Vendée Globe

November 04. 2008 at 15:14Jean Le Cam: "We should manage it in about eighty days"

Returning ashore in a RIB, while the members of his team were carrying out sea trials on VM Matériaux, Jean le Cam willingly took part in a press conference late this morning in the Vendée Globe Village.
The skipper of the pink boat looked relaxed, and as always was ready to come up with some little pearls of wisdom, but above all was really looking forward to lining up for the start of the race, which he finished as runner-up in back in 2004, a little under seven hours after the winner, Vincent Riou. Here are some extracts…

State of mind: «We are trying to remain serene and keeps things in perspective. It's a boat race with a start line and a finish line. You just have to go as quickly as possible between the two.»

The preparation of the boat: «In her original format - under the name of Bonduelle, the boat was launched back in 2004 -,there only remains the hull, boom, daggerboards, winches and hydraulic jacks. (…) We're limited in what we can do by time, as there are always things being developed. We're always kept busy. It takes the start of a race to stop us in our tracks, otherwise it would be never-ending.»

The fleet: «It's a great line-up offering unprecedented quality. It's very exciting and motivating for sailing in general.»

Race time: «We should be doing it in around eighty days, in any case, if we consider that we can go eight to nine percent faster than in the last Vendée Globe. When you know what we know and see what we see… we should be able to do it.»

Speed: «The hassles are the square of the speed. A collision at twelve knots, means a collision that is 40% harder than one at ten knots. If you go quickly, it is never risk-free, especially as the sea is something you can't change.»

Retirals: «There is always 40% of wastage. If we are in the normal average, there should be around 60% of the boats finishing. That's based on the statistics of recent years.»

Jean Le Cam, the comeback: «The last Vendée Globe wasn't a failure, as far as I'm concerned. I'm not in it for revenge. There's not a feeling of the need to finish something. This is a new story with different people taking part, a route that is bound to be different, with all the mystery that that entails. There's no bitterness. I'm back above all, because I enjoy the race.»

Jean Le Cam concluded his conference by announcing that he wishes to build a new boat for the next edition of the Vendée Globe, which ideally would be launched in 2011.

November 04. 2008 at 15:03Racers from all backgrounds

The gathering in Les Sables d’Olonne is also an occasion for a lot of racers to come from the Mini Transat, Figaro, match-racing, Olympic sailing, cruising, multihulls and records, to say goodbye to the solo yachtsmen taking part in the Vendée Globe and to get a good look at the deepest secrets of the monohulls. Thomas Coville, waiting for a weather opportunity to attempt the solo round the world record, Lionel Lemonchois back from his campaign, where he grabbed seven records, including the New York-San Francisco, San Francisco-Yokohama and Hong Kong-London, Anne Liardet a competitor in the 2004-2005 Vendée Globe, the Hungarian yachtsman, Nandor Fa, whose boat was bought by Raphaël Dinelli, Halvard Mabire after his success in Class’40 in the Quebec-Saint Malo… have all strolled along the pontoons in Port Olona and visited some of the thirty Imoca monohulls.

November 04. 2008 at 14:51Michel Desjoyeaux : «The accelerator stuck to the floor»

Here are some extracts from Michel Desjoyeaux's press conference (Foncia) in Les Sables d’Olonne this Tuesday:

The weather for the start? «We should have a quiet start on Sunday with a 15-20 knot south-westerly. These conditions won't put the boats under too much strain, and will allow everyone to get into their stride.»

Rhythm: «Eight years ago, I gave myself the goal of not exceeding an average of 20 knots per day. This time with so many determined racers taking part, we will certainly have to go faster than that. We're going to spend the first month with the accelerator stuck to the floor!»

Experience: «The fact that I've already done the Vendée Globe may not be a real advantage. It just allows me to feel more at ease with only a few days to go before the start. In previous races, four out of five winners were taking part for the first time. It requires a little innocence and a breath of fresh air!»

Forecast: «In 2000, I was 24 hours ahead of Ellen MacArthur. Four years ago, Vincent (Riou) finished 6 hours ahead of Jean (Le Cam). It wouldn't be surprising if this time the two at the front finish within sight of each other.»

Weather in the south: «In 2000, the forecasts were valid for five days. Now, we have sixteen-day forecasts, but which may not be very reliable. But they do allow us to plan for seven or eight days ahead. That enables you to look at what is coming up and avoid the worst storms. Moreover, the safety gates are further north than before and take us away from the worst gales.»

November 04. 2008 at 13:02Being serene helps ensure your safety

Vincent Riou (PRB), the winner of the 2004-2005 Vendée Globe explains what is happening during these final few days of preparation before the start on Sunday and what lies ahead in the solo round the world race: «I am trying to keep calm, and stop the pressure of the race from building too much. There is in fact no reason to pile on the pressure ... I know that I am capable of not making too many mistakes and even if I do make some, I've got the rest of the circumnavigation to catch up. I can say that it's going to be tighter than we're used to. There's no point in dreaming of one or two sailors making their getaway after a couple of days. As a racer, that is great, but you have to know how to prepare for that. .

