It looked like a perfect run: For days, the likeable Kiwi Conrad Coleman and his "Foresight Natural Energy" had been fleeing at top speed from a brutal storm with winds of over 70 knots that threatened to catch up with him. But then he was hit twice: around New Year's Eve, one of his headsails tore in a gust, and now he even has to worry about his rig. Yesterday, the fitting on the outermost forestay at the bow suddenly sheared off, and in the middle of a storm with winds of over 50 to 60 knots, the headsail furled on it began to unroll. His boat was immediately pushed onto its side by the large sail area, and the skipper had to watch helplessly as his boat lay on its side in the waves, fearing that the rig, which was only held up by the two inner forestays, would come down at any minute.
His team reports that he was ready to go out and rig a temporary forestay in his dry suit and lifebelt the whole time. But the conditions on deck were so catastrophic that he couldn't even think about leaving the cockpit. It was only hours later that the wind eased enough for him to rig a temporary twelve-millimetre Dyneema rope. Coleman is now waiting for the storm to overtake him so that he can inspect the damage in calmer conditions. To do this, he has to climb the mast and try to fit a new stay, a dangerous job this deep in the South Pacific. The young skipper is currently drifting with his boat at only about one knot in the storm. Despite various technical setbacks, Coleman has worked his way up to 9th place with his technically far inferior boat and has won many fans with great videos and reports from on board.
Irishman Enda O'Coineen had an even worse experience yesterday in his Open 60 "Kilcullen Voyager", as he reported from on board: "In a heavy squall, my autopilot made a patent gybe and a little later another one back without me being able to get the backstays through in time. That's how the mast came down." He then had to cut the rig free and lower it over the side into the sea so as not to jeopardise his boat. The likeable Irishman, who has won many fans since the start with good-humoured and quirky videos from on board in which he quotes poetry, for example, is understandably devastated. He is now trying to reach New Zealand, but is expected to be hit by the next heavy storm today and tomorrow. With him, eleven skippers have now been cancelled.
Swiss sailor Alan Roura also had to endure some dramatic hours, sailing in 13th place with his "La Fabrique" yesterday evening when he hit flotsam. "I was sailing in 30 knots of wind when suddenly there was a loud bang and the boat came to a halt. I ran outside and could still see the torn off starboard rudder floating away in the stern water. I immediately checked the boat and quickly found myself in ankle-deep water! It quickly started to fill up. I then took the main down and heeled "La Fabrique" to 60 degrees with the J 3 standing back and the keel on the other side." The wind was now blowing at 40 to 45 knots and the swell was 6 metres. At 23 years old, he was the youngest in the field and reacted with astonishing coolness, closing the watertight compartment at the stern and immediately starting to fit the spare rudder and bracket he had fortunately brought with him. He succeeded, the water ingress was stopped, but the situation was still difficult. "The water has caused quite a mess, everything is wet and I no longer have any dry clothes. The on-board computer was under water and is faulty, luckily I have a replacement on board, but my race against the others is over. I need time for repairs so that I can get my boat to Les Sables in one piece. I'm going to head north to find calmer weather."
At the front of the race, Armel Le Cléac'h was able to pull away from Alex Thomson again, he now leads with 151 nautical miles and is travelling slightly faster. The Frenchman will reach the more stable trade winds earlier and should therefore be able to extend his lead even further. However, a small weak wind zone from the St Helena High is currently developing on their route, which could hold them back a little today and tomorrow. Jérémie Beyou has benefited massively from this so far, sailing his "Maitre Coq" to within 540 nautical miles of Thomson's "Hugo Boss" and is currently ten knots faster than the Englishman. However, he is also likely to slow down again in the high-pressure area in front of him over the next few days.
However, Alex Thomson remains within striking distance of "Banque Populaire VIII" with a gap of around half a day. He will now have to hope that his French rival gets stuck in the Doldrums for a few hours to close the gap enough to fight for victory.
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Andreas Fritsch
Editor Travel
