This blog shares the passion: what moves or sails, what’s new and what’s great! Let’s embark !
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Gerard Cok selection of the week : Elan 400
Class Ocean50 - Boat for Breizh World Tour 2017-2018
We’re half way to welcome the first sailors at le Sable d’Olonne. After 40 days of saling Armel Le Cléac’h (Banque Populaire) & Francois Gabart (MACIF) are still racing eye-to-eye, the leading duo in the Vendée Globe have begun to extend away again.But not from each other. Armel said he could see Francois, no more than two miles away they passed the Auckland Islands, on the radar overnight. For his part, Gabart sent home a video trying, but not wholly succeeding, to show Le Cléac’h’s sails in the distance. Read More
Boat build by Jean-Pierre Dick. Currently racing in the Vendee Globe on Virbac Paprec 3 !
The ARC is a ‘must do’ for many sailors, and attracts over 200 boats and 1200 people every year to sail 2800 NM across the Atlantic from Gran Canaria to Saint Lucia.
St. Lucia’s Gros and Petit Piton
St. Lucia’s Gros and Petit Piton are perhaps the island nation’s most notorious features. The gorgeous, lush mountains shoot over 700 meters into the sky on either side of Soufriere Bay, where you can visit the lovely Anse Chastenet Beach or the town of Soufriere. Sailboats can anchor or moor in this bay to enjoy an up-close view of the Pitons. Read More
Basically, I’m doing fine, enjoying myself more and more. I think I’m more comfortable now, more reactive when it comes to choosing sails. And if I had known my boat that well from the start, I could have sailed faster at the beginning of the race. But that’s how things are… I’ve been at sea for a month and it’s a special moment. You can feel the rhythm changing and you have to be extremely careful because whether you realise it or not, you are getting tired. And the temperatures have changed, too, they’re getting much colder so you drink less, which makes recovery more difficult. That’s why I eat soup several times a day, as well as energy supplements. And I try to sleep as much as possible. Micro-naps can be very efficient!
Conditions have improved. We now have more stable and stronger winds and it should last for four or five days. The sea is weird, though, the waves just don’t carry you as much as when you’re in the Great South. We’re sailing north to avoid iceberg and as a result, we miss some of the adventure. It’s become such a serious race…
The two leaders have extremely good boats that can truly make a difference in winds like this, that not that strong. Behind, the skippers who were chasing them got stuck near the gates, where there was basically no breeze. You can’t really use the weather when you have geographical constraints and areas you are required to sail in. But the leaders are also very well-prepared and with my boat and my preparation level, there’s no way I can compete with them. So I think it’s better to currently focus on skippers I can actually catch up with, Cali and Javier, while keeping an eye on Tanguy.
