Vendee Globe: Domenique Wavre talks about Temenos II relaunch

Since his return to La Rochelle in late February, the Swiss skipper has validated the success of last season. After his fine third place in the last circumnavigation, The Barcelona World Race, he won the title of vice world champion of the Imoca class.

Very soon after that, less than three days after its arrival in La Rochelle, the monohull had her mast unstepped and her keel removed, and went into the Naval Force 3 shed where the shore crew set to work on her. In addition to the verification work, indispensable after this past round the world race, a series of improvements and optimisation was scheduled for the monohull, which has racked up two round the worlds since its launch (June 2006).

The lessons learnt over the course of the Barcelona World Race have been numerous and these three months of sailing around the world have enabled Dominique and his team to draw up a comprehensive assessment of the optimisation they want to see incorporated into Temenos II before the start of the Vendee Globe on 9th November 2008. In the meantime then, there promises to be a packed schedule for both the skipper and his team.

As with all the skippers who completed the last round the world race, Dominique also had to give up on the idea of taking the start of The Transat. This was a reluctant decision for the skipper who was rather successful in the last edition, finishing in second place behind the English sailor, Mike Golding.

The boat should be relaunched at the end of this month, May, equipped with a new mast and new rudders, at which point a long series of testing and validation will begin.

Temenos II’s new keel is currently under construction, and it will be mounted and adjusted early this summer. The team will then take the boat sailing in order to finalize the various adjustments, continue gathering data, as well as complete sail testing and fine tuning. Following on from that, the boat will pass into Vendee Globe mode and will sail in this configuration until the start of the race. The team should benefit from training alongside another Imoca 60’.

Questions to Dominique

How was the return to land following the Barcelona World Race?

Michèle and I returned, more experienced than ever before having learnt a great deal, and we were eager to immerse ourselves in the technical aspects so as not to forget anything and be able to make the most of the lessons we’d learnt. We wanted to make our wishes for improving the boat a reality. As such the return to land was a little abrupt. We didn’t really have time to adapt, or take a break; instead we quickly stepped back into the mould of studious landsmen. Linking together two round the worlds in the space of a year requires considerable mobilisation of the whole team.

Why did you decide not to take the start of The Transat?

It is a very fine event, which I was really looking forward to participating in, but on the one hand the start date was brought forward making it rather a tricky challenge, and on the other we had to face up to some manufacturing issues with the new keel which unfortunately compelled us to withdraw. The main objective for 2008 remains the Vendée Globe, and it was inconceivable to consider rushing our preparation to race in The Transat at any price. The choices and the work we are doing at this time are crucial and certain necessary delays are unavoidable."

What changes have been made to Temenos II during the work over the winter?

Even before starting the optimisation phase, we focused on the boat’s complete refit. We dismantled and tested absolutely everything, which was indispensable. Temenos II has been thoroughly reviewed and tested.

We also opted for new, higher performance rudders and replaced the mast. The new keel will be delivered in early July.

A lot of work has also been carried out at the sail loft. Thanks to the BWR, we were able to assess the strengths and weaknesses of our sail plan and we now have to adapt it to solo sailing. There is still work to be done on the downwind sails. I'm keen to go sailing as quickly as possible and the upwind sails will be delivered in May, whilst the remainder of the sails will arrive in August.

We have simplified the interior layout, made the boat lighter and gained space in order to facilitate the ballast shifting. The trend is for refinement, and the 2008 evolution confirms a change right across the Imoca fleet, which aims among other things to make the boats lighter. We have put some thought into improving the ergonomics we needed to take care of too. These latest generation boats are ultra-powerful and aren’t sparing on the skippers. Moving about down below or on deck in heavy weather has become extremely violent.

And what about the skipper’s preparation?

We had intensive physical training during the Barcelona World Race, and since then we have eased off the pace but, whilst the boat is in the yard, we are continuing our sports training on shore. We’ve swapped our deck shoes for trainers, and bodybuilding and mountain biking remain on the programme.