Vendée Globe

October 25. 2008 at 10:32The sun is coming out to play in Les Sables

Today, we can look forward to a sunny day, with a light 6 to 8 knot easterly wind, which will become variable and die away. Tide times for Les Sables d´Olonne: Morning: Coefficient 64 - High tide 3h13, 4m66 - Low tide 8h46, 1m64 Evening: Coefficient 70 - High tide 15h33, 4m90 - Low tide, 21h20, 1m35

October 24. 2008 at 13:18Concert

This evening (Friday) at 9.30, the Kaf La Kour group will be playing in Le VOG´, the Vendée Globe village bar. So we can look forward to some Afro-Ragga, Reggae and Ska...

October 24. 2008 at 13:15Today's sailings

Seven competitors have asked the race directors for the authorisation to sail out to sea this Friday. This does not mean they necessarily will. Arnaud Boissières (Akena Vérandas), Brian Thompson (Bahrain Team Pindar), Sébastien Josse (BT), Yann Eliès (Generali), Norbert Sedlacek (Nauticsport-Kapsch), Dominique Wavre (Temenos II) and Jean Le Cam (VM Matériaux) have all obtained their authorisation.

October 24. 2008 at 12:17Overcast

The forecast today is for sunny periods and showers over the Vendée area. Things should improve again tomorrow, but for the moment the situation is not looking too good for Sunday.

Tide times in les Sables d’Olonne :
Friday 24th October 2008: coefficient 53 – 58
High tide: 2h25 – 14h47
Low tide: 7h44 – 20h28
Saturday 25th October 2008 : coefficient
High tide: 3h13 – 15h33
Low tide: 8h46 – 21h20

October 23. 2008 at 18:32Music in Les Sables

This evening, the Village bar, The VOG’ will welcome the Beach Band from Les Sables at 9.30. Jazz and swing on the programme this evening…

October 23. 2008 at 16:55Drying out

Spirit of Weymouth, Steve White’s monohull, was today treated to a little facelift on the underwater section of the hull. Lifted onto the hard yesterday, her undersides were entrusted to Karcher to remove the algae and barnacles, which were beginning to grow. The British skipper has to touch-up a little of the coating prior to applying some protective underwater paint and returning her to the liquid element.

October 23. 2008 at 16:27Four top models

Armel Le Cléac’h, Marc Thiercelin, Bernard Stamm (Cheminées Poujoulat) and Roland Jourdain (Veolia Environnement) were transformed into fashion models for Gala magazine during a photo session. They had their hair done, got made-up and dressed-up and played the game with a certain ease… despite amused grins from their shore crews!

October 23. 2008 at 15:03Hugo Boss under the kinfe

Hugo Boss came under the knife this morning as the six strong team of boatbuilders got to work on cutting away the damaged area of Alex Thomson’s wounded Open 60. David Duff, Shore Operations Manager for Team ORIGIN, who is helping with the logistics and project management of the repair reported today that the new replacement panel should arrive this evening from Vannes. Their operational target is to re-step the mast Friday 31st with the objective of sailing again Sat 1st November.Duff´s boss Mike Sanderson, who was in Les Sables d´Olonne until Monday night and is skippering a Transatlantic record attempt, is being kept up to date with progress. (Hear David Duff in the audio section of www.vendeeglobe.org.)

October 23. 2008 at 11:03Another fine day…

The Vendée Globe village is forecast to experience another fine, sunny day thanks to a 1030 hPa high-pressure area stretching from the Azores to Germany. The temperatures remain stable between 9 and 14°C. A very light southerly wind can be expected today.

Tide times in Les Sables d’Olonne:
Thursday 23rd October 2008: coefficient 45 – 48
High tide: 1h23 – 13h47
Low tide: 6h28 – 19h22
Friday 24th October 2008 : coefficient 53 – 58
High tide: 2h25 – 14h47
Low tide: 7h44 – 20h28

October 22. 2008 at 16:3468,000 !

That was the number of visitors to the Vendée Globe village during the first weekend of it being open. The week has got off to a good start with visits from the first groups of schoolchildren, in spite of some dull weather on Monday. More than 10,000 children are expected to attend during the three weeks leading up to the start of the race. With the sun returning, the conditions are once again ideal for a trip to visit the pontoons and all the events going on in the Vendée Globe village.