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Petit Bateau 2004 Leg 1 News
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FALMOUTH - KINSALE - GIJON - CAMARET

21st July 2004 IRC Results

20th July 2004  Jerry Freeman - Alice's Mirror

"PB Skippers enjoyed a superb meal at Maxis, restart 10:00 Wed"

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19th July 2004

PETIT BATEAU 2004 – FIRST LEG RESULTS AND REPORT

The Petit Bateau 2004 singlehanded race is underway and the first leg from Falmouth to Kinsale has been completed.

Conditions were mainly W and NW winds, at times frustratingly light, with an annoying cyclonic area which must have given some skippers a dizzying succession of course and sail change decisions.

We have received reports from the skippers of being in sight of their closest rivals, overtaking and being overtaken repeatedly, and several were only able to snatch a brief few minutes of sleep on this leg. This has been a test of ingenuity and concentration for all the sailors.

At the start (09:00 on Saturday 17th July 2004) there were stronger WSW breezes and moderate visibility in Falmouth Bay. The Silver Crescent - Roger Graffy's elegant 'gentleman's yacht' acting as Mylor YC committee boat - laid a line in the area south of Pendennis Point but within the bay. Two yacht club RIBs ensured that the start area was clear in this popular racing area, and the D's (Donald and Diana) yellow RIB buzzed about capturing video footage and giving to each boat a parting gift of the local speciality of Falmouth, saffron cake.

The favoured end of the line was the committee boat end and the spectators on board observed the close quarters jockeying for a good start, all the more impressive when done by single handers. The start was a beat to pass east of the Manacles cardinal marker and then on to the Lizard, in gusty SW and W wind.

The two Open 40s, La Promesse- Ronny Nollet and Roaring Forty - Michel Kleinjans set up an early lead with Leon Bart with his trimaran Houd van Hout and Mary Falk in Open 35 QII in hot pursuit, grouped near the JODs Audacious and Calissa skippered by Paul Peggs and Olivier Desport, and the Figaro Destination Calais - Pierre-Yves Chatelin. Jerry Freeman in Alices Mirror, Nico Budel in First 40.7 Hayai, Stuart MacDonald in Red Alert and Mervyn Wheatley with Tamarind were all trying for height, to pass reasonably close to Manacles buoy. As the weather front passed the wind veered and went lighter, so that the fleet slowed and some reaching sails were unfurled.

South of the Manacles, as the wind dropped the fleet spread out.

During Saturday and Sunday some of the sailors were able to give interim placings and position reports. Finish times in Kinsale have also been reported.

The last confirmed results are:

 

It looks as though those with a better upwind ability have been doing better over their close rivals. All that could change on the leg to Gijon which may experience the NW winds of the Azores High, which it is hoped may speed the fleet from SW Ireland across the Bay of Biscay to northern Spain.

Now follow a couple of days of R&R in beautiful Kinsale where Kinsale Yacht Club are kindly welcoming the PB skippers to their club, and Kinsale Marina are helpfully shoehorning the PB boats into a marina already full of Irish Cruising Club visitors.

The restart is planned for Wednesday 21st July.

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19 July 2004 13:09

All boats finished. Very provisional results for the first few boats:

1. Michel Kleinjans - Roaring Forty - 16:27
2. Ronny Nollet - La Promesse
3. Pierre-Yves Chatelin - Destination Calais - 19:38:05
4. Paul Peggs - Audacious - 19:39:05
5. Olivier Desport - Calisson - 19:56
6. Mary Falk - QII - 19:57
7. Nico Budel - Hayai - 20:00:10

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18 July 2004 22:41 Jerry Freeman - Alice's Mirror

"Arr Kinsale. All well."

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18 July 2004 18:11

Michel Kleinjans - Roaring Forty has finished the leg 1 in first position overall.

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18 July 2004 13:41

Nico Budel - Hayai at 11:00 50° 55'.98N 006° 53'.36W
Stuart MacDonald - Red Alert at 13:00 50° 47'N 006° 52'W

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18 July 2004 08:45

Ronny Nollet - La Promesse at 08:00 51° 30'N 006° 55'W
Michel Kleinjans - Roaring Forty 51° 15'N 007° 24'W

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17 July 2004 Jerry Freeman - Alice's Mirror

"140 to go. Fleet well spread. Calm at Lizard. Fog Gone. Jerry"

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17 July 2004 18:30

Paul Peggs reports that the Open 40s are now out of sight of him. In Sunny evening conditions the order for the chasing group is Olivier Desport - Calisson, Mary Falk - QII, Pierre-Yves Chatelin - Destination Calais, Paul Peggs - Audacious. Paul believes he can see Nico Budel - Hayai and thinks Leon Bart - Houd Van Hout should be near Nico (based on their earlier positions).

