Vendée Globe

November 11. 2008 at 10:45 AMBernard Stamm forced to remove his mast

Following the collision two days ago with a cargo vessel, repairs on Bernard Stamm's Cheminées Poujoulat are set to continue. After identifying the cargo ship involved in the collision, marks were noticed on the rig, where it brushed against the stern of the vessel. This afternoon at around 13h, the boat will have her mast removed in order to deal with these scrapes and give the mast a thorough inspection. This work requires the sails and rigging to be removed, which given the extent of the work, means that the Swiss sailor will not be setting sail again before Wednesday evening. Meanwhile, Thierry Dubois and his team continue their work in replacing the bowsprit. These jobs are therefore going on at the same time, making it difficult to estimate a precise start time for Cheminées Poujoulat.

November 11. 2008 at 10:36 AMChange of pace

It looks like the worst of the weather is over: behind the cold front, which battered the fleet, the wind veered NW'ly and eased off. The area of low pressure (977 hPa) is moving eastwards and filling, while the Azores high stretches across towards Portugal.

In the Bay of Biscay, the wind will be westerly (15-20 knots), then veer NW'ly. For the leaders, the 15-knot NW'ly wind will gust to 25 knots off Cape Finisterre before gradually veering northerly (15-25 knots) off Porto this afternoon (Tuesday).

November 11. 2008 at 10:17 AMDCNS has been dismasted

The DCNS press office has informed the race directors that Marc Thiercelin's monohull was dismasted at 7h30 this morning at 44°15 North and 8°43 West. The competitor stressed that the damage was extensive and it would be impossible to set out again. He is unable to say for the moment which port he will be heading for.

November 11. 2008 at 10:14 AM53 on the scale.

Mike Golding reported to his team from ECOVER 3 last night that he had seen 53 knots of wind.

November 11. 2008 at 10:04 AMSpecial media conference this morning

Following the damage caused since the start of the race, a special media conference will take place this morning at 11 at Vendée Globe HQ.  This will be in the presence of Philippe de Villiers, Denis Horeau and Alain Gautier and will be broadcast live on the Vendée Globe website.  It will be followed by the live link-up with the skippers at 11h45.

November 11. 2008 at 10:02 AMDejeanty due in Les Sables this evening

Message received from Jean Baptiste Dejeanty this morning. "All is well on board. At  9H00 this morning 100 miles from Les Sables d'Olonne.  17-knot westerly wind.
ETA this evening (11th Nov)   
Support team ready to get to work on the deck.  Damage: cracks in the deck, port and starboard of the coach roof.
No idea yet of the time required to repair.
Will do our utmost to restart the race."

November 11. 2008 at 06:04 AMLast night's messages

1h36 : «Everything is fine on board. Will write more when I'm able. xxxx » Dee Caffari (Aviva)

1h39 : «Lots of little repair jobs to do . Tomorrow will be better. I'm sad about Yaya (Yannick Bestaven) and Kito (de Pavant). I'm trying to look after my « veranda » in these seas. The change in wind direction was extremely sudden: the boat came around all by herself, as it was so quick. Afterwards, there was a quick clean-up operation below to get everything stowed… » Arnaud Boissières (Akena Vérandas)

4h58 : «We're taking advantage of the calmer conditions to eat and sleep a little. Have seen several cargo ships off Cape Finisterre.» Armel Le Cléac’h (Brit Air)

November 11. 2008 at 12:13 AMStatement from Alex Thomson/Hugo Boss

Alex Thomson's Hugo Boss team have issued this statement:

" After 32 hours of horrendous Biscay conditions in the Vendee Globe race, Alex Thomson is returning to Les Sables d’Olonne following the discovery of a structural problem onboard HUGO BOSS.  A crack has appeared on the port side hull, the opposite side to the recent repair.

At 19.45 GMT Alex Thomson turned HUGO BOSS around to head back to Les Sables d’Olonne. Thomson is in no imminent danger; the boat is taking on water, but at a manageable rate. On arrival in Les Sables D’Olonne the damage will be assessed. He is currently approximately 290 miles from the port.

HUGO BOSS will be the eighth yacht to return to Les Sables D’Olonne since the race start on Sunday afternoon.  The Vendee Globe rules only allow the competing yachts to return to Les Sables D’Olonne to carry out repairs using outside assistance and restart the race within a 10 day window of Sunday 9th November (the start date)."

November 10. 2008 at 08:59 PMAnother mast

Groupe Bel have just informed the Race Office that Kito de Pavant has been dismasted and has been forced to head back, probably towards Les Sables d'Olonne. As well as the mast breaking, the boom and one of the carbon deck spreaders is broken. Bel was positioned 260 miles from Les Sables d'Olonne.

November 10. 2008 at 08:47 PMShort delay

Apologies but there is a short delay to the publication of the 2000hrs local/1900hrs GMT classifications.