Vendée Globe

November 16. 2008 at 21:13Dee: Clean boat, clean skipper, faster AVIVA

" Light winds resulted in housework and shower time onboard Aviva. The boat
has been checked from bow to stern and tidied up and also I have taken a
shower and washed my hair which made me feel better despite losing so many
miles. The hard work of gybing and sail changes may have paid off now as we have
come into more breeze allowing us a fast sail south."

 

November 16. 2008 at 21:09Mike Golding, going to the top.

Mike Golding told his support team about his mast climb yesterday: 

"The conditions were enough to keep the boat going and I had been  waiting for the chance to be able to climb the rig without stopping the boat.  The wand itself was fine, it was just everything that it sits in that had broken off the rig.  It was not an easy task as the problem with self climbing is that it is difficult to get high enough, so I was having to work over my head."

 "I finally managed to remove the carbon piece, which was quite big about 200x200mm, as I didn't want it to stay there and potentially   fall into the rig and start chafing halyards etc, so I brought the  whole thing down."

"The other two forward facing wands are OK and I still have my  windgear, so I can count my blessings," .

 "I am annoyed that I have lost a bit of ground on the boats around  me, but I hope that I have now found the right balance and am back on it now.  I am struggling between the gennaker and the spinnaker   and am trying to work out why everyone seems to be going into the Cape Verde Islands.  I want to try and get to the right hand side of everyone as I'm having to deviate from my routing to get round the islands."

November 16. 2008 at 18:18No miracle solution

"For the moment I'm just pleased to be making quick headway towards the south. It's not easy to identify the best way to pass the Cape Verde Islands, which lie straight ahead. I don't yet know what I'll do. The timing is also significant as conditions vary considerably between day and night. I'll be doing it by day, while the three leaders will tackle it earlier during the night. One thing is certain. We're going to have to head off westwards to get through the Doldrums. There is no miracle solution."
Vincent Riou (PRB)
 

November 16. 2008 at 18:01Losing track of time

"It's all gone so quickly...I've completely lost track of time...So we're Sunday today, are we? For me there are no more days or weeks.. The days simply tick by with the arrival of each new weather chart and the scheds."  Yann Eliès (Générali)

November 16. 2008 at 16:50Jean-Baptiste Dejeanty has restarted the race

Jean-Baptiste Dejeanty (Maisonneuve) left the Vendée Globe pontoon at 16h47. Maisonneuve crossed the start line at 17h17'33". Light 6-knot NNE'ly wind and flat calm sea. Jean-Baptiste is sailing off to Cape Finisterre under gennaker and full mainsail. 

November 16. 2008 at 16:36Looking out over the veranda

"A Sunday out on the veranda (Akena for those, who don't understand).  During the gales, I broke my windvane, so I've just replaced it and it works.  I'm pleased my student friend (Fred ) came and explained to me with a (climbing) demonstration and gave me the equipment.  So I carried out  a check-up while I was up there.  Guillaume (one of the support team) had me down to go up twice during the round the world voyage: so that's one down!  Once I was up there, I had a great view, but I couldn't wait to get back down." Arnaud Boissières (Akena Vérandas)

 

November 16. 2008 at 16:11Getting in and out

"The important thing is to be in the right pack, the actual positioning is less an issue. It's very satisfying to have sailed well, to have taken the right options. Then again, it's not like we have been the first ones to enter the Southern Ocean.  The Doldrums still have to be crossed and that could wipe out our lead.  The passage through the Cape Verde Islands is another story.  There are several ways in and out, so  it's an interesting tactical moment."  Sébastien Josse (BT).

November 16. 2008 at 16:05News of Raphael Dinelli (Fondation Ocean Vital).

It was noticed that Fondation Ocean Vital had been making slow headway since yesterday evening and her course was rather erratic.  Contacted by telephone, Raphael Dinelli confirmed that as he was becalmed, he preferred to lower his sails, which were flapping around. In such circumstances the wear and tear on the sails and equipment can be significant, and  he has only just begun his round the world voyage, which is likely to last at least 80 days.  Taking advantage of the sunshine, Raphaël was able to check his batteries were charging correctly (using chiefly his solar panels) and that the results match the expectations of the designers.

 

November 16. 2008 at 14:02Words don't come easy

"Talking on the link-up for the radio session is a complicated task. I wouldn't go as far as Loïck and say that it was downright rude to disturb me on my boat, but it's just that sometimes it's rather difficult to find the words to explain what is going on aboard the boat, what is happening in the race and how I feel. Anyway, just now, I was asked what I thought about the pace of the race after one week at sea.  I was incapable of uttering the slightest sensible answer.  I just repeated the same thing over and over: a miserable performance.  It's not going to stop me from getting any sleep, but it's just that I feel that I didn't quite manage to convey my thoughts to you, which really annoys me."

Some thoughts about Kito de Pavant:
"I can remember hugging him on the day of the start and telling him to take care...
I still haven't called him, because I don't have the courage and I'm afraid that it will bring the bad memories flooding back.  It's a good example of the commitment you find in this race.  For a moment your reason returns and you ease off.  I feel so sad for the friends, who are back on dry land and there's my natural reserve too.  So, maybe Kito will read these words ...and Yannick, who has given his all to this crazy chase.  I know they will bounce back, as they've got the inner strength it takes.  Then, there's Marco! Usain Bolt can win the 100m Olympic sprint with his laces undone, but Thiercelin cannot win the Vendée Globe without a mast... Marc is a great bloke."

Jérémie Beyou (Delta Dore)

 

November 16. 2008 at 13:17Steve White Dolphin Friendly

An excerpt from the Steve White Blog today, all well on board Toe in the Water. Steve took time to inspect the front watertight compartments in the bow sections of the boat, and found them......watertight, a pleasing result since he had removed many deck fittings during their hasty refit in Les Sables d'Olonne

" I had to take the spinnaker down for a while to do some work on the end of the bowsprit, we wheren't moving very much anyway, so I figured then was as good a time as any. We had a new arrangement for the bit of string that holds the spinnakers out at the end of the bowsprit using a stainless steel ring for the rope to pass through rather than a nice block, and the ring was hacking it's way through my nice new peice of string! I got into the bosun's chair, put on a headtorch and hauled myself out to the end of the bowsprit and started sorting things out. It was flat calm by this point, and I was engrossed in what I as doing, with my backside two feet above the water so you can imagine my surprise when a dolphin surphaced to breathe right underneath me - I could have touched him, and I was close enough to get a good blast of  his breath! I nearly jumped out of my skin I can tell you. He was about five or six feet long I suppose, although he seemed about thirty when I saw him first! He wasn't at all afraid, just curious. Wherever you sail, the groups of dolphins seem to have different characters, sometimes they stay and play, sometimes they don't, sometimes they just cross your path and don't stop at all like they're really on a mission, but these ones are still here some hours later."