DAILY LOG
18/11/2011 #28
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D+16 Costa Rica .A letter from int .The final spr to the finish ers! .Dratted rudd W .85’ N 77 48.44’ Position_ 13 30 Speed_ 13.1 nds e
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A letter from Costa Rica
Dear Dominique and Michele, I have arrived in Costa Rica at last and am ready to welcome you over the weekend! When I last saw you, you were bundled up in foul weather gear and fleeces ready to face the ferocious North Atlantic low pressures. When I see you again, you will be in t-shirts, sun burnt and bursting with the many adventures that you have experienced on your trip over. My trip took 24 hours: 13 on a plane, four on a bus and the rest in a number of different airport lounges – ample time to reflect on your 18 or 19day voyage powered by the wind and your own physical strength. Hats off to you both! The time difference with Europe is seven hours, but I don’t dare complain of jet lag when you guys have been running hour-long shifts on the helm because of autopilot and rudder issues. I doubt that the weather here is relevant to your planning,
2 www.dominiquewavre.com
but just in case, last night there was heavy rain inland and today we have had cloud cover and some bright spells, there is not a breath of wind so it is very humid. The bus driver explained to me last night that Costa Rica is “the Switzerland” of Central America. As we passed through kilometre after kilometre of rain forest dodging chickens and wildly driven lorries, I couldn’t help but wonder why he would think such a thing… I can’t tell you a thing about Puerto Limon just yet as it gets dark at 17:30 and the place was shrouded in the black of night by the time I arrived. I can tell you however that the bird song is incredible, no wonder this place is a paradise for birdwatchers. It is 04:00 here now and I am looking forward to discovering a Costa Rican coffee in the morning. Safe sailing until then!
The final sprint to the finish
Mirabaud has been sailing the Caribbean Sea since Wednesday, the breeze is steady, but is forecast to drop out gradually over the next few hours. “We are on a fairly direct course,” said Dominique via satellite phone. “The wind is forecast to drop completely at about 50nm off the coast and from then anything can happen. The boats that reach it
first will slow down and we will catch up. The trick will be to grab the opportunities as they come.” The Paprec Virbac crew holds a big enough lead over the rest of the fleet to sail the last few miles in relative comfort; the same goes for Hugo Boss. In their wake the fleet is fairly bunched up and there is plenty of room for a shake up in the ranking.
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Dratted rudders!
Dominique and Michele continue to take it in turns to helm – it has been almost a week now. It is impossible to use the autopilot in more than 15knots because of rudder damage. “The boat pulls to the left on one tack and to the right on the other,” explained Dominique.
I sleep. The boat is so noisy and we are so tired that it is very easy to sleep through the alarm or a call from on deck. The string system may be basic, but it is fail-safe!”
Michele gives some insight on how they are managing: “We don’t see much of one another other than when we hand over the helm! This morning, Dom called me and by call me, I mean he tweaked the string that is tied to my arm while
IMOCA Ranking 18/11/2011 - 11:00 GMT 1. Virbac Paprec 3 2. Hugo Boss 3. macif
0.00 ARRIVed +69.80 +101.30
... 7. Bureau Vallée 8. Mirabaud
+193.50 +282.60
www.dominiquewavre.com
Mirabaud & Cie, banquiers privés Laurent Koutaïssoff 29, boulevard Georges-Favon 1204 Genève T: +41 58 816 23 90 M: +41 79 786 78 93
MaxComm Communication Bernard Schopfer T: +41 22 735 55 30 M: +41 79 332 11 76 bernard.schopfer@maxcomm.ch
Crédits photos Wavre/Paret DR