A game of cat and mouse towards San Francisco

In the guise of a final sprint, the crew of Gitana 13 are weaving their way towards San Francisco. “We are trying to gain the maximum of northing in order to make headway along the course, but the weather conditions are forcing us to tack” explained Dominic Vittet from the chart table of the 33 metre catamaran.

Trapped between two very different weather situations, Lionel Lemonchois and his men have had no option but to zigzag from one to the other: “To our West? There’s a zone of high pressure synonymous with light winds, whilst to our East a corridor of steadier winds has formed along the coast. The aim over these final 24 hours is going to be to successively play these two phenomena off against each other. The direct course is guiding us northwards, but as soon as the wind eases too much we put in a tack to regain more pressure. Then as soon as the wind fills in again, we make for the edge of the zone of high pressure again… and vice versa” resumed the onboard navigator.

These numerous manœuvres are not hampering the organisation of the watch system aboard Gitana 13 however, the latter a very well oiled machine after over 41 days at sea, as Dominic Vittet confirmed: “We're fully into the rhythm and we are still applying our system of three watches of three crew, which rotate on deck every three hours. Off watch, dedicated to the weather and the optimisation of Gitana 13’s trajectory, I nevertheless take part in the 0900 and 2100 hour watch in order to relieve the crew who are permanently on watch.”

The maxi-catamaran equipped by Baron Benjamin de Rothschild is still expected into San Francisco on Thursday morning, where it will cross the finish line situated just off the infamous prison of Alcatraz.

Final tacks
For the very first time, our bows are pointed towards the finish and the Golden Gate Bridge, which is also our final waypoint. For the very first time we can hope that the distance indicated on our GPS is indeed the actual ground we have left to cover to complete this long loop from New York. The multiple intermediary waypoints, which have punctuated our navigation on this Route de l’Or are now behind us. At 0600 UT, during the watch change under pitch black, starry skies, we were able to read this red number on the cockpit repeater: 360 miles.

The GPS screen at the chart table indicates an even more significant figure: 22.30 hours! The time to cover this distance is constantly updated and demonstrates that we are clear about our ETA and that we should cross the finish line tomorrow morning, Thursday 28th, that is the afternoon UT. However, before we say our final word on this matter and hang up our boots and foulies, this last trajectory also promises to be a little harsh. Currently reaching 18 knots, the NNW'ly wind will fill in over the course of the day to 25/30 knots, with the sea breeze. When you’re sailing close-hauled, as we have been since escaping the Doldrums, that simply means that we’re really going to get slammed around again aboard Gitana 13.

The staysail is in position, ready to be unfurled to replace the solent. The reefing pennant from the first reef is on its winch, ready to be used to reduce the mainsail. As usual, the basic rules are fully respected: at the slightest request from the skipper or the watch leader, the sail area will be able to be reduced in the blink of an eye. Now is not the moment that anything's going to change aboard. With doubtless one or two small tacks to be performed to reposition ourselves, the finish has never seemed so far away, whilst in reality it has never been so close. But until the finish line is crossed…

Until tomorrow
Nicolas Raynaud