18/11/2011 #28

8th

D+16

.A letter from CostA riCA

.the finAl sprint

to the finish

.DrAtteD ruDDers!

position_ 13 30.85’ N 77 48.44’ W

speeD_ 13.1 nds

BreAKfAst_ Porridge framboise

meAl 1_ Salade de riz

Dessert_ Yaourt aux myrtilles

meAl 2_ Couscous

DAilY loG

Dear Dominique and Michele,

I have arrived in Costa Rica at last and am ready

to welcome you over the weekend! When I last

saw you, you were bundled up in foul weather

gear and fleeces ready to face the ferocious North

Atlantic low pressures. When I see you again, you

will be in t-shirts, sun burnt and bursting with the

many adventures that you have experienced on

your trip over.

My trip took 24 hours: 13 on a plane, four on a

bus and the rest in a number of different airport

lounges – ample time to reflect on your 18 or 19-

day voyage powered by the wind and your own

physical strength. Hats off to you both!

The time difference with Europe is seven hours,

but I don’t dare complain of jet lag when you guys

have been running hour-long shifts on the helm

because of autopilot and rudder issues. I doubt

that the weather here is relevant to your planning,

but just in case, last night there was heavy rain

inland and today we have had cloud cover and

some bright spells, there is not a breath of wind

so it is very humid.

The bus driver explained to me last night that Cos-

ta Rica is “the Switzerland” of Central America.

As we passed through kilometre after kilometre

of rain forest dodging chickens and wildly driven

lorries, I couldn’t help but wonder why he would

think such a thing…

I can’t tell you a thing about Puerto Limon just

yet as it gets dark at 17:30 and the place was

shrouded in the black of night by the time I arri-

ved. I can tell you however that the bird song is

incredible, no wonder this place is a paradise for

birdwatchers.

It is 04:00 here now and I am looking forward to

discovering a Costa Rican coffee in the morning.

Safe sailing until then!

2 www.dominiquewavre.com

A letter from CostA riCA

facebook.com/dominiquewavre

youtube.com/DominiqueWavre

Mirabaud has been sailing the Caribbean Sea

since Wednesday, the breeze is steady, but is

forecast to drop out gradually over the next few

hours.

“We are on a fairly direct course,” said Dominique

via satellite phone. “The wind is forecast to drop

completely at about 50nm off the coast and from

then anything can happen. The boats that reach it

first will slow down and we will catch up. The trick

will be to grab the opportunities as they come.”

The Paprec Virbac crew holds a big enough lead

over the rest of the fleet to sail the last few miles

in relative comfort; the same goes for Hugo Boss.

In their wake the fleet is fairly bunched up and

there is plenty of room for a shake up in the ran-

king.

www.dominiquewavre.com 3

the finAl sprint to the finish

PLAY VIDEO

Mirabaud & Cie, banquiers privésLaurent Koutaïssoff29, boulevard Georges-Favon1204 GenèveT: +41 58 816 23 90M: +41 79 786 78 93

MaxComm CommunicationBernard SchopferT: +41 22 735 55 30M: +41 79 332 11 76bernard.schopfer@maxcomm.ch

Crédits photosWavre/ParetDR

Dominique and Michele continue to take it in

turns to helm – it has been almost a week now.

It is impossible to use the autopilot in more than

15knots because of rudder damage. “The boat

pulls to the left on one tack and to the right on

the other,” explained Dominique.

Michele gives some insight on how they are

managing: “We don’t see much of one another

other than when we hand over the helm! This

morning, Dom called me and by call me, I mean

he tweaked the string that is tied to my arm while

I sleep. The boat is so noisy and we are so tired

that it is very easy to sleep through the alarm or a

call from on deck. The string system may be basic,

but it is fail-safe!”

18/11/2011 - 11:00 GMT

1. VirbaC PaPreC 3 0.00 arriVed

2. HuGo BoSS +69.80

3. MACIF +101.30

...

7. BuREAu VALLéE +193.50

8. Mirabaud +282.60

www.dominiquewavre.com

DrAtteD ruDDers!

imoCA rAnKinG