It is recovery time in more ways than one for Kito De Pavant and Seb Audigane on Groupe Bel. Not only is the Mediterranean bred skipper on the verge of making a steady comeback among the peloton who are pursuing the runaway Barcelona World Race leader Virbac-Paprec 3, but it was revealed today that the ebullient De Pavant has been nursing two cracked ribs for the last two weeks and only now is he getting back to full working capacity.

De Pavant’s team reported today that their skipper had a fall while stacking equipment emerging from the Doldrums. “It was one evening. We were stacking (moving) the ton of equipment in the boat. It was hot and wet and I slipped in the sail locker. I fell on my back and it was very painful.”He recalled.

So incapacitating and painful was the injury that he revealed today that it was considered whether he should get off and swap with substitute Yannick Bestaven.

The relatively benign conditions in the south Atlantic, slowed by the Saint Helena anticyclone, has in fact been something of a blessing for De Pavant who, though forced to pass on a lot of the heavy work on deck on to his towering co-skipper, the Breton Audigane, is now able to work the ‘pumps’, the main pedestal winch. “ To have my two cracked ribs has been physically hard. It stopped me from working and helping Seb. The last two or three days it has improved a lot and now I can turn the handles. So Seb has had a lot of work on the deck. I was quite anxious that I would have to stop but for me it’s in the past now.”

Groupe Bel lies in fourth place, De Pavant also confirming today that they have erred more on the side of caution since the retirement yesterday of Michel Desjoyeaux and François Gabart due to their broken mast. Such a period of prudence is understandable on the part of De Pavant who was one of the first to have to retire on only the second night of from his Vendée Globe in 2008 with a broken mast, and also more recently having had to retire from his solo Route du Rhum-La Banque Postale in November with a mechanical failure.

Whilst Jean-Pierre Dick and Loïck Peyron were the first to pass the longitude of the Cape of Good Hope at 0135hrs this morning, over a day quicker than Dick did when he lead the first edition with Damian Foxall at the same point in December 2007, the reference points to compare with the previous edition will be clouded by the fact that course is inherently different, a trajectory imposed by the greater number of successive ice gates in the Atlantic and South Indian Ocean.

Veteran Dominique Wavre, visibly delighted today to be surfing into the Roaring Forties, finally unshackled from manacles of the Saint Helena high which has been especially testing for him and partner Michèle Paret on Mirabaud. But, he noted, this will be all new for him after his dozen or so spells in the big south. The ice gates, he considers to be something close to a ‘necessary evil’:

“Usually we pass down to the south of the Kerguelen Islands and so this time we will pass well to the north. I never passed this way and so this time it will be rather different and so I don’t think my experience in the south will be very useful on this course.”Wavre considers that the passage across the Indian Ocean will be stop start – accelerator, brakes, accelerator, brakes as the fleet will be unable to ride the low pressures and will end up slowed in high pressure and transition zones.

Indeed leaders Virbac-Paprec 3 have so far done an excellent job of preparing for the inevitable, fighting hard for every mile to stave off the slow Sunday and Monday which are expected for them. Though they lost around 40 miles to the main pack of four boats which is pursuing them, Dick and Peyron’s lead is a seemingly comprehensive 587 miles this afternoon over MAPFRE, with third placed Estrella Damm making a southerly move on their rivals and profiting, quickest of this group this afternoon.

 

Standings at 1400hrs UTC Wednesday 27 January 27, 2011

1 VIRBAC-PAPREC 3 at18 151 miles from finish

2 MAPFRE at 588 miles from leader

3 ESTRELLA DAMM Sailing Team at 728 miles

4 GROUPE BEL at 770 miles

5 RENAULT Z.E at 866 miles

6 MIRABAUD at 1040 miles

7 NEUTROGENA at 1130 miles

8 GAES CENTROS AUDITIVOS at 1295 miles

9 CENTRAL LECHERA ASTURIANA at 1 461 miles

10 WE ARE WATER at 1698 miles

11 HUGO BOSS at 1730 miles

12 FORUM MARITIM CATALA at 1809 miles

RTD FONCIA

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