Vendée Globe

November 20. 2008 at 07:44A passenger joins Rich Wilson

Rich Wilson is in 21st place this morning on his Great American III sailing on what appears to be an easterly option 507 miles from the leader.  During the night he looked back on the main events of his day.   

"This afternoon I finally lowered the reacher and hoisted the big genaker. I targeted a full-on effort to do the swap in 30 minutes. Made it to the minute. In gybing this morning several times, the last one had a sheet go over the side and get jammed in the windward port rudder, between the blade and the cassette that holds it. This was difficult to resolve. The rudders are supposed to kick up out of the water if they hit something hard enough, but the rudders on this boat don't come out of the water all the way. So after the sheet hit the rudder, it only came out part of the way. A rudder that is partially out of the water is a bad situation, because if it gets hit by a wave from the side, it could break. I knew I had to get the rudder out of the water as quickly as I could.  I put a line on the rudder and hoisted it clear of the water. Then I hung out over the stern with the boat going about 10 knots, and I pulled on the line until I was able to work it free. Going downwind as we were, the boat can use the effect of both rudders, so we were lucky not to have a wipeout or gybe."

"A bird came aboard late afternoon. It's never a good sign, either the bird is sick, or injured, or old, if they can't just fly along at sea, and need a lift. Hopefully, we'll get to within 20 miles of the first Cape Verde islands, and he'll go, to try to get to land. He's beautiful, white, preening, and when I go to the cockpit (he's standing on the stern now), he'll fly to the masthead and stand up there, hopefully taking care with our instruments."

November 20. 2008 at 06:52Dee looks ahead

Dee Caffari (Aviva) is in still in 16th place this morning, currently sailing around halfway between Cape Verde and The Doldrums, 345 miles from the leader. Yesterday evening she expressed a few thoughts about her situation.
"I am so aware of how visible every loss or gain is for everyone watching the race and my biggest fear is letting people down. So I have grasped today and am concentrating on sailing Aviva ever closer to the Pot au Noir as that is my next obstacle. Following that we can celebrate the Equator with Neptune. I will make mistakes and I have seen some already but the greatest fact of all is being out here to make them. My sponsor and team have given me a fantastic opportunity andI can't wait to put everything I learn from this voyage into the next races.
Already my feeling for the boat grows and after a few thousand miles we will be pushing a greater pace I am sure. So we continue south, Aviva and I, with little hitches to the west hoping for a favourable crossing of the doldrums and looking at what those ahead are encountering at the same time.  To celebrate my sailing south the iPod has finally been retrieved from the bottom of a kit bag and we have been cruising to Mika and Nickleback in style today."

November 20. 2008 at 06:26Is west best?

In the 5h rankings, Roland Jourdain (Veolia Environnement) climbed two places from tenth to eighth (in these rankings, Vincent Riou, was nevertheless not positioned).  Bilou's westerly option has begun to pay off. Yesterday in the first rankings of the day, he was 164 miles behind Peyron, while now the gap is cut to 121 miles. Bilou has now overtaken his old friend, Jean Le Cam, back in ninth place. By moving off to the west, Bilou hopes to avoid getting slowed down as much in the Doldrums. However, he will need to watch out, as the Doldrums may not have had their final word.

November 19. 2008 at 21:08A different universe

Jérémie Beyou sums up the situation facing the frontrunners tonight by quoting a famous meteorologist, who said, "When you leave land behind and go to sea, you completely change your time - space continuum: what takes just one minute on Earth, will take hours at sea. You have to learn to adapt."  He then adds his own personal thought about the current predicament,   "In calms like these, sailing just four miles can take several hours. And it's not over yet..."

