TJV Overnight: Hugo Boss damaged, race positions constantly changing

Source: Text taken directly from Transat Jacques Vabre. All Rights Reserved

"Alex Thomson and Ross Daniel suffered damage to the starboard bow of Hugo Boss yesterday evening and have slowed to assess their options. Safran leads with Groupe Bel now up to second.


When lying in fourth place in the Transat Jacques Vabre race from Le Havre to Porto Limon, Costa Rica, the British IMOCA Open 60 Hugo Boss last night reported hitting an unidentified object in the water, damaging the starboard bow of the boat and causing them to take in water. They have slowed the boat right down, have a pump working, are managing the ingress of water.

Alex Thomson, the skipper, has reported that conditions are stable and they are not in any imminent danger. The British pair are in regular contact with TJV Race Director Jean Maurel. They have been in discussion with their shore team, and with a structural engineer from SP before they make any decisions as to what their options are.

Hugo Boss was approximately 400 miles south of the Azores.

Thomson said: "I am gutted, we have done the hard bit, been through the storms and the way ahead was looking very easy. We will monitor the situation overnight and assess in the morning what our options are,"

Further down the race course, abreast of the Canary Islands the three way battle at the front of the fleet continues with Safran still holding the upper hand as the trio negotiate the more tricky downwind conditions at the lower edge of a high pressure before breaking into a more stable SE’ly wind flow.

Safran hold a lead of just less than 34 miles, as the chasing pair squeeze up a little .
Now in third, after erring closer to the centre of the high and having less wind perhaps, Mike Golding Yacht Racing are less than five miles behind Kito de Pavant and Francois Gabart on Groupe Bel.

Golding said this morning that conditions for them remain tricky, quite unstable under spinnaker with a difficult seaway. Trying to keep the boat settled in course with their autopilots remains testing and so they continue to maximize their time spent hand steering.

Due to the Hugo Boss problems Spanish entry 1876 is now up to fourth whilst steady progress up the fleet continues for Michel Desjoyeaux and Jérémie Beyou who are up to seventh now on Foncia, overtaking Dee Caffari and Brian Thompson on Aviva during yesterday evening.

Foncia’s next target is Desjoyeaux’s long time friend and rival Roland Jourdain on Veolia Environnement, just 40 miles ahead, but Veolia Environnement still have some lighter airs to cross while Foncia who were quickest in the fleet this morning, making two knots faster than the leaders."  text copyright website Jacques Vabre.

Fierce Winds Causing Big Problems in the Transat Jacques Vabre

Friday the 13th has seen the boats battered and damaged, and struggling to keep in the race!



Video © Alex Thomson. All Rights Reserved. Via YouTube.


Alex Thomson and Ross Daniel broadcast from HUGO BOSS in the North Atlantic on Day 5 of the Transat Jacques Vabre 209. The boat is currently sailing in 55 knots of breeze (Force 9) and both skippers are in survival mode. The lead boat, BT, has activated her distress beacon this morning, and are out of the race. The rescue operation is in progress.



Video © Ocean-Fanatics. All Rights Reserved. Via YouTube

We also have news from Sam & Sidney on Artemis Ocean Racing. The following information is taken from the Transat Jacques Vabre website:  " Reports from Sam Davies and Sidney Gavignet's Artemis shore team suggest they are weighing up the idea of a pit stop in the Azores.

Sam Davies called the shore team at 1030 GMT this morning to report:
“We have lost a mainsail batten (third down from the top) which flew out of the sail, the third reef pin on the boom has gone and our main Iridium handset is broken, either water-logged or from the shock of the boat pounding through the waves.”
None of the damage is terminal, their press statement says, but the loss of the mainsail batten will compromise their race performance, and with 75% of the race remaining, Davies and Gavignet are said to be...
...."considering a pit stop either at the Azores, which lies 300nm upwind, or Madeira 400nm south-west which is a more comfortable course but further from the optimum race route." "


Official Race Positions - Ranking on 13/11/2009 à 17:00



IMOCA - 14 registered 


Rank Boat / Sailor
1 SAFRAN  Marc Guillemot - Charles Caudrelier Benac
2 MIKE GOLDING YACHT RACING  Mike Golding - Javier Sanso
3 GROUPE BEL  Kito De Pavant - François Gabart
4 HUGO BOSS  Alex Thomson - Ross Daniel
5 VEOLIA ENVIRONNEMENT  Roland Jourdain - Jean Luc Nélias
6 1876   Yves Parlier- Pachi Rivero
7 AVIVA  Dee Caffari - Brian Thompson
8 W HOTELS  Alex Pella - Pepe Ribes
9 FONCIA  Michel Desjoyeaux - Jérémie Beyou
10 AKENA VERANDAS  Arnaud Boissières - Vincent Riou
11 ARTEMIS  Samantha Davies - Sidney Gavignet
12 DCNS  Marc Thiercelin - Christopher Pratt
ABD BRIT AIR  Armel Le Cleac'h - Nicolas Troussel - Retired

