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Petit Bateau 2004 Leg 2 News
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FALMOUTH - KINSALE - GIJON - CAMARET

27th July 2004

PETIT BATEAU 2004 - SECOND LEG RESULTS AND REPORT

Leg 2 - Kinsale, Ireland -- Gijon, Spain

Leg 2 of the PB2004 Race has been completed. All the finishers are now safe in Gijon, relaxing after a challenging course from Kinsale.

In this, the longest leg of the race, more than 500 nm, the skippers had to deal with persistent calms and the fickle breezes of a strong high pressure zone. Again this was a test of concentration and stamina, with the real risk of missing a useful zephyr during a short nap and a need for extra vigilance in the heavier ship traffic areas in the Western Approaches to the English Channel.

In spite of the calms, many of the yachts averaged close to 5kt, which when you consider that some reported being stopped dead for many hours, shows that they took good advantage of what wind was blowing.

One sailor, Mervyn Wheatley - Tamarind, decided with regret to retire on
the second day out of Kinsale because he was in a large area of no wind and got a forecast predicting these conditions would last and last. Short of motoring to
Gijon there would have been no way to continue. Petit Bateau in the UK are sure he
is very much missed in Gijon.

Stuart MacDonald is now back home in Scotland after a fast passage up the W
coast of Ireland, and following the race from his home. He says he wishes he had been able to do the whole race, and is consoling himself with hard work....

The racers who completed this leg are effectively qualified for the RWYC's
STAR race in 2005, subject to approval by the RWYC STAR Race Committee and normal qualifying requirements for the yachts themselves.

Now follows a fun stopover in the sunny Spanish port of Gijon. Today the
sailors were entertained by the Mayoress of Gijon at a lunchtime reception. This included the impressive spectacle of Jerry Freeman giving a speech of
thanks to the town and the Mayoress. Those who know Jerry will understand the
appeal of this event, and I am sure that the afternoon was merry and bright.

Petit Bateau in the UK received a cheerful text message from Myrna Budel, wife of Nico (Hayai) who had driven from the Netherlands to join the Petit Bateau racers:
"Great time. Spoke to the Mayor, got a kiss, with the reporter.. tomorrow
in the paper, [i will] get one - will see if i can get other copies for the other sailors. weather is sun tan [i am] getting black! i am sitting in a terrace
with Nico sipping beer. Friends are shopping. Will send a picture from the
boys by the mayor tonight."

The Capitainerie also plan to invite the Petit Bateau contingent to an evening
reception before the restart and have been wonderfully helpful in getting the yachts accommodated. Eloina and Caroline, who have arranged everything when approached
by Olivier, have been fantastic.

Effectively these two organisations have been the sponsors of this stopover and Petit Bateau would like to thank them: "Graçias mucho. Recordaremos su amabilidad y ayudaremos. Hemos encontrado a algunos amigos maravillosos en Gijon.."

With the start of Leg 3 planned for Wednesday 28th, the PB skippers will
take advice from the Gijon sailing folk about what time of day to start to take best advantage of local diurnal wind patterns.

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26th July 2004

Leon Bart - Houd Van Hout crossed the finish line at 03:15BST.
Jerry Freeman - Alice's Mirror's finish time is 25th July, 16:26BST.

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26th July 2004 01:00

From Leon Bart - Houd Van Hout:
"ETA 02:00UT, weather now lovely, wind east 3. Did 200 miles today! No wind at all for 36hrs! and fog. Cheers".

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25th July 2004 16:49

More finish times:
Paul Peggs - Audacious 14:23BST
Mary Falk - QII 14:16BST
Pierre-Yves Chatelin - Destination Calais 15:33BST
Jerry Freeman - Alice's Mirror expected soon.
Paul broke his auto pilot's arm, otherwise all well.

Ian Wittevrongle - Jaralella has joined the fleet in Gijon to complete the 3rd and final leg to Camaret.

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25th July 2004 15:26

Finish time for Ronnie Nollet - La Promesse was 20:34BST on the 24th.

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25th July 2004 14:00

"Alice 2hrs to Gijon. Hot n hazy. XX Jerry"

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25th July 2004 13:10

Olivier Desport - Calisson crossed the finish line at 10:50BST.

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25th July 2004 12:00

Report from Michel Kleinjans - Roaring Forty:
Roaring Forty's finish time was 17:51BST on the 24th. Olivier Desport - Calisson has just arrived. Paul Peggs - Audacious has 30 miles to go, Nico Budel - Hayai 65 miles. All OK.

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25th July 2004 10:02

Olivier Desport - Calisson reports he is totally becalmed quite close to the finish. He hopes to get going when a sea breeze develops.

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24th July 16:55

Michel Kleinjans - Roaring Forty is 5 miles from the finish line. He relates how he gained 25 miles on La Promesse, the other Open 40, when Ronny Nollet got trapped in a windless hole. Michel has held that 25 mile lead since the 2nd night.

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24th July 2004 00:00

Michel Kleinjans - Roaring Forty distance to finish 160 miles.

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23rd July 2004 16:00

Mervyn Wheately - Tamarind has confirmed he has retired due to lack of wind.

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23rd July 2004 12:30

Michel Kleinjans - Roaring Forty 47° 07' N 006° 52' W

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22nd July 2004 19:25

Nico Budel - Hayai 49° 24' N 008° 08' W
OK but no wind. Has only travelled 30 miles today. Recently seen Leon Bart - Houd Van Hout, Pierre-Yves Chatelin - Destination Calais and Mary Falk - QII.

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22nd July 2004 06:04

"Gdrunsofar,nowstpd45nmWofSc.4castW3/4.M",  Mervyn Wheatley - Tamarind

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21st July 2004 10:45

From Jerry Freeman - Alice's Mirror, 18-20k SW wind. Alice's Mirror sailing high of the direct course, approx 7k boat speed. Wind expected to moderate. PY and Olivier are sailing higher than the rest.

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21st July 2004 10:30

And then there were 10...

Stuart MacDonald - Red Alert only entered leg 1 and has now departed en route for Largs in Scotland.

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21st July 2004 10:30

Latest update from Paul Peggs - Audacious, shortly after the start of PB2004 Leg 2.

All boats started at 10:00 as planned with no problems at the start. Olivier Desport - Calisson had to drop his mainsail for a time after the start, maybe had some sail damage, but it is hoisted again and he is sailing on. The fleet is beating into 10kt SW under a grey sky. Early placings for the front half of the fleet as at 10:30 on 21st July are:

1 Michel Kleinjans - Roaring Forty
2 Ronny Nollet - La Promesse
3 Leon Bart - Houd van Hout
4 Paul Peggs - Audacious
5 Mary Falk - QII
6 Jerry Freeman - Alice's Mirror

Kinsale Yacht Club have been very helpful and the prizegiving last night went very well and was good fun. Champagne bottle prizes for Leg 1 placed skippers were awarded.

Weather for Leg 2 to Gijon is anticipated to be SSW or SW going lighter with a possibility of calms. At some stage a small low in Biscay should provide easterlies. All well on board Audacious.

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