Vendée Globe - Week 4: Avoiding the traps of the Indian Ocean
In conditions that were almost as mild as you'd expect, the Indian Ocean didn't play nicely with Clarisse Crémer. As the devil is in the detail, it was a devious Indian Ocean that dealt the skipper of L'Occitane en Provence its most vile blows: technical problems, lack of sleep, capricious weather and an uncertain schedule. Enough to test the mind and attack morale? Not at all! Clarisse remains on the attack, and is about to catch her first southern low, which may finally allow her to go straight ahead!
When the Indian Ocean plays games with you..
Don't be fooled by its majestic colors and incredible skies, or by the warm welcome of the albatrosses: the magic of the Indian Ocean, nurtured by the long wait to find it, can sometimes be deceptive when you enter it. Because even without Dantean conditions, without even having to face the first storms, the “sailors' hell” lives up to its reputation.
This is what Clarisse Crémer has been experiencing since rounding the Cape of Good Hope on Monday December 2 at 17h16'56'', then the Agulhas Cape a few hours later, the point of entry into this second ocean to be crossed, after 22 days 5 hours 14 minutes and 56 seconds hurtling down the Atlantic, improving on her performance of 4 years ago by more than 3 days. But this year, there was no depression to contend with as soon as they passed the South African longitude. No, for the small group of mercenaries battling for the Top 10, the entry into the Indian Ocean was almost seamless. It was enough to test Clarisse's patience, as she was forced to wait in transition zones with very unstable winds, increasingly disrupted by the Agulhas current, which was well and truly on her way. These conditions were a real blow to morale, as we had to watch our little friends slip away, and remain constantly vigilant for any change in the wind. Add to this a sea that's already very rough, in which resting is becoming an increasingly complicated exercise, and you'll discover the malice of the Indian Ocean, which definitely has more than one trick up its sleeve to destabilize sailors.
“That's it, I'm in the Indian Ocean, we've been welcomed! Just as I remembered, I even saw an albatross! It wasn't too violent, but the seas were rough and the wind very unstable, which prevented me from maintaining good average speeds. This Indian Ocean is clearly not like in the books, to take a front and go with it, straight on!”
Head down, waiting for the front
Stricken but not defeated, Clarisse hangs on and doesn't give up on her rivals, determined to stay in her pack and not see the group behind her catch up. Fatigue and the technical problems that are beginning to show after almost a month at sea, between a minor electrical failure and the usual wear and tear, are not going to change a thing. Nor will the failure of the support on her starboard foil jack, just as she was about to re-accelerate, which now prevents her from adjusting its inclination as she would like. This Friday, Clarisse is in 12th place and continues to move at speeds that defy reason. “I'd love to stay with my group, I know it's coming back from behind, but I keep fighting and doing what I have to do! I have my little moments of fatigue, but overall I'm fine, I know myself better and I'm better at managing myself. I'm trying to keep calm in the face of instability, although it's hard on my morale and impossible to rest in such shifty winds, but I manage to project myself as soon as it's a bit more balanced.”
While the Indian Ocean “isn't looking too good for record-breaking crossings”, Clarisse is keeping her personal goals in mind, and is delighted to have found the right balance between performance and safety as she enters the thick of things. “We're expecting it to be a bit unpleasant when the low-pressure system that's chasing us passes over us, level with the ice zone, but it shouldn't be too deep and we won't have to be on the safe side either,” she explains, committed to a southerly course along which temperatures are beginning to drop.
When magic is where you want it to be
It's the perfect time to refuel, grapefruit in hand, body rested after “two huge hour-and-a-half naps” and well equipped to endure the southern elements. And she's enjoying the poetry of the moment, heading off in the direction of the Crozet Islands and Île aux Cochons (Pig Island), which she may well catch a glimpse of in the evening light, accompanied by a rookery of albatrosses, their hump on their foreheads: “I just love the albatrosses head. They have a sort of prominent forehead (or is it an eyebrow?) that makes them look like they're judging you. It's an uncomfortable look and, sorry for the anthropomorphism, a presence that makes you feel like you're passing someone in the street. Like someone you haven't seen for a long time, you're not sure you recognize, and you'd look at them curiously, hoping they'd make the first move if they ever really knew you. I don't know if I knew this albatross before (who knows? What's the life expectancy of an albatross anyway? Do they have several Vendée Globes under their wings?), but we looked at each other suspiciously for a few seconds, at least he did, because I think my eyes were shining a little with moisture... And yes, it may be a cliché, but albatrosses always have that effect on me. ”
When the courage to maneuver on deck is rewarded by the most beautiful of spectacles. You can count on Clarisse to continue to marvel at the beauty of it all!