Nico reports that his position is 49° 58'N 005° 47'W and he has Stuart MacDonald - Red Alert in sight.

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17 July 16:30

Just South of the Ruddlestone Mary Falk has regained a lead over Olivier Desport - Calisson

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17 July 2004 16:00

Paul Peggs reports the Open 40s are first and second, cannot tell who is leading. Following the Open40s are Mary Falk - QII, Paul Peggs - Audacious. Pierre-Yves Chatelin - Destination Calais. Following this bunch are Jerry Freeman - Alice's Mirror and Stuart MacDonald - Red Alert. Leon Bart - Houd Van Hout is not in sight.

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17 July 2004 Mylor AM

All eleven Petit Bateau boats have left OK and were last seen headed for the Lizard, the most southerly point on the British mainland. The start was well managed, Mylor Yacht Club have been excellent, many thanks to them for their wonderful hospitality. A cold front has just about cleared the area, winds are expected to decrease to 10knots from the NW this afternoon, slowly backing to the W, and perhaps increasing for a time this evening. Our best wishes go to all the solo sailors.

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16 July 2004 Mylor

On the last day before the start of Petit Bateau 2004 all starters have assembled in Mylor, Cornwall. Early tomorrow morning the skippers will cast off and motor to the start zone South of Pendennis Point in Falmouth Bay where the start line will be laid, and Mylor Yacht Club committee boat and safety RIBs will see the PB fleet off on the first leg to Kinsale at 0900h.

The fleet consists of 11 yachts sailed by solo skippers from France, Belgium, Holland and the UK. The yachts are a mixture of outright racing designs, souped-up club racers, and blue-water cruisers set up for single handing. The weather they can expect on the voyage to Camaret in Brittany, via Kinsale in Ireland and Gijon in Spain could include anything from calms to gales, and the boats are equipped with safety in mind as well as speed.

The hottest competition will be between boats which are most similar. Two Open40 boats, La Promesse and Roaring Forty, skippered by Belgians Ronny Nollet and Michel Kleinjans will be vying for the lead. Ronny and Michel both have raced solo across the Atlantic and their boats are built to the same box rule but are very different, so it will be very interesting to see the result between those two. A Dutch trimaran Houd van Hout sailed by Leon Bart will be joining in that rivalry of faster boats. Margate man Paul Peggs in his modified JOD 35 Audacious will be hoping to use his water ballast system to gain upwind advantage over Frenchman Olivier Desport whose JOD 35 Calisson is the standard unballasted format. Norwich-based Jerry Freeman in the famous Open 30 Alice’s Mirror will be racing the JODs, Mary Falk from Lymington in the remarkable Open 35 QII and the French Figaro Defi Voile Calais of Pierre-Yves Chatelin, also the redoubtable Nico Budel from Holland in the Hayai and from Largs comes Stuart MacDonald in the distinctive red 34 footer Red Alert, the same boat that he sailed across the Atlantic solo in 2000. Devon’s Mervyn Wheatley, who sailed that same Transat race in his Formosa 42 Tamarind, will be cracking on to reach Kinsale in good time to celebrate on Monday.

The weather forecast for the start and first leg to Kinsale is SW or W Force 3 or 4 so boats with good windward capability will gain an early advantage as the fleet heads SSW to round the Lizard and Land’s End, however those who do better in freer wind angles will be looking to claim back those miles once they are clear of the Cornwall coast and can set a course NW for Kinsale. On reaching Kinsale the skippers have a short stopover to recuperate before the longest leg across Biscay to Gijon 500 miles away.

Petit Bateau 2004 was dreamt up by the Petit Bateau Shorthanded Sailing Association, a group of solo and shorthanded sailors initially mostly in UK, Holland and Belgium, but now numbering more than a hundred, from fifteen countries. A group of members based in and near the UK wanted to fill a gap in the solo race calendar left by the move of the Royal Western Yacht Club’s Transatlantic race for smaller boats from 2004 to 2005, and so organised the race themselves – all done for sailors by sailors. However we have had a lot of kind help and support from established yacht clubs and some welcome event sponsorship, with prizes and race shirts from Quantum Sails, Hyde Sails and EuroNav.

Our time in Mylor has been a delight with the help of the Mylor Yacht Club who on Thursday organised a social evening where we met some of the club members, and Mylor Yacht Harbour who have been very accommodating and helped the sailors sort out a few final preparations. The Royal Western Yacht Club today hosted a buffet lunch and drinks reception to greet potential entrants for their Transatlantic race in 2005. Everyone here in Mylor has been the soul of hospitality and I’m sure many of the skippers will return in future years to this beautiful spot. Petit Bateau would like to thank all the people who have been so welcoming.

It only remains to wish for fair winds for all the PB2004 skippers.

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