Vendée Globe

Given the damage that both had sustained it was not a surprise when both Sebastien Josse and Derek Hatfield, CAN retired from the Vendée Globe today, but that in no way lessens the blow.

Their preparations, pre-Vendee Globe experiences and budgets may have been  a world apart but both skippers sustained their damage in the same way, toppled by huge waves 3000 miles apart in different oceans, Hatfield in the Indian Ocean and Josse in the Pacific.

Both contributed equally and enormously to what has already proven an immensely challenging sixth edition of this race, now with 16 of the 30 entrants who started in Les Sables d’Olonne 50 days ago, still racing. 

Josse, one of the pre-race favourites, lead the race for eight days, has been one of the pace-makers since he moved into second place on the second day of the race and last lead on the 10^th December on the approach to the Kerguelen Islands.

His Farr designed boat was built in-house in Cowes by Offshore Challenges and had been worked up over tens of thousands of ocean miles and had proven her reliability before falling victim to one huge wave.

Hatfield’s race was financed by small individual ‘shareholders’ in his dream, donors and sponsors, thousands of whom shared his vision and put their name on the hull of his Owen Clarke design which he built himself to a tight budget. He was forced to return to Les Sables d’Olonne with electrical problems as well as a damaged mast track. There he had to rely on the goodwill of other teams to get the Canadian skipper back in the race, starting some four and a half days after the race started officially.

Josse’s twisted rudder needs a specialist high-tech boat-builders’ attention, while the two broken spreaders which Hatefield sustained mean he must nurse his mast to Australia.

Tonight their anguish and pain is the same, both with over 1000 miles to sail at very reduced speeds – Josse approaching New Zealand from the east, Hatfield approaching Tasmania from the West.

For those on the race course now, there is perhaps a time for consolidation and a chance to modify or re-state their ambitions. Those at the back of the fleet have some respite from the horrendous conditions they have suffered, with depression after depression not just huge waves but confused, cross sea-ways which have made it particularly grueling, while those at the front got off no lighter over Christmas and Boxing Day with infernal conditions.

Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia)  remains in control at the front of the pack, 93.6 miles ahead of Roland Jourdain (Veolia Environnement)  in second place, Jean Le Cam (VM Matériaux) in third is 280 miles behind. Desjoyeaux has about 2300 miles to sail to Cape Horn, 740 miles to the SE Pacific security gate.

Sam Davies, GBR (Roxy), now seventh as of today, reported today that she has set Roxy’s speed controls to ‘Kick-Ass’ mode as she seeks to elicit as much speed as she can while the condition remain favourable.

Her British female counterpart Dee Caffari, (Aviva) may have fallen to Arnaud Boissières (Akena Verandas), dropping three miles behind the French skipper this afternoon, but her mood was buoyed susbstantially when a group of friends flew over Aviva from nearby South Island, New Zealand to give her a big surprise.

Caffari, Brian Thompson, GBR (Bahrain Team Pindar) and Boissieres should all pass the International Date line tonight. Thompson is now more than seventy miles ahead of Caffari and is in ninth place. Steve White, GBR, (Toe in the Water) is 310 miles SW of South Island New Zealand, in 13^th place and admitted that he is now finding time to learn French from the popular audio lessons of Michel Thomas, while Jonny Malbon sounded upbeat and delighted to have ridden out the recent storms on Artemis II, now looking to get back to sailing the Simon Rogers design at speed, rather than simply surviving the weather.

Seb Josse: “The project has been worked on for a long time.  We worked to get a  boat in the best of shape.  I didn't take too many risks and push too hard.  Ironically I played it safe and a huge wave got the better of me. It doesn't take much to upset your plans in these extreme conditions.  Some have got through in spite of being knocked down.”

“Not having the total control of the boat means there is no way I can back south and head for Cape Horn without gambling with my safety and that of the boat. If the boat starts to surf and I  cannot prevent a wipeout because of the failed steering system, it  can lead to a dismasting in a matter of seconds, not forgetting the coachroof is still quite weak and could easily be completely broken in such circumstances. Abandoning the race and heading for New  Zealand is of course a huge disappointment not only for me.“

“Now I try to to look forward, and to winning the IMOCA races in 2009. I will plot my course to New Zealand now, and try to look forward.”

Jean-Pierre Dick (Paprec-Virbac 2): “Night has fallen and I'm trying to make headway as best I can. I'm a little skeptical still about it, but for the moment it's OK.  I'm still worried about the rudder stock. Some pieces of carbon have broken off, but it's still holding.  I have to keep monitoring it.  A day and a half ago, it broke.  I had to get the tools out. Tomorrow I should be able to carry out better repairs with the ruder out of the water for 12 h.  I can't hide the fact that I'm annoyed, but my goal is to complete the race.”

Ronald Jourdain (Veolia Environnement): "Things are better now. The seas are not as crossed and it's nice to be able to let the baby sleep a bit… I wasn't very good with my timing on gybing at the last gate. I think I was still reeling from the shock of my flood. I can't remember seeing such a nasty Pacific. We're bound to be tired after that but we still have to remain alert.  When you're in this spiral, you can go crazy… I haven't been able to use the (iridium) phone much for a while, as  I only have the "Fleet" working.  For my keel ram, I'm going to see whether I can start the engine again.  If not, I'll try some elbow grease. When you think about it, I've always been in favour of alternative energy supplies... "

Infos précédentes :