Vendée Globe

At around 1600 GMT this evening, Jean-Pierre Dick (Virbac-Paprec) is set to complete his first Vendée Globe after just over 98 days on the water. He will take sixth place, just over ten days after this year’s winner, Vincent Riou. A little over 1000 miles behind, the battle is intensifying between ‘Birthday Boy’ Conrad Humphreys (Hellomoto) and Joé Seeten (Arcelor Dunkerque). At the 1500 GMT ranking the duo were separated by just 5.8 miles. As forecast yesterday, Benoît Parnaudeau (Max Havelaar Best Western) crossed the equator last night at 1905 GMT, Anne Liardet around 32 hours from her passage into the Northern hemisphere. Meantime Karen Leibovici (Benefic) is suffering physically and mentally as she struggles up the Brazilian coast at the tail of the fleet, caught up in big seas a nasty line of squalls with violent winds of over 50 knots for the past 48 hours.

“I feel a bit confused in my head. Despite the fatigue and a very difficult night, I had real trouble sleeping”. Jean-Pierre Dick freely admitted that the pressure of the finish is rising in all senses of the term. He is sailing under reduced sail in order to tackle the 30 to 40 knots NW’ly wind. The tide is also an issue as he hopes to sail straight into the channel for safety reasons, but access cannot be made before 1600 GMT this evening. Virbac-Paprec will be the sixth boat to moor alongside the Vendée Globe pontoon. Very much looking forward to his own home-coming on Hellomoto, Conrad had clearly decided that he was going to make the most of his birthday today to boost his spirits. He has just turned 32. “I’ve had lots of emails and messages this morning for my birthday which has been really nice. I’ve just spoken with my wife and the office and it’s been such a great morning that I haven’t even been able to check Joé’s position. I tacked several times last night and it was pretty stressful with two big container ships cutting me up. I have to cant the keel using gravity so it’s not easy to make manœuvres. You really have to anticipate them well in advance.” Joé Seeten (Arcelor Dunkerque) is reckoning on an ETA of 0200 GMT on Saturday morning. “I’m going to do my utmost to get there. I have some superb conditions and flat seas, which is great for close-reaching. I am making the most of all the little wind shifts and I think that I’ll be able to weave along like that for the next three days”. Joé has decided to leave the downwind conditions behind him so as he can follow a route close to the orthodromy. “I would have had to go a long way North to hit the W’ly air flow, even higher than my home in Dunkirk. I am destined to finish upwind and my thoughts are with Conrad as he must be suffering more than me.” The Dunkirk skipper believes that his latitudinal separation from the British skipper will be particularly precious for this final sprint. The position of the two boats on the race track is simple. Hellomoto is South of the Azores archipelago while Arcelor Dunkerque is in the North. Both of them have the same programme: a long beat over the coming days with Conrad Humphreys likely to suffer particularly difficult seas. Kate Jennings

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