Vendée Globe

While the revellers who enjoyed the arrival of Steve White contemplate the typical ‘day after the night before’ effects, three skippers are still on course and making steady progress.

For a skipper who had been at sea for 109 days White prevailed well into the evening, his capacity for porridge and golden syrup replaced by a steady thirst for another golden liquid, enjoying the low key attention and spending time with all the well wishers who were keen to meet the eighth place finisher.
On target for a great ninth place Rich Wilson is trying to make his way round the labyrinthine weather pattern, one which a couple of days ago had the Great American III 400 miles closer to his home in Boston than he was to the finish in Les Sables d’Olonne and nearly 500 miles west of the mean course taken by earlier finishers.
Wilson sounded frustrated last night when contacted by phone, and is now heading nearly east to try and regain some easting, as well as avoid the strong headwinds which were coming his way from a tightly formed low pressure system.
That said, the American skipper can take considerable heart from the fact that he is now into his final week of the race and has to tough it out for another 2000 or so miles. He was making a steady 6.5 to 7 knots this morning.
Wilson’s travails with the weather mean that Raphael Dinelli earned more than 300 miles back on the ninth placed skipper, not having had to made such a westerly detour.
Dinelli is making a consistently N’ly course in reaching conditions making 8-10knots on Fondation Océan Vital. His problem comes now as the high pressure system now blocks his track and will give him lighter winds but it is due to dissipate slightly.

Raphaël Dinelli: "The wind is more on the beam now, but we're still slamming. For four or five days now, we've really been hammering into the waves, making this stretch particularly tricky. I'm looking forward to getting away from this area, as it's hard on the boat and tough for me mentally. At least we're moving, so I mustn't grumble too much. When I came out of the Doldrums, I was faced with a northerly wind, so had to head off westwards and now the wind has veered, I'm still heading into the wind as I come around. I'm waiting for the next lot of weather charts to see how I can deal with the Azores. The North Atlantic is not looking very simple as there's a high over the Bay of Biscay and another one to my north, which will offer lighter winds and there's another one arriving from the west quite some way north. So I'm going to have to weave my way between these systems by the look of things. I've never seen so many high pressure areas in the North Atlantic. My shore team is already getting ready, and if I manage to work my way around the Azores high, I'm expecting to finish around 14th-15th March. For the moment, I'm trying not to think about it too much and just making sure the boat is sailing well. I'm thinking a lot too about the Foundation and all the useful info we can get from this floating lab. I think that so far, this mission has gone well."

Meanwhile Norbert Sedlacek is still struggling with the remnants of the Doldrums and is still getting some squally activity, but he is pleased to have crossed the Equator early yesterday morning:  “It is still not so nice. Still a bit stressy and your body and mind are now tired and it is not always easy to make the right decisions. It is still a little bit of a heavy situation but I cannot sit and be nervous. It is about keeping the balance right. I don’t think I will be able to get much more rest for a while, but I do think I will not get more rest today.”
 

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