Vendée Globe

November 12. 2008 at 07:42 PMHugo Boss: initial damage report....

Harry McGougan,  Alex Thomson Racing’s Operations Director explained what they saw when Hugo Boss  was lifted this afternoon. “There is a transverse crack that runs through the outer and inner skin of the boat. Having now lifted the boat out of the water we can see the underneath of the boat and the full extent of the damage. The crack extends 5 metres to almost the centreline.  The unidirectional fibres that makes up the outside layer of the boat have peeled off from the start of the crack to the back of the boat.”

McGougan explained what the team need to achieve. “In the time scale available to us to restart the race we would have to do a full structural survey, put together a full repair plan and then put a team together the size of which we had for the repair three weeks ago.“

A decision will be made tomorrow on the best way forward.

“At the moment there is no definite reason why this has happened but there is a strong possibility that the boat has hit something ,” concluded McGougan.

Paolo Manganelli’s (structural engineer) initial thoughts on the cause of the crack after a visual inspection of the boat were the same. “ It’s a bit too early to say very much right now, but we are not ruling out a collision with a submerged object.”

November 12. 2008 at 07:20 PMA warm welcome tonight

Kito de Pavant (Groupe Bel), who has been motoring back since his boat was dismasted on Monday, has been met at sea by his support team and his family, who took out a few extra cans of diesel. He is due to reach Les Sables at around 1h30-2h tonight, at almost the same time as Yannick Bestaven (Aquarelle.com). Kito will receive a warm welcome. Family, friends, support team and more than fifty employees of his sponsor will be lining the harbour walls to welcome him back. Then, there will be the people of Les Sables, who are always there to support the Vendée Globe sailors, at every hour of the day or night. A hotline has been set up to inform people of Kito's ETA. If you are in Les Sables and want to be there tonight, the number is 06 60 14 28 95 28.  

November 12. 2008 at 06:33 PMSam gets some rest

“I am starting to feel half-human again, after a night "rest", compared to the first three days of this race. Yesterday was the transition between the storm and the "Portuguese Trade Winds".
The wind slowly dropped, and the waves became less aggressive. I was able to do a complete check over ROXY to make sure there was no damage during the storm; inside and out. All looks well, except the little breakages on my runner slack line, and the oil spill in the aft compartment. When the wind and waves had dropped enough, I managed to find enough energy to hoist the big gennaker, and by the end of the day ROXY was surfing down the Atlantic swell!   A nice surprise, just before sunset, I saw a little sail out towards the West - it was Aviva! So I managed to call Dee on the VHF and we had a little chat. It was nice to find out that she was OK too, and to hear the voice of someone who is close by. Then we were "buzzed" by a Spanish coastguard aeroplane who called us up to congratulate us for getting through the storm - and to tell us to call him "if we ever needed anything!!??" 

Last night I concentrated on getting some sleep - real sleep of more than 10 or 15 minutes at a time. I had several long (40 minute) sleeps and a few 20 minute ones.   This morning, I have been starting my little jobs - as we surf along. I have repaired one of my runners, and after my porridge, I will get going on the other side......"  sent by e-mail by Sam today.

 

November 12. 2008 at 06:15 PMGitana Eighty gybed

«I gybed around an hour and a half ago (at 13h30, editor): the wind is very variable in direction and strength and I'd say it's not very pleasant working. I'm paying close attention to the adjustments to ensure I get the most out of Gitana Eighty. The temperature is gradually rising and I saw some baby flying fish just now. However, it's not yet really the skies you associate with the trade winds, but that will come with time. Our boats are very demanding and require our attention at all time. Maintenance is an ongoing affair and particularly after periods of sailing in stormy conditions, as at the start of the race. Things really went flying on board the boat and I had a lot of cleaning up to do. I'm gradually returning to the daily routine of a round the world sailor!» explained Loïck Peyron (Gitana Eighty) to his shore team in the middle of the afternoon.

November 12. 2008 at 05:57 PMKito and Yannick in Les Sables tonight

Kito de Pavant (Groupe Bel) and Yannick Bestaven (Aquarelle.com) are due in Les Sables d’Olonne tonight. The two sailors, both very disappointed, are going to require all the support of the people of Les Sables, who will certainly turn out in force to greet them.

