Vendée Globe

Comparisons with the 1996 Vendée Globe continue as the attrition rate for this sixth edition is now 63.3 %, following the abandonment ahead of that third race when 6 boats from 16 starters reached the finish, and the Michel Desjoyeaux’s winning margin is set to the be the biggest since Christophe Augin won by 7 days and 11 hours ahead of Marc Thiercelin.

Armel Le Cléac’h is now expected to finish some time between Friday 0900hrs GMT and Saturday 1500hrs GMT which would mean Desjoyeaux’s margin will be at least four and a half days and more likely five more than five days.

Le Cléach reported today that last night was probably the toughest of his race so far, with gusts to 60 knots and big, cross seas. He has slowed in Brit Air to around 9.5 knots and has averaged less than six knots over the midday period. Le Cléac’h was 380 miles off the NWW of Cape Finisterre and has 741 miles to make to the finish. 

Raphael Dinelli has been disappointed and frustrated this afternoon as he attempted to stop and make his repairs to Fondation Océan Vital in the East Falkalands islands. At around 1600hrs this afternoon he entered the bay to the north of Port Stanley and attempted to anchor in 50 metres of water. But he was unable to get his anchor to grip he was being blown on to the shore and had to take the rapid decision to cut his anchor line free in order to stop his Open 60 from grounding. He was able to receive his medications – antibiotics and anti-inflammatories – for his injured elbow before he had no choice but to carry on his course.

Austrian skipper Norbert Sedlacek passed Cape Horn at 1407hrs this afternoon on Nauticsport-Kapsch, the same Open 60 which he had to retire from the last Vendée Globe race with keel damage when he was only to the south of the Cape of Good Hope. Sedlacek sounded delighted with his achievement so far, the second time he has passed the great Cape, the first time racing, and the first Austrian in the history of the Vendée Globe race. He pledged to finish his race no matter what happens.

The duel between Sam Davies, GBR (Roxy) and Marc Guillemot, (Safran) is in the balance at the moment. Guillemot’s consistent speed advantage is telling as he heads round the west side of the anticyclone and while Davies is computed to be 200 miles ahead of Guillemot this afternoon in terms of distance to finish, he is over 100 miles further north. She admitted to having second thoughts about her choice on this morning’s radio vacations, but it will be Saturday before the net result is seen.

Brian Thompson has been sorting out another problem with his keel rams on Bahrain Team Pindar. He woke early this morning to discover that his keel was canted to the wrong side as a result of the hydraulic oil in his port rams leaking from a hose, caused – he thinks – by the increase in pressure in the system due to only being able to use one

starboard ram. When he spoke on the phone this morning he had been running for three hours with the keel canted to just over half the maximum.

Raphael Dinelli, (Fondation Océan Vital), this morning: “Since the start I’ve been suffering from chronic tennis elbow.  As my boat requires a lot of physical effort, the problem continued into the south, where it got worse with the elbow completely inflamed and I had to talk to the doctor.   So I’m going to need antibiotics and anti-inflammatory medicine.  The doctor checked with the Jury who approved.”

Armel Le Cléac’h (Brit Air): “ These are the worst conditions I have seen since the start of the race.  It really was a difficult night in the storm.  But it looks like the boat and her tired skipper are dealing with it though. There were seven to eight metre high waves with a heavy swell. We were slamming a lot, so it wasn’t possible to go very fast, especially at night.  At one point I was doing 20 knots with three reefs in a 55-60-knot wind with huge squalls and lightning.  I saw some cargo vessels, which weren’t doing very well either, and they were really being tossed around.  These are the Roaring Forties of the north.   I was on stand by in my survival suit trying to deal with the squalls, as there were manoeuvres to carry out to make sure we didn’t go over. I tried to watch the clouds, but as there was no moon it wasn’t easy to see much.  I managed to get some 15-minute naps.  Now I’m heading northwards  to pick up the NW’ly wind. I think the worst is behind me now, according to the charts.  Now that I’ve been slowed down, I think I should finish on Friday evening or Saturday morning. It will depend on my progress in the next few hours, but there’s still a way to go.” 

Norbert Sedlacek, AUT (Nauticsport-Kapsch): “It is quite a great situation. The weather is not so bad, it is a little bit raining and a bit ‘dusty’, maybe I will see the Cape Horn later . I am a little bit tired but for me it is a great situation and from Cape Horn we go north and….home. It is fine and I hope that the weather will be fine for the next fee days when I come up from the Southern Hemisphere and see some warmth and nice areas again before the Equator.”

“ The weather is a little bit rougher than the last time I was here but I want to pass about five miles off and then I can make a little film and take some photographs so I can remember the situation. When the weather is OK I will have some nice food today and then I will open the little bottle of Champagne for Cape Horn.

There is big interest at home in Austria at this stage in the race, and so I will make a nice article today and send some pictures it as fast as possible, and I think the media are really interested in the last miles up the Atlantic.”

Brian Thompson, GBR, (Bahrain Team Pindar): “I had a dramatic morning. About five in the morning I woke up and the boat felt strange. I thought the bulb had fallen off or something, the boat felt very odd. I could not work it out for a few minutes, doziness. Then I pushed the button to see where the keel angle was, and it was 20 degrees the wrong way. That was why the boat was heeling over and I was going slowly. So I went to look at where the port ram was and the whole area was full of oil, it had dumped all the oil out. So I took a couple of hours to clean it all up and work out what had happened, where it was coming from. I talked to Nick the boat captain and Cariboni in Italy.

I fixed it. I recovered as much oil as possible and canted the keel only to just above the middle, just to test it out.  Now over the last two to three hours it has not leaked at all.”  

Sam Davies, GBR, (Roxy): “I had about 30 knots, really bumpy sea, lots of banging and crashing around last night and lots of fun taking reefs and dropping reefs out. It is just dropping off now and so I have just shaken a reef out now. It is calming down. I am trying to get some rest because I figure that the next few days are going to be quite tricky, to get through the light winds and to get through the other side.  I am not sure if the weather files have changed, or whether my strategy has changed but I am not quite so sure any more that what I am doing the right thing any more, or if my strategy has changed, and I am wondering if I am about to learn the hard way, by a mistake, and lose some miles to Marco. So I am a little bit less confident but I can’t go back on my decision now, and I am just going to get through this as best as I can. I would never have done it differently looking, back, it is just part of the learning experience for someone who is doing the Vendée Globe for the first time.”

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