Vendée Globe

Since last week and even before that, Michel Desjoyeaux’s victory seemed to be a foregone conclusion. However, the incident that happened to Roland Jourdain, who appeared destined for second place, reminded us once again that a sailing race is never over until the finishing line is crossed.

Veolia loses her keel bulb
On Thursday 29th January, Roland Jourdain, nicknamed «Bilou» explained what had happened on board his Veolia Environnement: « I can’t explain how I didn’t capsize. When I tried to look under the boat, I couldn’t see anything… Normally, I should have seen something, but I shan’t be diving in these conditions, as there is quite a swell. On the other hand, I do know that if I hoist more sail, the boat heels over so there is definitely a problem with the keel. In the coming hours, I’m going to have to keep a close watch on the situation depending on the sea and weather to see how I can safely continue. I’ll do my utmost to get back to Les Sables unless the sea state does not allow me or it is simply too risky. I just need a helping hand from destiny and some normal weather to complete the race.»
When he collided with a whale two weeks ago, his mast bulkhead was damaged and the skipper of the Lombard designed boat dived under his hull to examine the keel. He was able to see that the laminated surface on one side had been dented. The steel keel blade to which the 3 tonne lead bulb is fitted has also been affected but not enough for «Bilou» to imagine what happened on Wednesday night. The bottom of the blade broke and the lead bulb sank to the bottom of the Atlantic. Jourdain was lucky that this happened in fair weather, as otherwise he could well have suffered the same fate as VM Matériaux just before Cape Horn. The boat would have gone over first on her side before turning right over. The sailor’s first reflex was to reduce the sail area and load the ballast tanks to offer stability to his boat. As luck would have it, these Vendée Globe boats are floating tanks – the total capacity of the ballast comes to around 8 tonnes, which is almost identical to the weight of the empty boat and therefore much more than the weight of the boat without her keel. This means that they can continue to progress under reduced sail at slow speed as long as the sea state does not threaten to turn them over. On Saturday night and on Sunday, the sea was whipped up forcing «Bilou» to take down all his sail. The sailor has at his disposal all the data from the designers about the boat’s ability to stay upright in this unusual configuration and knows that he cannot take the slightest risk, as that could cost him dearly. If the boat capsizes he’s in a mess. Yesterday morning, the seas calmed slightly and Veolia Environnement continued to make headway towards the island of Sao Miguel in the Azores.

In spite of his slow progress since Thursday, Veolia Environnement was still in second place this morning with a considerable lead over Brit Air before Bilou took the painful decision to retire from the race. Almost 1000 miles behind Brit Air we find Samantha Davies’s Roxy, back in fourth place after overtaking Safran, who was handicapped by having to sail with two reefs in the mainsail. The person to make the biggest gains in the Atlantic this week was the British sailor, Brian Thompson, in sixth place this morning. It has been a long time since the skipper of Bahrain Team Pindar has been so close to the boats ahead. This boat, which is fearsome, when power is required, has not been able to reveal her full potential due to a lack of preparation, but could still upset the positions over the final stretch. Brian left his compatriot, Dee Caffari behind in the Doldrums. Further back, the gaps are so wide that the positions are unlikely to change, except maybe between Dinelli and Sedlacek, who were both approaching the Horn this weekend with for the moment an advantage to the Frenchman.
 

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