NL BT Sébastien Josse - Jean François Cuzon - Position unknown



Classe Multi50 - 6 registered

Rank Boat / Sailor Latitude Longitude Speed Cap Dist. But Dist. 1er

1 REGION AQUITAINE-PORT MEDOC  Lalou Roucayrol - Amaiur Alfaro
2 GUYADER POUR URGENCE CLIMATIQUE  Victorien Erussard - Loic Fecquet
3 PRINCE DE BRETAGNE  Hervé Cleris - Christophe Dietsch
ABD ACTUAL Yves Le Blevec - Jean Le Cam - Retired

NL CRÊPES WHAOU ! Franck Yves Escoffier - Erwan Leroux  - Position unknown

ABD FENETREA-CARDINAL Alain Maignan - Nicole Harel  - Retired

 
The race is constantly changing as the skippers battle the extreme challenge of this harsh weather. We will keep watching the progress of the race. Watch this space...!

 
Race positions and Artemis quotes from the Jacques Vabre website - All Rights Reserved

Transat Jacques Vabre 2009 Race

Image © Costa Rica Découverte. All Rights Reserved


November the 8th marks the start of the 2009 Transat Jacques Vabre. The race takes place every 2 years, since it started in 1993, and was originally designed to follow the traditional trade route of the clippers transporting coffee from Brazil to France. The TJV will be setting off again from Le Havre in the north of France, but this time, is offering the double handed crews a new destination: Puerto Limon in Costa Rica.


There will be two courses, one for the monohulls (Open 60s and Class 40 yachts), and one for the Multihulls (ORMA 60 and Open 50s) The course will represent 4,730 miles for the monohulls and 5,050 for the multihulls. The new course will take the crews across the Caribbean Sea with just one single requirement: for monohulls to leave the Dominican Republic to starboard and for the multihulls to leave the island of Barbados to starboard.

Apart from the fact that this race is the highlight of the IMOCA race calendar, one of the most exciting elements, from a spectator’s point of view, is watching such huge names in the world of ocean racing competing against each other. We are particularly interested in following the Monohull Teams, as there are several British yachtsmen and women involved: Dee Caffari, Samantha Davies, Alex Thomson, Brain Thompson, Ross Daniel,  & Mike Golding. At the Roan Star Sailing Outlet, we are big fans of the IMOCA races. We try to follow as many as possible, and we have come to know many of the European sailors such as Michel Desjoyeaux, Jeremie Beyou, Sebastien Josse, Kito De Pavant,  Roland Jourdain & Guillermo Altadill from following the Istanbul Europa Race, the Rolex Fastnet Race, the Artemis Transat and the Vendee Globe.

List of entered IMOCAs:


Guillermo Altadill (Spain) & Pachi Rivero (Spain) Boat: 1876


Arnaud Boissières (French) & Vincent Riou (French) Boat: Akena Verandas


Samantha Davies (British) & Sidney Gavignet (French) Boat: Artemis Ocean Racing


 Dee Caffari (British) & Brian Thompson (British) Boat: Aviva 


Armel Le Cléac'h (French)  & Nicolas Troussel (French) Boat: Brit Air


 Sébastien Josse (French) & Jean François Cuzon (French) Boat: BT


 Marc Thiercelin (French) & Christopher Pratt (French) Boat: DCNS


Michel Desjoyeaux (French) & Jérémie Beyou (French) Boat: Foncia


Kito de Pavant (French) & François Gabart (French) Boat: Groupe Bel


 Alex Thomson (British) & Ross Daniel (British)Boat: Hugo Boss


Mike Golding (British) Other crew member unknown Boat: Mike Golding Yacht Racing


Marc Guillemot (French) & Charles Caudrelier Benac (French) Boat: Safran


Roland Jourdain (French) & Jean Luc Nélias (French) Boat: Veolia Evironnement


Alex Pella (Spanish) & Pepe Ribes (Spanish) Boat: W Hotels


Transat Jaques Vabre Race We will follow the race on the official website and check Twitter and YouTube for updates. Several of the sailors are on Twitter, and we are hoping that there will be lots of coverage online, as several of the IMOCAs have had onboard cameras during other races this year.

It should be a very exciting race!