November 12. 2008 at 05:50 PMThe work never stops in the commercial harbour

Three 60-foot monohulls crossed each other's path in the commercial harbour in Les Sables d’Olonne, either to have their mast removed, or to restep the mast, or to be taken out of the water. However, they have not had much time for a chat.

After arriving at noon, Alex Thomson quickly removed the mast on his damaged Hugo Boss. In his wake, the Canadian, Derek Hatfield did the same to repair his mast track, which had snapped off. Two hours later, Hugo Boss was lifted out of the water by crane with 5-metre long strips of carbon hanging down, which does not look very promising for the repairs that lie ahead. The team bailed out several buckets of water from the cockpit as the boat was raised in the air. The port workers did not really have time to catch their breath. The mast on Cheminées Poujoulat needed restepping. Bernard Stamm and his team have completed the repairs to the mast and boomerang on the top level of spreaders. The Swiss sailor hopes to set out for good this time during the night.

November 12. 2008 at 05:46 PMWhat the leader says

«A busy day today, as I'm going to have to gybe this afternoon. It's very important, because this tack should take me all the way to the Doldrums. For the moment, the weather conditions are pleasant: Sailing downwind in 15-20 knots of wind with a two metre swell. It's not really sunny, but at least it's not raining. Now, life on board has improved considerably. Today's the first time I have opened my daily rations and last night I had my first hot meal. I haven't finished tidying up inside, but I promise I'll do it in the coming days, as well as filming some videos and inspecting the boat. I'm pleased to be the leader, but we're going to have to wait for the gybe to see exactly what happens. The pack chasing after me could well pass in front. The most important thing is I'm in the Top 5 and for everything else, we'll see later on.»  Sébastien Josse (BT)

November 12. 2008 at 05:41 PMWaiting to gybe

«I'm well positioned to the west, where the wind will be veering first. The high-pressure area is not that weak after all and I'll have plenty of wind to gybe. I got a good sleep last night. I thought that consequently I would be a bit behind, but it looks fine. I'll be gybing in two hours (at 15h00, editor). The wind will continue to blow at round 15-20 knots in the coming hours. I'm pleased about my position. I'm sailing within sight of Brit Air, which is just behind me,» explained Vincent Riou (PRB) to his shore team early this afternoon.

November 12. 2008 at 04:40 PMThe waiting game for Jean-Baptiste Dejeanty

With some large cracks in the deck of his Maisonneuve, Jean-Baptiste Dejeanty does not yet know whether he will be setting sail again, not simply because of the time it will take to carry out solid repairs, but also because of safety issues.

«The work required is technically not very complicated. The problem is how long the repairs will take. For this type of job, you have to carry out the work in stages waiting for everything to dry and preferably in warm conditions. Easy enough in a boatyard, but more difficult in a port, under tarpaulins. They're going to have to turn the heat up in Port Olona! Today, all I want is to set sail again. I'm disappointed, a bit disgusted, as everything was going so well right up to the incident. The problem is that if I set sail ten days after the others, not only are we in a different race, but it would also mean sailing in the far south completely alone away from the fleet in hostile conditions. That becomes a safety issue. We'll see how things go and we shall probably be taking a decision on Friday.»

As soon as she was back in Les Sables d’Olonne at 1h00 this morning, Maisonneuve moored up at the Vendée Globe pontoon. A support team of seven people set up a work area on the boat under tarpaulins and started to cut away the cracked area in the middle of the monohull to judge the extent of the damage. Throughout the night the team worked with Jean-Baptiste. This morning a composites engineer came to help the team and this afternoon an expert is on the way from Brest.

November 12. 2008 at 04:16 PMIn the words of the Basque

"For two days we have not been able to sail for the race. We have been simply trying to survive. I hope we can now start sailing and live the race. It has been really hard, we knew the difficulty of this zone and what we could expect. Now the wind is calming down and the sailing is more bearable. I am very well and so is the boat," said the Basque sailor, Unai Basurko (Pakea Bizkaia) this morning.