All going to plan
Speed, reliability, skipper comfort... so far it’s all going the right way for Sam Davies’ third Vendée Globe programme
‘I spent five days non-stop in full foul- weather gear and my Musto kit was amazing,’ says Sam Davis, when discussing the first five days of the recent Route du Rhum. ‘It was absolutely epic weather, some of the worst conditions my boat has ever faced,’ Davies adds, recalling the storm that crushed part of her hull and knocked her out of the race along with almost half of the fleet. There’s a crucial correlation between comfort and speed, which sailors ignore at their peril. It has ever been thus, but today’s singlehanded ocean racers are on a steeper learning curve than ever as they push the outer limits of physical and mental endurance while battling the violent motion, brutal shock loads, deafening noise and utter fatigue of bashing and slamming a foiling Imoca 60 through heavy weather at full tilt.
The Route de Rhum is a notorious race for gnarly starts – in November the Bay of Biscay often lives up to its evil reputation – and an additional, unusual challenge of this race is the sheer size of the fleet. With 123 yachts jockeying for position on the start line, there’s a lot of close-
70 SEAHORSE
quarters, high-speed manoeuvring – an exhausting business for a solo sailor in a powerful boat that’s been designed and optimised for ocean passage-making rather than short tacking. Getting away cleanly can be quite a challenge.
‘I started in light thermals and got a bit wet,’ she says, ‘then changed into my proper Musto ocean kit – thermal base layer, Frome mid layer, HPX Gore-Tex Pro Series. After that, I couldn’t allow myself to get wet, never going on deck without a dry top and my fleece-lined waterproof hat, affectionately known as the duck hat.’ Long-term comfort is crucial, she explains: ‘On a singlehanded ocean race in a boat like this, you have to wear the same set of clothing for at least the first few days. Your off- watch time can never be more than 15 to 30 minutes so there’s no time to get gear on and off, even to sleep – you just live in a full dry suit. In my case, that’s a lighterweight MPX Gore-Tex Pro Race Dry Smock and heavy-weather HPX Gore-Tex Pro Series Trousers. The French guys are mostly still wearing hoods and collars but they’re starting to see the benefits of the dry top and duck hat.’
Above: it’s not an easy ride on the foredeck of a foiling Imoca. ‘We’re not fully flying yet,’ says Sam Davies, ‘but already the landings are getting pretty
extreme.’ Off-watches don’t happen any more and there’s no time to get in and out of wet weather gear, even to sleep – you just have to live in it until the end. Long-term comfort
is crucial for performance and Davies does not leave her Musto kit
lying around!
The Route du Rhum was the first real test for Davies’s boat, Initiatives- Coeur, following a major refit. The re- engineering of her 10-year-old VPLP design – which began life in 2010 as Michel Desjoyeaux’s Foncia; placed second in the 2012 Vendée Globe as Banque Populaire with Armel Le Cléac’h at the helm; and then came third in the 2016 Vendée as Maître Coq with a modest pair of foils added by Jérémie Beyou – is a potentially pivotal project for the Imoca class. If Initiatives-Coeur can indeed remain competitive against several generations of newer Imocas it could be a game-changer for grand prix ocean racing, lending a new lease of life to other old boats and making the sport more accessible by lowering the cost of entry.
‘My boat is heavier than the newer ones and its centre of gravity is not quite as good,’ she says. ‘Hull shapes have evolved but we should be able to overtake the 2016- generation boats, at least the ones that haven’t been modified in a similar way, which is very exciting.’ The Imoca class has been encouraging, Davies says. ‘They want the boats to last as long as
CURUTCHET/INITIATIVES COEUR
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