SolOceans

"This week of work on the boat was very beneficial", explained Jean-Baptiste Daramy, Project Manager of the Veolia Oceans^® class "Navtec has been very reactive. Despite the Christmas and New Year celebrations, Navtec USA manufactured two PBO stays in emergency and sent them in express to Navtec Europe who specially opened its workshop to prepare them according to our needs. Eventually, the cause of the breaking of Bostik’s stay is an excess of chafing (repeated rubbing) of the main sail on the stay. With the protection we have now added, we should not have this problem anymore".

"We took advantage of this stop to check the fixation of the rudder on the stern", clarified Charles Caudrelier, Bostik’s skipper, before they left. "The system imagined by the Group Finot-Conq & Associés showed some weaknesses identical to the one encountered by the new three IMOCA 60. Consequently, we have anticipated any damage following Pascal Conq’s advice".

"We also solved two more minor problems ", added Yvan Griboval, CEO of SailingOne and designer of the Veolia Oceans^® one-design. "Jean-Baptiste Daramy’s technical team replaced the fore sail boom and the different pieces holding it on the deck. We have also changed a weak piece from the hydraulic system of the keel which was responsible of an unexplained problem. There is still a random failure of the generator. We have not yet found the reason of this failure, of no consequence for the moment. The course left is long and still allows for some adjustments on the first Veolia Oceans^® one-design".

From now on, Bostik is sailing with her stem heading southward, in conditions getting nicer and nicer, with rising temperature. They left Portugal in a light wind, but quickly sailed closed hauled. During two days, Bostik climbed waves and Charles Caudrelier indicated: "After the bumps, we are now schussing down. We are going to have a wonderful time as Bostik is now at her best and we are now sailing in the condition of a one-handed race. One of us is solo racing. The other one is on the look-out, from the chart-table or from the way-down, in order to intervene in case of a problem. The two other crew members are resting. Every two hours, we reverse the roles. The “solo sailor” becomes the “look-out man” and the “look-out man” becomes the “solo sailor”. Then after four hours, those who were resting becomes on-duty".

"We have decided to do at least one more stop before Wellington", added Yvan Griboval. "On the one side, Erwan Tabarly has just signed with a new sponsor (Athema), for the Figaro Bénéteau’s 2008 season and has to be in France for various PR events taking place in February. On the other side, I want my team to make a complete check-up of the Veolia Oceans^® before Charles Caudrelier enters into the Great South. Lastly, after a 7,000 nautical miles test in real conditions, our boat will be largely validated. We will be able to consider sailing in the Roaring Forties as if it was a “record”, trying to follow the average speed of bigger boats and not only as a 100% safe conveying of the boat. That is why Bostik will stopover in The Cape, in South Africa, around the 20-25^th of January".