (an epic task) and shifting the starboard board to port - no easy job, considering it weighs more than herself.

Despite her ordeal, she lost just 30 miles to Desjoyeux. At just 24 years of age, we look forward to her company for a long, long time.

Roland Jourdain, meanwhile, is a comfortable third - although he has missed the frontal winds benefiting the race leaders. MarcThiercelin remains in fourth, slowed down through the trades by a boat that does not perform as well upwind.

Meanwhile, Thomas Coville is fuming at his apparent bad luck in failing to escape light airs. He has only just escaped the doldrums and is into light north-east trades.

Fleet positions
February 6, 1200gmt

Into the westerlies: First Desjoyeux then MacArthur grab the tail end of a frontal system, and a guaranteed ride all the way home. Roland Jourdain and Marc Thiercelin away to the west will have to wait in flucky airs of the North Atlantic High until the next front roars through.

Fleet positions
February 5, 1400gmt

The southern edge of a powerful frontal system pushes south into the North Atlantic High, providing an off-wind escape for race leader Michael Desjoyeux while Ellen MacArthur continues to languish in fickle airs. This situation did not last long!

Pictures courtesy of Virtual Spectator.

Five day wind forecast for the North Atlantic
from February 6

Image courtesy of NOAA.

This five day forecast clearly shows the low forming off he US east coast traveling quickly towards Europe, and sweeping south to 30 degrees with its frontal cloud. Now that Desjoyeux and MacArthur are in the westerly winds, they will remain in them all the way to Les Sables d'Olonne. Skippers behind them still have to negotiate a rapidly changing centre to the North Atlantic High before catching a ride on the next front - an inevitable fact given the season!

North Atlantic animated infra-red cloud image
February 5, 1800gmt

Image courtesy of Intellicast.

The North Atlantic High is almost non-existent as powerful fronts sweep across this ocean basin. In fact, Desjoyeux calls it a 'dorsal', or a ridge of high pressure pushing north between two low pressure systems. He and MacArthur have grabbed the tail-end of a front, crossing the Spanish coast in this image, and will ride northwest winds towards Cape Finisterre. How will the next front affect them? Models suggest they will remain on a reach, in strong north west winds of 50 knots and gusting higher.

Images courtesy of the UK Met Office.

It doesn't take a brain in meteorology to see that the double-barreled low at the head of the frontal system now driving Desjoyeux and MacArthur, is awfully big! In fact, its central pressure is just 954 hPA. - scary stuff if you're too close. A previous low dumped plenty of snow on northern Europe and Scotland, and the one now forming over the North American Grand Banks looks like a doozy!

This three day forecast, below, shows the likely pressure path as the double low west of Ireland collides with Europe, and how isobars will react as the American low travels east.

Ellen MacArthur comments:

February 6:
The Azores high pressure system wasn¹t shaped very well, not very stable so it was a bit hard. I tried an option in the East but it hasn¹t worked out well as you can see on the positions this morning. We need to come back home, that¹s simple. The wind is going to turn West then South. There is not a lot to do strategy-wise anymore. The only chance left was the Azores anticyclone. I can¹t see anything else except if Michel has a problem."

February 4:
I've only got one daggerboard and so if I change tack it¹s going to be hard work for me to move it across. Things are stable for the next 24 hours but after that we're going to tack to negotiate our way upwind out of the Azores anticyclone, which is nearby. When something bad happens, it's never a surprise because you are always imagining that much worse could happen. But this time, I think that this really reached the limit. There¹s never a choice but to find a solution to these problems. My boat may not be at 100% but we¹re making good progress nevertheless. For me, in my head, the goal is to cross the finish line. The weather isn't stabilising around the Azores and may be Michel or myself will get blocked so anything could happen. I spent 4 5 hours working on the daggerboard yesterday. There was a cargo ship heading in the same direction too. When you know there's a cargo in your area, you¹re a bit paranoid, as you don't know what direction it might take.

Each time I tried to sleep last night, the wind would change. And when the
wind drops if we're not powered up we smash uncomfortably and slowly in to
the waves - so I definitely can't sleep. When I lie on the chart table seat,
and the boat bangs in to a wave, the bruise on my head hits the seat, so I
wake up. Then I see she's only at 9 knots, so I get up again, take the reef
out...only to then find an hour later the wind has come up and we're on our
ear...up again, reef in....the only time you can sleep is when the boat is
driving properly in to the waves, like now, so, bye....

Michael Desjoyeux comments:

February 6:
It feels so good to be swallowing up the miles back home. This morning there were 120 miles between Ellen and myself, which represents the time difference of the two boats entering the dorsal. The most optimistic ETA would be Friday afternoon, and a more reasonable one would be Saturday during the day. Now it¹s the weather ahead, which I am focused on. The boat¹s going much faster than I thought coming out of this ridge! I am so conscious of not wanting to break anything, which would slow PRB down now. I know that the depression is moving faster than us and we¹ll hitch a ride with the next one which will follow all the way to Les Sables.

Thomas Coville comments:

February 4:
It's at 1°40' South where the wall is thanks to a convergence zone with plenty of storm clouds and squalls. The whole trades system is blocked and not moving south of the Equator. There's been between 0 4 knots of wind for the last 48 hours. We are in the same place where the others reached the Doldrums very South and now it's climbing north with us! Yesterday the system had expanded to 4 degrees North so we have still 4 5 days to go until we escape this zone. It¹s quite hard to endure these conditions and to motivate yourself, to say in your head "I'm coming back, I'm coming back!" and then nature decides to do something else. Day and night we're living through this. You just lose it mentally but you simply continue to work as you would to keep the boat going.