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Swedish and US yachts do battle over Stockholm stage

Sweden's two Ericsson yachts were neck and neck with US entry Puma Ocean Racing Monday as the boats sprinted for Stockholm on the ninth stage of the Volvo race around the world.

Published: 15 June 2009 17:44 CEST
Swedish and US yachts do battle over Stockholm stage

Overall leader Ericsson 4 could be proclaimed the winner of 2009-2010 edition of the event when the yachts reach the Swedish capital after the short 525-mile course from the port of Marstrand.

Ericsson 4 has a 15-point advantage over Puma, with a maximum of 20 points remaining to be won for any of the boats in the two last stages and one in-port race.

Spanish yacht Telefonica Blue, third overall behind Puma, remained in

Marstrand undergoing repairs on Monday after hitting a rock at the start of the stage on Sunday.

Organisers said it was expected to resume the event on Wednesday or Thursday.

Only eight nautical miles separated the six other yachts, which headed up the southwest coast of Sweden and are expected in Stockholm late Monday or early Tuesday.

The Volvo race, which began in the Spanish Mediterranean port of Alicante October, is to conclude in Saint Petersburg, Russia, late this month after negotiating 10 stages over 37,000 nautical miles.

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RACE

Gabart, the record breaking French sailor in a hurry

A sailing prodigy, Frenchman Francois Gabart on Sunday crushed the world record for the fastest non-stop solo navigation of the world on his first attempt.

Published: 17 December 2017 11:43 CET
Gabart, the record breaking French sailor in a hurry
Sailing prodigy Francois Gabart celebrating in Brest. Photo: Damien Meyer/AFP

Driven by a desire to discover the world at full speed, the sailor completed his tour in 42 days, 16 hours, 40 minutes and 35 seconds.

“The job of a sailor is nothing more than managing problems and dealing with difficulties,” said Gabart, an engineer by trade.

The winner of the 2013 Vendee Globe and 2014 Route de Rhum yacht races, the 34-year-old father-of-two has been sailing for 20 years.

Trailblazer

“He likes to be a pioneer, he is not an upstart but someone in a hurry to discover things, to demonstrate things to himself and others,” said Christian Le Pape, who has known Gabart for 10 years.

“I wouldn't classify him as a genius in terms of ease at the helm but he has an ability to process information that is out of the ordinary like Michel Desjoyeaux or Armel Le Cleach.”

Desjoyeaux, a double winner of the Vendee Globe who mentored the engineer, said Gabart was given the the name “Excel spreadsheet” by his team.

“At the arrival of the Vendee Globe, we found 74 markings on the boat, but the race had taken 78 days,” said Desjoyeaux.

“In fact, he had noted the number of times he had brushed his teeth. He's not crazy but very rational.”

Weather and poetry

Gabart comfortably recognises his square side.

“I'm pretty reasonable and rational,” said Gabart, the son of a dentist and brother to two sisters.

“I've been like that since I was 10-years-old!

“My parents tell me that when I was a kid, I was very good at certain things.”

A sailor who doesn't like to swim, Gabart first dreamed of being a metrologist as a child.

“At 10 I was reading books about whether and knew things that no one understood at that age,” he said.

“I'm passionate about the weather.

“We can be wrong but we can almost see in to the future, I find it extraordinary to be able to know what will happen.

“There is a poetic side too, to watch a cloud is beautiful.”

By Sabine Colpart