As the wind is
gradually getting weaker in front of Artemis’ bow, the three top crews have
gone into “stealth play” for their final approach - as foreseen by
many observers including Sidney Gavignet, the light and fluky conditions close
to the finish line certainly spice things up a bit.
With Foncia
taking 4th place last night, six boats remain in the race yet today only two
were visible this afternoon - 1876 and Artemis - as Akena, Aviva, W Hotels and
Veolia have gone into hiding, each of them hoping to pull a clean tactical
trick in the privacy of the “stealth
mode”.
Sam and
Sidney, who displayed the best speed of the fleet this morning, will inevitably
be slowing down as they get closer to the finish, since the unstable and
weak winds are expected to prevail on the zone for the next 48 hours, before
the return of a healthy north-east breeze. 
The demise of “William the
spinnaker”, as chronicled in Sam’s latest email will not help either, and the crew are still struggling to
keep their energy consumption to the lowest level - hence their relative
silence!
The latest
routing software predictions indicate that Artemis should cross the finish line
tomorrow (Friday) evening, between 21:00 and midnight GMT.
Email update from Sam :
Hello
everyone!
A bit of a
late blog today as yet again, the mighty Artemis has been keeping us rather
busy.
Last night,
just as it was getting dark, there was a crack, and our huge spinnaker, William
(after William Wallace - Braveheart,) went tumbling into the Caribbean. The
connection between the top of the spinnaker and the halyard had chaffed through
and let go, and William was now acting as a handbrake for the ten tons of
Artemis that were still trying to go forwards pushed by the 25 knots of wind in
the mainsail.
Before we
could do anything, there was a ripping noise as William started to shred. We
acted carefully - the last thing we wanted wasWilliam
wrapped around the keel and rudders - so we gybed (a bit of a kamikaze
manoeuvre in this situation) and William was now to windward and drifting out
the side of the boat.
Then the hard
work of hauling in the 470 square metres of wet and soggy tissue began. The
trouble is that as soon as it is out of the water, the wind catches it and it
takes off. At one point I had a scary moment as the cloth whipped around my arm
and then filled, tightening the hitch on my arm - I had images of a damaged arm
and an involuntary flight for a few seconds before I managed to tear my arm
free (leaving a nice bruise as a war wound.)
After a few
minutes of wrestling, the remains of William were safely in the forepeak along
with half of the Caribbean.
We quickly put
up the other (smaller) spinnaker and got going!
A tough night
at the office. We now have one less spinnaker. Artemis is a heavy boat and we
keep learning that this puts more wear and tear on the gear. We could have
avoided breaking William if we had put a stronger lashing at the top, and so we
are cross with ourselves for this mistake.
Sometimes you
have to learn by your mistakes. It makes you stronger.
Luckily, I
think William will live to see another few surfs as he should be repairable (in
a sail loft, not on board.)
So, that is
the news of the day from Artemis. Otherwise all is well and we are enjoying the
surfing through the Caribbean. No sign of the Black Pearl yet.
My other loss
was my toothbrush - lost overboard (boing, boing, clonk, splosh as it bounced
off the two guardwires and the deck before making break for freedom and dental
hygiene for some lucky reef shark.) It was a disappointing moment to think of
several days without brushing teeth, but luckily I had tucked away a spare -
phew!
Sam x
