Vendée Globe

The stronger winds at the front of a small system still favour the leaders. The Kerguelen Ice Gate has been moved north and west.

The advantage is still with the leaders as the Southern Ocean seascape unfurls its usual flat, muted colours, long swells and soaring Albatross.

Overnight the gaps down the head fleet have mostly been prised open a few more miles.

Racing in 20 knot average wind strengths Sébastien Josse (BT) has earned four miles for his efforts through the night, but Jean-Pierre Dick (Paprec-Virbac 2) has returned consistently fast speeds closing five miles on the leader, to sit less than two miles off second placed Generali (Yann Eliès).

Loïck Peyron (Gitana Eighty) has regained fourth place again from Roland Jourdain (Veolia Environnement) who has not been able to match Peyron’s overnight pace and has dropped to 84.3 miles behind the leader.

 

Behind them the breeze has been lighter which has made it possible for the leaders to continue their gains. In tenth and eleventh Marc Guillemot (Safran) and Michel Desjoyeaux (Fomncia) may have less than a mile between them in terms of distance to finish, but Guillemot has seen a further 15 miles taken off him by the leaders who are now more than 200 miles ahead.

 

But for Sam Davies, GBR, (Roxy) and Brian Thompson, (Bahrain Team Pindar) the frustration at being trapped by lighter winds at the back of a small front which passed over them yesterday, and their losses are more considerable – Thompson losing 40 miles or so overnight and Davies closer to 70. Dee Caffari, GBR, (Aviva) – who has her knee inflammation improved – has lost about 20 miles.

 

Bernard Stamm, SUI, (Cheminées Poujoulat) reported this morning that he has done his best to make a holding repair to damage to his bowsprit which he had to replace after hitting a ship on the first night. The Swiss skipper suggested that the bobstay which supports the carbon sprit may have been slack and hence some compression damage had occurred to the lamination, Stamm said:

“I had hoped to take advantage of the calms in the Doldrums to get it fixed, but I had strong winds and thunderstorms, so it wasn't very practical. Around St. Helena there aren't any calms and working on the bowsprit, when  you're heading upwind isn't easy, or even possible. A few days ago, one afternoon, I managed to tighten the bobstay and yesterday, with the spinnaker attached to the bow, I carried out repairs on the carbon. I was pleased to get that out of the way before 55°S.  Keeping the fingers crossed that it will hold out."

 

And at the tail of the fleet there is a stimulating four way battle, with Raphael Dinelli, Derek Hatfield, CAN, Jean-Baptiste Dejeanty and Norbert Sedlacek (AUT) all within 24 miles of each other in terms of distance to the finish.


Last night the Race Direction informed the competitors of their decision to move the position of the Kerguelen Ice Gate.

After observation of the most recent pictures sent by CLS, the supplier of satellite information revealing the position of icebergs in the Indian and Pacific Ocean, the Race Directors, in agreement with Louis Mesnier of CLS, Sylvain Mondon of Météo France and Alain Gautier, the race safety consultant, have decided, as laid down in the Race Instructions, to modify the position of Kerguelen Ice Gate. This decision has been taken to maximise the safety of competitors, was broadcast to them yesterday evening at 19h30 UTC.

 

Ice Gate Kerguelen was thus moved as follows:

 

It will be positioned at 46°S between the longitudes of 25°E and 34°E, which means the gate has been shifted around 130 miles further north (or a distance of around 230 km) and 600 miles (or 1000 km) further west.

 

The establishment of gates reflects the desire of the organisers to limit the risks of encountering growlers, floating blocks of ice that have broken off isolated icebergs.  Initially the position of the gates are based on the statistical data available to the organisers, but they can be moved if any new data is received  from CLS, who are charged with observing the ice in the southern seas in real time for the race.

 

This is the situation that has arisen resulting from two phenomenon;

-          Firstly, the most recent observations have detected two icebergs -and therefore the risk of drifting ice  - slightly to the south of the Great Circle route, the shortest way from one gate to another.

-          Secondly, the weather data shows that the quickest route between these two gates would involve gybing,  as soon as the first gate was passed to pick up more favourable winds  to the south.

-          

This analysis, shared by the Vendée Globe Race Directors, Sylvain Mondon of Météo France, Louis Mesnier of CLS and Alain Gautier, the race's safety consultant, has thus led to the modification of the course.

 

All of the competitors were informed this evening by a written message sent on Inmarsat and by e-mail. The decision to move the gate further west reflects the desire to keep the competitors clearer of the shallow waters around the Kerguelen Islands.

 
 

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