We arrived in La Harve at 0630 on Friday morning at day break , We had a good trip over, mainly up wind with an average wind speed of about 14 knots and managed to get everything on our list ticked off and had no dramas .
We were the 5th boat to arrive but by the end of the day all fourteen Open 60’s were tied up in the race village and the village was officially opened.
It’s a great atmosphere here at the moment and it’s great to see all the boats here all in such good shape, everyone seems to be quite chilled with no one running around doing any major last minute changes.
This weekend was our prologue race.
The race organisers had decided that instead of us racing in the open 60’s for the prologue we would race two up in 7.5m Keel boats inside the harbour.
This made a great arena for the spectators and great fun for us.
The open 60’s and trimaran skippers were split into three groups with six teams in each group.
The plan was that each group would do one race on Saturday and one race on Sunday morning and then the winner of each group will race on Sunday afternoon to decide the overall winner.
We were grouped with
Urgence climatique
BT
Safran
Akena
Group Bell.
We had a great race on Saturday and managed to pull out a second in what we felt was a difficult group. The racing was close and we only just managed to keep hold of second from Safran and BT by a mere boat length due to a good tactical call on the final downwind leg and a good rounding of the mark.
We both had great fun and were well pumped up for Sunday.
Sunday turned out to be a different day, the wind was more than double that of Saturday with gusts over 25 knots which makes keeping these boats that are usually sailed by four very difficult to keep upright. Never the less the race organisers were determined to send us out and we were more than game for what looked like could be good fun.
We jumped into the boat pulled the jib out and then bang we were blown over straight away, so this really was going to be fun! We came back up right and then sailed down towards the start.
We had a good start and there wasn’t much between the front four boats, but as we were sailing towards were the mark that we had to go round, Alex noticed that it was no longer there.
It had detached its self from the sea bed and was being blown past us with pace, everyone else also realised and we all started to head towards the drifting buoy, this resulted in a big pile up witch we managed to bail out of un-scathed. The race then got called short and with the breeze still building the fleet were unable to continue.
All in all it has been a good fun weekend.
Sco
Monday, 2 November 2009
Thursday 29 October 2009
Our final sail
At 0900 tomorrow, Alex and myself will leave our home port of Gosport and head towards the French port of La Havre for the start of the Transat Jacques Vabre - we will also have the company of a French journalist and a photographer.
We have all are spares, sails, food and clothes for the race stowed onboard and the boat is now set up in full race mode. This will be the last opportunity that we will get to sail the boat before the start. We have compiled a list of things that we need to check and manoeuvres that we need to practice before we arrive so it will be busy...
A year has passed but the collision with the French fishing boat out side of the harbour for the start of the Vendee globe is still fresh in our minds and think it will be for a long time. Hence for that reason we both decided that an arrival in daylight would reduce any bad luck .
For me now it’s time to pack my bags and lock up my house, as long as all goes well I won’t be back here until the middle of December.
Thinking about it that means that Alex and myself will spend every day for the next six weeks together, I am sure that this will bring testing and happy times for both of us , but that’s all part of offshore racing.
Ross
At 0900 tomorrow, Alex and myself will leave our home port of Gosport and head towards the French port of La Havre for the start of the Transat Jacques Vabre - we will also have the company of a French journalist and a photographer.
We have all are spares, sails, food and clothes for the race stowed onboard and the boat is now set up in full race mode. This will be the last opportunity that we will get to sail the boat before the start. We have compiled a list of things that we need to check and manoeuvres that we need to practice before we arrive so it will be busy...
A year has passed but the collision with the French fishing boat out side of the harbour for the start of the Vendee globe is still fresh in our minds and think it will be for a long time. Hence for that reason we both decided that an arrival in daylight would reduce any bad luck .
For me now it’s time to pack my bags and lock up my house, as long as all goes well I won’t be back here until the middle of December.
Thinking about it that means that Alex and myself will spend every day for the next six weeks together, I am sure that this will bring testing and happy times for both of us , but that’s all part of offshore racing.
Ross
Saturday, 24 October 2009
23 days to go...
... until race start!
15.10.09
Today was what I call a beach day.
Unfortunately this doesn’t mean that I get to spend the day applying lots of suntan lotion, drinking ice cold drinks whilst lying on the sand.
But it is a day where there is no sailing and the boat is firmly beached and worked on from sun rise to sun set to get all the modifications and repairs done so she can sail first thing on the next day.
We are averaging about three beach days a week at the moment, this will continue until next week to get all the jobs done and then it’s all about getting time on the water from next week until the start.
I also managed to fit in an hour session with my physio, to get some more work on my elbow followed by a hour and a half work out in the gym.
My worry for my elbow has now subsided and both my physio and myself feel like its 95% and will be 100% by the time we start as long as I do my regular stretch’s and gym sessions.
With only just over three weeks until the start I am starting to get very excited about the race.
15.10.09
Today was what I call a beach day.
Unfortunately this doesn’t mean that I get to spend the day applying lots of suntan lotion, drinking ice cold drinks whilst lying on the sand.
