Fundació Navegació Oceànica Barcelona

The stopover in Funchal has proved intense for the Charente-Maritime Bahia Transat 6,5 sailors. The usual break following the first leg is frequently interrupted by repairs that most sailors are forced to carry out after a usually tough leg. The leg was tough from the outset in the Bay of Biscay and then along the length of the coast of Portugal with big northerly breeze and waves that tend to cause a broad spectrum of damage to rigging and also, particularly over the last ten years to rudders.
The six members of the Mini GAES Solidaria team have suffered a series of mishaps and have become part of these statistics. All of the faults have been resolved over the last 12 days in Funchal under Antón Garrote, Deputy Director of the GAES Solidaria team. Here below is a summary of the damage.

The rudders, an unrelenting battering

The main problem for the whole fleet has been damage to rudders. 20% of the entries reaching the finish of the first leg had sustained damage to the rudder. Among the Spaniards, Anna Corbella was the first to break one of the blades during the first night in the Bay of Biscay. Anna, who had lost her mid spinnaker the night before when it hit the water, suffered to release the broken blasé from the casing and to fit the reserve blade, but she managed it and reached Funchal without further Rudder damage. Anna has fitted a new rudder and has looked over the anchorage and casing with a fine toothcomb.

Gerard Marin suffered a crack in a blade that threatened to worsen for most of the first leg. When the appendage took any pressure the blade flexed dangerously and Marin was forced to reduce his speed on various occasions. Over the past few days he as reinforced the blades, improved the anchorage and stocked a reserve blade on board.

Toni Weijl experienced the most serious rudder problems. He first broke a blade that he was able to replace with a reserve blade, but which meant a long night of work in 20 knots of breeze and big waves that made the whole operation rather tricky.

That was not the end to the sailor’s problems when later on the 6mm in diameter rudder steering rods failed and later still the second rudder blade cracked. The sailor made it to Funchal thanks to the fact that he was able to tack in a way that meant that he was working the good blade. Toni has fitted two new blades, from the same mould as the previous ones, but stronger (these are used by the current Zero) and as fitted 10 mm steering rods.

Juan Carlos’ puncture and skippers Hugo and Joel run in to difficulties

The prize for most spectacular damage sustained, at least in terms of media impact, would have to go to the bow of Juan Carlos Sanchís’ entry. The repairs by the shore team in La Rochelle were perfect and the Spaniard had only to clean the boat and check the state of the laminate coating. In the end Juan Carlos has been granted an eight-hour bonus, which considering the fact that the Spaniard was forced to leave the La Rochelle bay against the current, could have easily been increased to ten hours (see News). In any case, Juan Carlos in satisfied and has put the incident behind him and is focussed on steaming forward in the second leg.

Hugo Ramón and Joel Miró have both had autopilot problems. Hugo has also broken the tiller as the sheet got tangled up in it in a gybe. He was able to carry out repairs with some replacement battens. Joel also had some problems with the methanol battery that gave up and meant the sailor had to spend many hours at the helm. This was actually the reason why the sailor chose to move closer to the Portuguese coast, looking for less wind when we all thought that it was a tactical moved based on the forecast.

Conclusions, reflections and tests

If Juan Carlos can feel happy with his boat’s performance – the remarkable climb in positions reveals why, then Anna can feel even more satisfied with her Ulisees. She has demonstrated that the secret to a good race lies in a methodical approach to preparation with time. The first Spanish woman to take part in a Mini Transat, Anna has been sailing a 2002 design and overtaking new generation entries in conditions that didn’t look favourable for the boat. According to Anna the decision to reduce the mainsail sail area from 34m2 to 29m2 was decisive: the boat has stabilised and has been more manageable with big breeze.

Gerard and Toni weren’t lucky enough to enjoy the kind of time Anna has had to prepare the boat, and it shows. Gerard reached Funchal concerned about the boat’s performance in big wind; the bow stuck to the water too much, reducing speed and creating dangerous situations for the rigging. Following some tests in Funchal the Catalan sailor decided to move back the mast to stabilise the boat.

3,100 miles ahead for the boats will be a test for all of them. This is the exciting technical side of offshore sailing.

Santi Serrat
sserrat@fnob.org