Vendée Globe

November 20. 2008 at 19:58Less pressure on Stamm

"For several days, Cheminées Poujoulat has been sailing under spinnaker towards the Equator and the Doldrums. Looking at the speeds in the last scheds, some competitors look like they intend to moor up in the Doldrums.  I must not get too cocky though, as my time will come soon enough.  Life on board is starting to fall in place and I've got into a rhythm with the weather data and meals that I try to organise for the same time as back ashore. The rest of the time I spend getting the boat moving as fast as possible downwind, which means there is a lot of work.  I have to keep making small adjustments, work on the trim, change the sails and steer.  In amongst all that I need to remember to rest in order not to get run down.  It's not always easy to do. For me it may be a bit easier as the pressure comes from the clock and not from being surrounded by ten other competitors."

 

November 20. 2008 at 19:31Dee Caffari, your tourist guide

Passing through the Cape Verde Islands, Dee Caffari (Aviva) is your tour guide in her latest video, which you can view by simply clicking on the video in the media section

November 20. 2008 at 19:15Yann in his boxer shorts

"I have a very light easterly wind and the heat is intense. We're close to the Equator and you feel that with the extreme stickiness inside and outside the boat. To be honest, I'm in my boxer shorts, wearing a hat and covered myself in sun cream.  Fortunately we got away from the autumn lows ten days ago: the body has had time to get used to this huge type of change in the weather! "

 

November 20. 2008 at 18:23Ready for the Doldrums

Contacted by his shore team this afternoon, Dominique Wavre (Temenos) is about to enter the Doldrums.
"Since this morning, I’ve had a steady wind and I’m making due south. It’s not very fast but we’re back in a classic NE’ly air flow again. The lack of trade winds yesterday was really unexpected. What’s happening today is already more normal; it’s as if there was a 24 hour delay in the forecast. This morning I was able to sleep, which enabled me to rest as much as possible. I’m in good shape and on the attack for the Doldrums. We should hit it tonight or tomorrow but for the time being, I still can’t see the characteristic cloud formations on the horizon. That would suggest that the entrance doesn’t lie within the next 30 miles.  The Doldrums has been shifting southwards since yesterday. If ever we go through it at the point where it climbs northwards from the south, that could be a good opportunity to get through it a little easier at its narrowest point, which would be a good thing. I’d prefer not to get ahead of myself though; this zone may still have so many surprises in store for us.”  

 

November 20. 2008 at 17:00Don't fear your mistakes

From Dee Caffari on Aviva, today:

“The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one."

~ Elbert Hubbard ~

“This was sent to me and how right it is. 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 and I 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 Nickelback in style today.”

Dee and Aviva

November 20. 2008 at 13:40The Life of Brian Day 11

From Brian Thompson, GBR, (Bahrain Team Pindar): "It’s been a day in the sail loft for me on board Bahrain Team Pindar. I have been working on the A3 sail since 10am yesterday, through much of the night and will take at least all of today to get it finished. Hopefully then I can put it up to furl it and see if she stays up.

Much of yesterday was spent laboriously unwrapping the sail, as it was furled in 2 sections, above and below the luff to the tear in the middle. I had to unwrap the sail around and around the luff cable. With a 15m foot length you end up with a lot of sail to wind underneath and over its own luff cable again and again.

After finally exposing the luff cable, which I was most happy to see, it was a matter of finding out whether any bits of the sail were missing, by following the tear on both sides. That was fortunately fine and so then on to the actual repair, which is a combination of cuben fibre sticky back cloth, sikaflex and spray glue. No stitching required, according to our sail designer Yann.

It’s a long and tedious job, but the effort will be well rewarded with the joy to come if the sail goes into the air and stays together. That will be a nervous moment! I spent much of the night working on the sail, out of the sun with the light of the headtorch. Took a few naps on the folds of Cuben cloth, with the stars above and the boat doing 8 knots, it was great, its not often you can do that on a round the world trip..