But it is a day where there is no sailing and the boat is firmly beached and worked on from sun rise to sun set to get all the modifications and repairs done so she can sail first thing on the next day.
We are averaging about three beach days a week at the moment, this will continue until next week to get all the jobs done and then it’s all about getting time on the water from next week until the start.
I also managed to fit in an hour session with my physio, to get some more work on my elbow followed by a hour and a half work out in the gym.
My worry for my elbow has now subsided and both my physio and myself feel like its 95% and will be 100% by the time we start as long as I do my regular stretch’s and gym sessions.
With only just over three weeks until the start I am starting to get very excited about the race.
Me and the TJV
So finally I have got the opportunity to compete in the Transat Jacque Vabre race.
In 2003 not long after completing the clipper round the world race I went over to the town of La Harve in North France for the weekend to show my support to Alex Thomson who had recently purchased an open60 called 'Sill' and was about to compete in the two-handed Jacque Vabre race from France to Brazil with French sailing legend Rolland Jordan (aka 'Bilo').
At that point I knew very little about the race or the open 60s and the class in which they are governed by IMOCA.
I have to say that after that weekend I was totally blown away by the boats, the skippers and the whole concept of the race, a two-handed blast across the Atlantic on some of the most technical, most powerful boats ever built - and I wanted some of it!
I very clearly remember watching the start gun go off and the boats sail off into the distance and saying to myself “you need to do this race and you need to work your ass off to get to this level.”
For the five years since that weekend, I have been focussing solely on that goal - sailing and working on, and even helping to build - Open 60s and now I have finally got the opportunity to compete in this race. For which I am very grateful.
I am under no illusions that this race will be a big step up for me not to mention the biggest race of my career so far. For that reason I am slightly anxious but I'm mostly excited, and now I can’t help but show that excitement, every time I think about the race I just can’t help smiling.
I am looking forward to racing with Alex for whom I have known for ten years, and feel privileged to be racing on such a great boat that has been such a big part of my life for the past 3 years in particular, and of course flying the flag for Hugo Boss.
In 2003 not long after completing the clipper round the world race I went over to the town of La Harve in North France for the weekend to show my support to Alex Thomson who had recently purchased an open60 called 'Sill' and was about to compete in the two-handed Jacque Vabre race from France to Brazil with French sailing legend Rolland Jordan (aka 'Bilo').
At that point I knew very little about the race or the open 60s and the class in which they are governed by IMOCA.
I have to say that after that weekend I was totally blown away by the boats, the skippers and the whole concept of the race, a two-handed blast across the Atlantic on some of the most technical, most powerful boats ever built - and I wanted some of it!
I very clearly remember watching the start gun go off and the boats sail off into the distance and saying to myself “you need to do this race and you need to work your ass off to get to this level.”
For the five years since that weekend, I have been focussing solely on that goal - sailing and working on, and even helping to build - Open 60s and now I have finally got the opportunity to compete in this race. For which I am very grateful.
I am under no illusions that this race will be a big step up for me not to mention the biggest race of my career so far. For that reason I am slightly anxious but I'm mostly excited, and now I can’t help but show that excitement, every time I think about the race I just can’t help smiling.
I am looking forward to racing with Alex for whom I have known for ten years, and feel privileged to be racing on such a great boat that has been such a big part of my life for the past 3 years in particular, and of course flying the flag for Hugo Boss.
Sunday, 18 October 2009
Hugo Boss announce Alex and Ross to race together
Alex has announced his co skipper for the TJV on the 8 November will be his long time boat captain Ross Daniel. Alex and Ross will take part in this transatlantic race on the current IMOCA 60 HUGO BOSS, which is now up for sale following the purchase of PINDAR last week.
This is the last race that Alex will take part in on his 2007 Finot Conq Open 60, and the first IMOCA offshore race that he and Ross will compete in together. Having sailed and worked together for 8 years, and seen through 2 vendee campaigns, Ross and Alex are in a very good position to push the boat to its maximum potential.
Ross, like Alex, started his career at Clipper, then went onto skipper on their round the world race before venturing into the IMOCA class. Ross also won early accolades in his career being the youngest skipper to win the ARC in 2001 at the age of 21, and at the same time breaking the record for the crossing in 11 days.
Both Ross and Alex will leave Portsmouth on the 28th October to deliver the yacht to Le Havre for the start of the race.
This is the last race that Alex will take part in on his 2007 Finot Conq Open 60, and the first IMOCA offshore race that he and Ross will compete in together. Having sailed and worked together for 8 years, and seen through 2 vendee campaigns, Ross and Alex are in a very good position to push the boat to its maximum potential.
Ross, like Alex, started his career at Clipper, then went onto skipper on their round the world race before venturing into the IMOCA class. Ross also won early accolades in his career being the youngest skipper to win the ARC in 2001 at the age of 21, and at the same time breaking the record for the crossing in 11 days.
Both Ross and Alex will leave Portsmouth on the 28th October to deliver the yacht to Le Havre for the start of the race.
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