Oncoming storm set to batter race stars (From Daily Echo)

Oncoming storm set to batter race stars

10:54am Thursday 12th November 2009

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HAMPSHIRE’S ocean racers were last night battening down the hatches in preparation for horrendous storm conditions four days into a 5,000-mile sprint across the Atlantic.

Mike Golding, Dee Caffari, Brian Thompson, Sam Davies and Alex Thomson were all preparing for winds of up to 70 knots and ten-metre high waves as they raced straight towards an oncoming storm.

The sailors were among 14 two-man crews which set off from Le Havre in France on Sunday bound for Puerto Limon in Costa Rica in the biennial Transat Jacques Vabre race.

Caffari, from Titchfield, who has teamed up with Thompson, from the Isle of Wight, described being pounded by “walls of water” as they clung on to fifth position.

Speaking from her 60ft yacht Aviva she said: “The sail changes have been plentiful and we are close to being as small as we dare, three reefs in the mainsail and the staysail up.

“Walls of water are crashing over the boat that feel icy to exposed hands. The most wind we have seen has been 40 knots in a squall but the wind is pretty steady at 25 to 30 knots.”

Hamble’s Sam Davies, sailing with co-skipper Sidney Gavignet, sustained minor damage to their yacht Artemis Ocean Racing.

She said: “Last night the boat was banging pretty hard, after each wave. There was ||one bang probably a little bigger that the other ones. After the bang I saw the runner was loose, I looked at the mast to see if something was broken up there but nothing was broken.

“But I saw the main was eased as well and I realised that the reef line had broken.”

The leading pack of yachts has now split into two, with BT leading a northerly group, with Thomson’s Hugo Boss in seventh.

Thomson, from Gosport, said: “Conditions out here are horrendous. It really is just about survival.”

Race favourites Foncia, sailed by Michel Desjoyeaux and Jeremie Beyoux, slipped from the lead to 13th position, taking an extreme southerly route.

Davies and Gavignet were last night ranked 11th after also opting for a southerly approach.

Veteran racer Mike Golding was in fourth.

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