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Tuesday 9th December, Day 10: The South!
The Famous Project CIC's Maxi Trimaran has been making good progress since crossing the equator, riding off Salvador de Bahia a gentle southeasterly trade wind of around 12 knots. This is enough to allow Alexia Barrier, Dee Caffari, Annemieke Bes, Rebecca Gmür Hornell, Deborah Blair, Molly LaPointe, Támara Echegoyen, and Stacey Jackson to sail twice as fast as the wind and start racking up days of over 500 miles in 24 hours. All minds are already focused on the big challenge of the weekend, the highly strategic transition between the current trade wind regime, and the disturbed systems of the South Atlantic and its powerful port winds. The IDEC SPORT Maxi Trimaran will gradually round its course to bypass the Saint Helena High and rush into its southern edge where these powerful winds rage, a highway to South Africa. The challenge will then be to position the giant multihull between high and low pressure systems, at a favorable angle, where the sea is not yet too rough. The entire crew is preparing for this, advised from shore by weather specialist Christian Dumard, who is in regular contact with Alexia and Dee.
Alexia Barrier: On the shoulders of giants
"The North Atlantic was an invigorating warm-up, a real learning process with the sea, teaching us how to adjust this powerful and demanding boat. The first week allowed us to get into the race, understand the language of the boat, and refine our reflexes. I felt like the trimaran was testing us, observing us, and wondering if it could trust us.
We are now starting to get a good feel for the boat, we can gauge its inertia and its ability to accelerate. We are not trying to push it to 100% of its potential, but rather to master all the components of this navigation at 100%. This boat is sound and very forgiving.
The group is managing fatigue well. Each girl has found her place. There is a lot of solidarity. Some girls surprise me with their calmness in all circumstances, others with their technical devotion, like Tamara (Echegoyen), who is constantly looking for the right settings and doesn't give up an inch. She has a perfect feel for the boat. The girls are asserting themselves. This group is wonderful to see because of the diversity of its talents, which is really our strength.
I looked at the reference times at the equator. We clearly don't have the same score as IDEC SPORT, Francis Joyon, Banque Populaire, or Spindrift. But there are also great sailors on this list, such as Kersauzon, the Peyron brothers, Steve Fossett, and Peter Blake, and we are on that list. We have stood on the shoulders of giants to write our story. The equator marks the first chapter of our adventure.
The south will require a great deal of humility and finesse from us. The north got us started, the equator got us into the game, and the south will put us to the test. We're not going to fight the south, but rather work with it."