Fortunately, I had this ideal weather window now where there was no water on the deck to unroll the sail, and little apparent wind to blow the sail off the deck once it was unrolled. I need to take advantage of this time, as otherwise I will be working in the forepeak in the SE trades, which won’t be nearly so pleasant. Certainly there was no way I could have unrolled it by myself in the forepeak..

Had a close encounter of the Roxy kind yesterday, I was busy unwrapping my Cuben fiber early Xmas present on deck when in came Sam on starboard, She gybed about a mile ahead and we spent most of the day glued together. We had a chat on the telephone as one of our radios must be acting up, and all is well on board Roxy. During the night I lost sight of her, and this morning she crossed my bow on starboard, heading out to the SW.

Sailing with Sam reminds me of sailing these same waters in the 2001 mini transat race which we both did, together with Arnaud Boissiere and Yannick Bestaven. Four mini sailors from one edition of the Transat now doing the Vendee, quite remarkable. It’s a big shame that Yannick had his dismasting in the beautifully revamped ex Aquitane Innovation of Yves Parlier. It’s certainly very different sailing on the IMOCA 60 with internet access, phone lines and access to expensive weather models. In the mini there was no access to the outside except your short wave radio receiver and your VHF. Having the information now is fascinating ( and essential for safety in the South) and being able to call home and tell everyone you are ok is priceless, but there was that simplicity in the mini to have more time just to sail the boat and be in the elements. The IMOCA 60 is part boat, part workshop, part weather station, part media company and part general office. But what a boat!

I think I will stay on port for now, as the doldrums should be clearing out as I get there.I am very happy to have got the westing in the day before yesterday as there was always much lighter wind to my east till now. Also this gybe is much better for the sail repair, so an added bonus. I should have a slight net gain on the leaders for this doldrum crossing if the weather models are right, though the leaders will start to make some progress today as the wind fills in for them too.

Currently on A2 spinnaker and full main and wind is up to 10 knots.

Naturewatch Ocean:  Saw a second stormy petrel today, and some flying fish.

34 degrees in the cabin today, water temp 27.9 degrees at 925N 2744W.

Brian."

November 20. 2008 at 12:39A wash and shave for Unai

You can see the latest video from Unai Basurko (Pakea Bizkaia), with his boat gliding along to the south-east of the Cape Verde Islands.  Just click on the video in the media section.

 

November 20. 2008 at 12:16Powering up

Derek Hatfield (Algimouss Spirit of Canada) is currently in 25th place, 1483 miles from the leader to the north-west of the Canaries.  

"I have been attempting to deal with a battery/charging problem for the past day so I may have suffered a little bit in the standings on the fleet. This problem was caused by the storm just after the start in the Bay of Biscay and it was not detected when we returned to the start line. I am more or less back up to speed now but watching the batteries very closely as I have not been able to solve the problem. I will continue to work on a solution.  Otherwise everything is good on board. The sailing is fantastic and the weather nice."

November 20. 2008 at 11:33A missing spoon

In third place, 30 miles from the leader, Jean-Pierre Dick (Paprec Virbac2) talked to his shore team this morning
"Yesterday was a bit stressful and I didn't get much rest.  I worked hard in the calms, but it's not easy.  There are sail changes all the time as you need to adapt to some very fluctuating conditions. The night was a bit quieter and I managed to sleep a little. The most important thing is I've lost my spoon.  Fortunately, I have a spare, but if I lose this one..."  

 

November 20. 2008 at 09:33Jean-Baptiste's night message

"Hi there! Everything is fine.  I've just clocked up 430 miles in 24 hours! After this long tack to the west, I'm really well positioned now to cover the North Atlantic in one tack! The wind eased during the night (20 knots), which enabled me to sleep a bit more than usual. In fact, I'm still in my sleeping bag.  During the night, the boat pitched into a wave, surfing along at 24 knots. I went sliding in my sleeping bag, from my bunk right across to the mast compartment.  Apart from that the boat has been marvellous and the automatic pilot is just incredible. I'd never tested this new generation in these conditions and I can say I'm really pleased about it. Will soon be under spinnaker...JB"   Jean-Baptiste Dejeanty (Groupe Maisonneuve)