 

November 19. 2008 at 19:55Peyron's ponderings

Loick Peyron: “I’m well rested, which is preferable given what lies in store for us. It’s currently 32°C inside Gitana Eighty and the water temperature is 29°C”. Loïck Peyron can’t resist a hint of mischievousness: “I’m considering the possibility of having a little dip, especially if the wind continues to drop away! It’s gradually easing, very slowly. I think we’ll hold onto this for another 24 to 30 hours at this pace. Today the exit would seem to be located 300 miles ahead if all goes well. However, as we all know, launching into predictions here smacks slightly of utopia. You have to bear in mind that it could change for the better or worse without warning! For the time being it’s sunny, which contrasts with previous days and there is still no sign of the classic Doldrums”.
“I forced my way down last night so as to position myself directly in line with the chasing pack. I may serve as a pacemaker to them of course but I didn’t want to find myself in an extreme situation. I am happy with my new position. My strategy is clear; to make headway to the south and above all not think about it too much. I’ve made my decision and I’m calmly sticking to it! I will be the first little boy to give sweets to the nasty lady and I really hope I don’t have to leave her too many…”.
 “I’m helming a little in the shade but I sometimes leave the pilot to helm whilst I keep watch. You have to be on top  of things as some very fine and tricky trimming is required. All’s well aboard though. I still have some fresh food in the locker and I’m making the most of it in this heat. I’m thoroughly respecting the rule of five fresh fruit and vegetables a day!”

November 19. 2008 at 19:35Dominique Wavre slowed down

"I have less than 6 knots of wind at the moment. The grib files forecast a little more for me today. It feels like I’m already in the Doldrums, even though I’m still some 200 miles away. I’m making 6 knots of boat speed. We’re being shaken up by a slight swell and the boat is struggling to find a favourable point of sail. This zone of high pressure has been slowing me down since midday. I felt it gradually creep up on me in the early hours and the situation hasn’t really sorted itself out since."
Dominique Wavre (Temenos)
 

November 19. 2008 at 19:02Beyou becoming a boar

"Since the start I've become more like a boar rather than a civilised being!  A boar, because I've grown a beard and worry about my machine and the weather, and am completely obsessed by my performance. The boar's only concern  is to be ahead of the pack and make sure he has enough to eat in the evening. Take advantage of these final sentences that remain understandable, before I become increasing inward looking.  This race is tough and takes over.  While it is a pleasure to share my feelings and experiences, I get the feeling that the further I go, the different the language we speak. 20 knots under spinnaker, is a bit too much.  Got to go now!" Jérémie Beyou (Delta Dore).

 

November 19. 2008 at 18:32Today's best performance

The skipper of Cheminées Poujoulat is currently sailing downwind off the Canaries, and covered  277.9 miles over the past 24 hours. Pushed along by a steady trade wind, the Swiss sailor was pleased with the conditions he has been experiencing since Cape Finisterre. Ranked 24th, 1133 miles from the leader, of all of the fleet, he made the best progress today.

 

November 19. 2008 at 17:40Squalls for Derek Hatfield

The skipper of Algimouss Spirit of Canada, sailing off Madeira, sent this message to the race directors this afternoon:
"All OK on board, trying hard to make some inroads to boats ahead. There are some squalls around that are threatening to upset the sailing routine and I must be vigilant to avoid breakages during the storms.  All the best, Derek" 
 

November 19. 2008 at 14:53Some tough choices for Jonny Malbon

"Well I have to say it has been another difficult 24 hours on board. None of the weather models have borne any resemblance to reality. This makes planning anything very difficult, but worst of all it leaves the day wide open to worry and check and double check all the routing solutions. This is very time consuming and very unrewarding when you come away with no real answers, predictions or routes!  It also leads me to think that all my instruments were misreading, and giving false readouts!! This is not good especially when I am sailing downwind and each gybe (change in direction) takes about 40 mins and is VERY labour intensive. Anyway I think I have cracked it; rather than barrel west to get in line behind the others I have gybed back to the south. We shall have to see if it pans out over the next few days. I have some confidence in this particular model, so I will be keeping my fingers crossed! If things don’t materialise quite how I envisage, I can still head west after the Cape Verde islands which are now approx 100 miles south of me.

My beard is getting long enough not to be itchy now, so I will have to decide whether to keep and go full man of the sea, or whether to have a shave in the doldrums. Tough decision I hear you say!! Those are the kind of things that fill up the rest of my day – shall I have a cup of tea now, or in five minutes is another common one!!"

Jonny Malbon (Artemis) currently in 19th place, 467 miles from the leader