November 04. 2008 at 11:02Tern, tern, tern

Brian Thompson is used to the southern seas and it is therefore maybe not such a coincidence that the official registered name of Bahrain Team Pindar is so fitting for this Vendée Globe: "Arctic Tern" - "The Arctic Tern is a bird you find in the southern seas: It is also the logo for Pindar. »

November 04. 2008 at 10:37Tuesday's Live from the Pontoons

From eleven this morning, the guests on the "Live from the Pontoons" programme will be in order, Jean Le Cam, Jeanne Grégoire, Marc Guillemot, Yann Eliès, Jean-Baptiste Dejeanty and Vincent Riou. However, Pierre-Louis Castelli and Frédéric Ottenhof will also be talking to Richard Silvani, from Météo France, who will run us through the conditions expected for the start on Sunday 9th November. "Live from the Pontoons", the Vendée Globe radio show can be heard every morning live on the website from 11h00.

November 04. 2008 at 10:2680, 62, 360, why these numbers?

80 is the number on the hull of Gitana

Loïck Peyron: «This is not the eightieth Gitana! The number is highly symbolic. The history of Gitana is not recent, as it dates back more than a century. We were up to Gitana 13 with the catamaran, aboard which Lionel has just set an amazing series of crewed records. The latest chapter in the epic story of Gitana has been written by Benjamin de Rothschild exclusively with multihulls. The fact that we are returning to monohulls offered us quite naturally an occasion to pay homage to the late Edmond de Rothschild, his father, who was the great monohull owner. When the boat was launched, Edmond would have been 80. That's why it's Gitana Eighty.»

62, the number on Brit’Air

Armel Le Cléac’h: «It doesn't really mean anything. We would have liked to have 29, as the Brit'Air HQ is in Morlaix (and 29 is the official number for the French department of Finistère - editor) , but that number was already taken. 62 was in fact the number of my Figaro, when I won the Transat AG2R alongside Nicolas Troussel. I have had this number for 4 years. At the time of the transatlantic race with Brit’Air, we spoke about flight 62 between Concarneau and St Barth’. Now, we're opening a new line between les Sables d’Olonne and les Sables d’Olonne...»

360, the number on Groupe Bel

Kito de Pavant: «If you think about it, as we're sailing around the world, the meaning of this number seems pretty clear, but people keep asking me that question… »

November 04. 2008 at 10:03A fine day!

Some nice quiet weather this Tuesday with the sun likely to shine throughout the day offering rather mild temperatures for the season (17°C this afternoon). Skies will remain clear and the south-easterly wind this morning blowing at around 12 knots will ease off around lunchtime and back easterly at around ten knots, then north-easterly and increasing again to fifteen knots. The thundery low, which produced rain during the night is moving away and we can expect the fine weather to continue this evening, before things start to deteriorate again with a new low moving in from the Alps on Wednesday lunchtime.
 

Tide times
Tuesday 4th November: coefficient 46 - 42
High tide: 7h43 – 20h03
Low tide: 1h50 – 14h17
Wednesday 5th November: coefficient 37 - 34
High tide: 8h49 – 21h40
Low tide: 2h38 – 15h11

November 04. 2008 at 10:01Mass exodus

Today (Tuesday) with five days to go to the start, many skippers have requested permission to leave harbour on what will probably be their last trip before the start on Sunday 9th November. Thus, twelve boats are going to be missing from the pontoons for at least a part of the day:

Algimouss-Spirit of Canada : 05h00 – 10h00
BT : 05h00 – 10h30
Generali : 07h00 – 12h00
Maisonneuve : 08h00 – 10h00
Akena Vérandas : 09h00 – 18h00
Cheminées Poujoulat : 11h00 – 17h00
Fondation Ocean Vital : 09h00 – 18h00
Gitana Eighty : 10h00 – 17h00
Safran : 05h00 – 18 00
Temenos II : 10h00 – 17h00
Veolia Environnement : 10h00 – 17h00
VM Materiaux : 08h00 – 18h00

November 04. 2008 at 06:59Final check-up

Roland Jourdain (Veolia Environnement) back in Les Sables d’Olonne on Monday morning: «I didn't really do anything much: I was with the family away from all the fuss on the pontoons.  That meant I could get away from all that, but not completely away, as I continued to work on weather and software… as well as continuing my physical training!  There's nothing important left to do, but we need to keep an eye on the final touches, as if we keep saying "we're ready", that's when we tend to forget something.  But right now, I'm down to counting my spare tooth brushes and lip salve… We'll do one more final check, unfurl the sails one more time and do some changes of tack to ensure everything is just as we want.»