Vendée Globe

Jérémie Beyou faces a huge challenge as he heads for Brasil with damage to two upper spreaders on Delta Dore. When lying ninth in the Vendée Globe fleet very early this morning he realized that his leeward rigging was slack and that he has suffered damage to his two upper spreaders.

He is in no immediate danger but has reduced the load on the rig, slowing down and bearing off towards the Brasilian coast, most likely to make for Salvador de Bahia.

"I haven't yet come to terms with it!” Beyou told today’s Radio Broadcast made live from Race HQ in Paris, “ I was inside during the night sailing upwind in 22 knots of wind under staysail and full mainsail. I heard a cracking sound….  On the leeward side, the second spreader was hanging off: The whole spreader root (the attachment point to the mast) was broken. The shroud got entangled in the runner and then the top spreaders broke away too. I immediately slowed down and bore away, making sure I didn't gybe, as that would have caused the mast to fall.  The spreaders were turning around and around: it's impossible to climb the mast without running the risk of getting my head chopped off by the piece of carbon… I think the mast itself may have been damaged. I'm doing all I can to make sure the mast stays up until we reach Brazil.” Said Beyou.

“It is the mechanical parts that broke. I can't possibly manufacture them on board the boat: I have stuff to repair everything except the mast and the keel.  I'm not the only one with this system: Generali, BT, Gitana Eighty also have the same fittings.  We fitted new parts just before setting sail and checked it all in Les Sables d’Olonne."

Since then, his shore team have announced he will probably head for Salvador da Bahia, 700 miles away, beam reaching, which will mean less strain on the rig. He will take his time to inspect the damage and consult his shore team about the means he has on board the boat to try and make repairs.

On the race course the ever consistent Loïck Peyron has stretched his leading margin slightly more, just less than two miles during the last position schedule. Gitana Eighty now leads Seb Josse (BT) by 29.7 miles.

Mike Golding, GBR, (Ecover 3) gained one place in the powerful upwind conditions. He passed Yann Elies (Générali) this morning but is almost even with him again this afternoon, though the British boat has been quickest of the top ten over the last 24 hours and between the last position reports.

On today’s Radio Vacations, American Rich Wilson (Great American III)  recalled his remarkable rescue off Cape Horn 18 years ago today when his 60 foot trimaran was rolled in huge seas. While he has lost many miles on the leaders in the Doldrums over recent days, he had emerged into sunshine, fluffy clouds and settled trade winds, so had reason to give thanks for his participation in this year’s Vendée Globe.

Dee Caffari, GBR, (AVIVA): “  I crossed the Equator at 0957hrs (GMT), I am quite superstitious in that respect, and I think it is quite important to toast Neptune and so I had a little bottle of Mumm Champagne to toast Neptune, and the present I gave him, which I thought was incredibly kind of me, was to give him my day’s supply of Haribo sweets,  it is a major sacrifice, but I am sure it will be worth it.

It has not been too bad now, the sea state is a little better, the wind is lifting us a little and so we are heading more south now, rather than towards Brasil which is good.Otherwise it is just as hot, but there is a lot of spray on deck.”

Derek Hatfield, CAN, (ALGIMOUSS SPIRIT OF CANADA): “As you know I have been struggling with this power problem and I think we are slowly coming to the conclusion that we will probably have to just be very careful all the way round, the batteries have responded a little bit to what we are trying to do, but I am going to have to be very careful with my fuel consumption, so I am running lean and mean, but I am getting my head back into the race now. This has been a real side-track for me. I feel I am slowly getting into the rhythm.”

Rich Wilson, USA, (Great American III): “ It has been an anniversary that is pretty important to me. It is 18 years ago that we were rescued off Cape Horn, Steve Pettengilt and I were in a 60 foot trimaran, the first Great American, trying to break the record from San Francisco to Boston. We were caught in a storm for three and a half days, covering about 700 miles under bare poles, with about 1000 feet of line trailing out of the back of the boat. The seas just kept building, until eventually on Thanksgiving, the US holiday, in the morning, the boat was side-on to the waves when it capsized about 400 miles off Cape Horn. About an hour and a half later a wave re-righted the trimaran, the first time I think that has ever happened. 17 hours later the ‘New Zealand Pacific’, the longest registered container ship in the world then’, was able to find us, and in the most marvellous feet of seamanship imaginable, came alongside in the middle of the night and we were able to have that ‘one shot, at jumping on to a rope ladder on the side of a ship.” “So the anniversary of the capsize was yesterday, and the anniversary of the rescue is today. So today is a very important day for me, a lot better to be racing here in the Vendée Globe.”

AR

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