Deck shuffle
Harris reflects on risks and rewards in the Transat as penalties overturn IMOCA order.
13 November 2019
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After arriving in the Bay of All Saints on Monday morning to complete his first transatlantic, Britain’s Will Harris, 25, recounted the moment he heard the boat alongside them in the middle of the North Atlantic – Hugo Boss – had hit something and lost their keel.
“I remember when we got the news that Hugo Boss’s keel was hanging by a thread,” Harris, who was co-skipper to Boris Hermann on Malizia II, which finished twelfth after a surging comeback, said. “When you’re that close it makes it feels more real and it makes you understand the risks. Ten miles further east and that could have been us. It was really bad luck for them.”
With the pontoons around the Terminal Turistico Nautico da Bahia in Salvador already full of boats and with so many finishers arriving in the bright sunshine and the tranquil waters of one of the biggest bays in the world, it is to forget how hard this race is, the near misses and those who have not made it here. The 14th edition of the Transat Jacques Vabre Normandie Le Havre has been a lower wind race than in the past, but that does not make everything avoidable.
“As soon as we heard the news we were suddenly more alert. But things like that are impossible to anticipate. Whatever they hit, a partially submerged container…it’s not something you can avoid.
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“The worst-case scenario is that you’re on the bow making a sail change and you go overboard. So, after that you make sure you’re always wearing a life jacket and clipping on. You can be a good sailor but if something like that is going to happen there is not always a lot you can do.”
“So, yes, super happy to finally arrive here in Salvador, long time on the water and a tricky race for us, but it was still really good to come back into the mix towards the Doldrums.”
For the 38-year-old German skipper, Herrmann, who knows Alex Thomson, the skipper of Hugo Boss, well there was sympathy and understanding. All the skippers have different priorities, but getting their boats to the destination is usually number one.
“We sympathise with Alex,” Herrmann said. “What did we did notice is that it was on the Great Circle route from Panama to Gibraltar.
So, there are going to be more boats on the a shipping route, so stuff floating around – like a container – is more likely on a big shipping highway.
“It was good to hear their boat is already on its way back home – via the Cape Verde islands. When we heard the news, we wrote to Alex straight away and he wrote back and sounded positive and relaxed. We can’t do anything about partially submerged objects.”
Thirteen IMOCA have joined the three Multi50 on the pontoons and the other half of the IMOCA fleet will stream in over the next few days in what have been closely fought battles between these boats of different generations stretching back over 20 years. After sailing around 5,000 miles, this has been a finish measured in minutes for all of the boats, with everyone bar the winner Apivia chasing or being chased.
But even on the pontoons the results can change. Bureau Vallée, received a penalty of 1 hour and 30 minutes for breaking an engine seal, and so has been downgraded from eighth to tenth place after apparently winning a hard-fought three-way battle overnight.
Meanwhile, Advens for Cybersecurity, forgot to round the last mark of the race at the entrance to the Bay of All Saints. The international jury will meet on Tuesday to decide the penalty they will receive, but given the very small gap with America’s 11th Hour Racing (less than 15 minutes) in fifth, Thomas Ruyant and Antoine Koch could lose their fourth place.
As a reminder, PRB, 11th Hour Racing and Newrest Art & Fenêtres were also penalised by 1 hour and 30 minutes for breaking engine seals, but had made their penalty turns during the race.
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