Hello!
Finally we are out racing the Vendee Globe. The first night has been full-on, with too many sail changes and tacks! I tried to take advantage of a shift during the night, but tacking is SO hard and takes SO long with all this gear on board! Stacking is a nightmare, especially in 30 knots of wind and big seas! I think I lost more with my tacks than I gained from the shift!
Now it is day one, I am getting into the rhythm. The wind is building, between 30 and 40 knots. Roxy has 3 reefs and the ORC, and we are smashing though the ginormous waves!
All is well on board, I even managed to have a cup of tea this morning. We're expecting up to 55knots in the front this evening, so I am preparing for that.
The only annoying thing is that a little bottle of engine oil has exploded in my aft stacking toboggan, so there is oil everywhere, it's like living on a moving ice-rink (a rather smelly one - lucky I don't get sea sick!) Luckily, I have oil absorbing cloths in my spares, so I can clean that up properly once the front is through and everything calms down!
Otherwise, all is well on board ROXY!
S x
 

Message from Jeremie Beyou this morning at 11h10: "It's a real battle...The wind is up to 40 knots. The seas are becoming high. It's really violent with the boat leaping about. I am under reduced sail... I may not have had enough sail up last night.This morning I've taken in three reefs and am under ORC. No worries on board. I managed to sleep a bit and haven't eaten much. I'm paying attention to the boat and to myself. It's important not to break anything."

The second update from the Vendée Globe fleet today (1000GMT) shows Marc Guillemot on Safran holding onto his lead of 9.5 miles. Behind him Roland Jourdain (Veolia Environment) and Loick Peyron (Gitana) have traded places for second and third in the rankings.
Mike Golding’s decision to follow Guillemot with two tacks south last night seems to have paid off — the British skipper on Ecover has made up ten places from last night’s rankings, now lying 13th. Sam Davies on Roxy, who went with the pair, has also gained a couple of places to 17th.
The fleet is still tightly packed, with Dee Caffari holding on to her place as the first British skipper. Aviva is now in seventh position on the rankings, sitting just behind Kito de Pavant and Seb Josse, who are fourth and fifth respectively. Slightly further north Alex Thomson (Hugo Boss) and Brian Thompson (Bahrain Team Pindar)
 

A low pressure area of 960 hPa north of Ireland is moving gradually eastwards and filling. The cold front associated with this low will be passing over the fleet this evening and is expected to reach Cape Finisterre by 2200h. A 30-35 knot south-wester'ly wind will be gusting 45 knots this morning and steadily strengthen as the front approaches to exceed 50 knots.The seas will be high this afternoon and occasionally very high and confused, as the wind suddenly veers NW'ly and eases off to 25-30 knots, although there will still be gusts in excess of 40 knots during the squalls. All of that will be accompanied by heavy rain or showers.

After this violent interlude early this evening, the wind will then ease off once again and veer northerly off Cape Finisterre. By Tuesday evening, everything is expected to be much quieter for the fleet, although the seas will still be rather tricky.

Just before 2300 this evening Dominque Wavre on Temenos departed the port of Les Sables d'Olonne for a second time - despite the pitch black, again accompanied by cheers and waves from spectators on the seawalls and restarted the race from a 'virtual starting line' at 23hrs 19mins 42s.

At 0130 fellow Swiss sailor Bernard Stamm returned to the dock in Port-Olona, assisted by the shore teams of fellow competitors. The damage to the bowsprit on Cheminées Poujoulat sustained after it collided with a fishing boat is currently being assessed by composite experts.

Hi everyone,

Everything is fine aboard Groupe Bel.  It was really impressive with the crowds in the harbour entrance. Thanks to you all!  Farewell to the land and hello to the sea…
Kito