A light-hearted look with Sam Davies at what you can find inside Roxy…

"On my chart table, there is a hand-warmer. I've got a few with me, as I don't want to feel cold. There is also a watertight case for my camera. And some headlamps. In general, I tend to pick up headlamps and find them the next day in my back pack. On the other side, there is a little glass jar filled with sand from Les Sables d’Olonne. A gentleman from the Museum lent it to me. Apparently, it is the jar Ellen MacArthur took with her eight years ago. Now it's my turn to take it around the world and bring it home to Les Sables in February. On the right, there's Lucky Duck (a cuddly duck) and his little friend, Foxy (a flamingo). Lucky has already done eight transatlantic races, but Foxy has only just started to sail. Then, there is this little cow, which did the transat with Jeanne. And as usual, I'm taking my lucky pants and three pairs of red socks (Peter Blake's lucky socks)".

Girly items?
"A mirror, some shampoo, as my hairdresser was horrified to hear that I washed my hair in washing-up liquid! I have cut my hair and will be doing some plaits that I'll keep in place for five days until they start to itch!"

The skippers and their shore teams only have a few hours left to head out to sea, as from two tomorrow afternoon (Thursday), all the monohulls will have to remain moored at the Vendée Globe pontoon until the start on Sunday. Today, nine boats have requested permission to leave harbour for some final checks before the start.

Algimouss Spirit of Canada : 08h00 – 20h00
Brit Air : 08h00 – 12h00
BT : 06h00 – 11h30
DCNS : 08h00 – 12h00
Ecover : 08h00 – 20h00
Fondation Ocean Vital : 06h00 – 10h00
Hugo Boss : 07h00 – 20h00
Maisonneuve : 08h00 – 11h00
Pakea Bizkaia : 08h00 – 12h00

The skies are overcast this morning with some rain likely this afternoon: that is the weather for today (Wednesday), which will be the final day for the Vendée Globe monohulls to be allowed to leave the harbour before the start on Sunday. It is mild this morning (12°C), but will not warm up much during the afternoon (14°C), as rain arrives on a low moving in from the Alps and settling over the Pyrenees. The wind will strengthen during the day reaching almost twenty knots this afternoon. For the coming days, Thursday should be a fine day with sunshine, but Friday looks more unsettled, although still pleasant. Saturday will be similar with temperatures remaining warm, thanks to a south-westerly flow and latest forecasts show that Sunday will not be so bad after all…

Tide times
Wednesday 5th November: coefficient 37 - 34
High tide: 8h49 – 21h40
Low tide: 2h38 – 15h11
Thursday 6th November: coefficient 32 - 32
High tide: 10h21 – 23h29
Low tide: 3h40 – 16h19

Kito de Pavant has a sense of humour. When naming the monohull displaying the colours of the French cheese maker, Groupe Bel, he came up with a great name: «She is called Cochise or Cowcheese! She comes from the Italian yard, Indiana Yachting and I was looking for an Indian name… It sounds appropriate in English too! »

Marc Guillemot (Safran) has already been looking closely at the weather models for the first few days of racing and in particular the crossing of the Bay of Biscay: «I'm not feeling that worried.  I live each day as it comes.  Apart from working on the weather, I'll be trying to relax a little; it feels like the start now and as I have a great team that has worked so well on the boat, I feel serene, so there are no worries in that area. As far as the weather is concerned, we really got to the heart of the matter a few days ago. In theory, we'll be setting out sailing upwind with some rough seas and it's going to be wet. They are not necessarily the favourite conditions for sailors, but if that's what we get, we'll deal with it! »

 

Guy Cotten, who is supplying the clothes for several of the competitors, has come up with a fleece jacket, which offers anti-seasickness properties. A membrane reduces the balance problems caused by the inner ear, which lead to seasickness. This material has already been successfully used by people suffering from problems of balance…