“For a month now we’ve been on starboard tack, everyone’s lost the habit of port tack. All our systems have noted that everything was always leaning left. The body compensates, it needs a few hours to reformat all these systems. The helmsmen are having trouble getting it right, the boys are finding it hard to walk on deck. The boys are very clumsy maneuvering. It’ll take a few hours for the whole crew to readapt. If we’re apprehensive, it’s because we’re not going to be alone any more, there’s sure to be traffic, and traffic at 35 or 40 knots is not automatically easy for us to manage. As we’re going towards the wind of a dangerous coast, the Ushant line, we can’t afford to have a mechanical problem. Satisfaction will come when we go over the line. Until then, there’s nothing but tension…”
