Vendée Globe

November 22. 2008 at 08:26Sam planning her Equator celebrations

Sam Davies (Roxy) has made it through the Doldrums and is now in 13th place, 217 miles from the leader.

"Well, the Doldrums was very kind to us this year! Our little group of boats (Temenos, Pindar, Roxy and Safran) managed to slip through without really slowing down. Now we are careening along upwind in the SE trade winds, just North of the equator. The reason that we had no "doldrums" was because I wanted a light patch of wind to re-do a lashing at the top of my mainsail, which meant dropping the sail, working at radar-height  in my climbing harness, and then re-hoisting. So, I had to do it in 16 knots of wind, which was a little challenging, but totally do-able. The good thing was that the re-hoist was less hard as I went to one reef! With just the solent up, we actually didn't slow down too much either.
So, now it is an upwind ride for a while, where I struggle to keep up with these new powerful boats, so I will be trying as hard as I can to keep Roxy at 110% all the time! Tomorrow I will cross the equator, so I shall make my offering to Neptune (he gets champagne and chocolate) to thank him for looking after us so far and to negotiate good winds for the rest of the trip!"

 

November 22. 2008 at 07:57Dee's Doldrums

This message was written by Dee Caffari (Aviva), shortly before she was overtaken by Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) last night.  This morning, she is in 16th place, 341 miles from the leader.

"All was well while we were in clear skies with an easterly breeze, then we entered the Doldrums.  The first black cloud, I laughed at as it barely washed the deck. In fact all it did was make the Sahara Dust run like mud. Then I entered the Daddy of all clouds and ended up seeing 20 knots and after a variety of directions it came from the west. My course now was all over the place as I could only sail in what I was in and the clouds were giving localised effects. The clouds would pick me up and spit me out in no wind calm patches. Getting wet every so often was good as it was really hot but   there was so much to do washing was not an option, still a fresh water rinse is as good in my book! Now it is dark and the fun has vanished. There is no moon and no indication of the clouds. The radar shows you the worst of the cloud but as you sail you are just waiting and feeling for what is going to happen next. I am writing this as I saw a clear patch ahead and I also just had to get out of my wet clothes as I was starting to get cold." 

 

November 22. 2008 at 07:38Upside down heeled over

"We're going to spend quite a few days heeled over to the right – I'd say about a week – and so it is important for the boat to be ready for that.  This latest phase is going to be a compromise between speed and course. I'm going to have to get used to this angle and the lop, but the next few days offer an opportunity to recover before turning off. We now have our sights set on the St. Helena high. Today, it isn't very clear, as it's moving around and trying to establish itself, but that's some time off anyway."  Loïck Peyron (Gitana 80)

November 22. 2008 at 07:02Friday evening hold-up

Message sent during the night by Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia), who was slowed down at the start of this week-end:
«Always the same on Friday evenings heading back home on the motorway.  You must know the toll booth at St Arnoult?  At 17H, you always get stuck and this evening nothing's moving here very fast and then there are the guys telling me I've been driving too fast to get here... So I was kept in for a while and we all get wet in the rain.  22h.  They let me go.  Move along now.  In fact, the trade wind had reappeared and the final dark squall was gone. What a joker, this St Arnoult!  Next?  Saint Helena.  She's not on the motorway to the west, but to the south.  Mich."

 

November 21. 2008 at 23:50Loïck Peyron crosses the Equator

At 21 h UTC  this evening (Friday), LoÏck Peyron (Gitana 80) became the first competitor to enter the southern hemisphere.  You can watch a video of this by clicking on video in the media section.

November 21. 2008 at 20:59Tennessee rock in mid-Atlantic

So what do you do, when you're in 19th place, 361 miles from the leader sailing at the latitude of Sierra Leone, waiting to see what will happen , when the Doldrums come up?  Obvious really.  Just  relax and put on some Kings of Leon at full volume or why not watch a video of Flight of the Conchords on your mobile?  That is what Jonny Malbon has been up to this morning...
 

November 21. 2008 at 20:40Picking them off one by one

Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) is continuing to work his way back up the fleet. Still in sixteenth place at 20h, Mich’ Desj’ is only four miles behind Dee Caffari (Aviva) in terms of distance to the finish. In reality,the "Professor" is a bit further south then Dee, but ten miles or so further west. Logically, he should grab 15th place during the night. Ahead lies Marc Guillemot (Safran), 75 miles in front of him. So it looks like it will start to get a bit tougher from now on...

 

November 21. 2008 at 19:41Dominique's surprise

Dominique Wavre (Temenos) in eleventh place, 178 miles from the leader was very surprised today at how easy it was to get through the Doldrums.

"Things are going very well. The Doldrums has been rapidly devoured. We got through it without encountering any opposition. It was limited to a very slight reduction in pace for an hour, that’s all! According to the latest satellite charts the zone was pretty clear effectively and this is the reason that I didn’t see any big clouds appearing in the sky, as is normally the case. I was expecting a relatively easy passage but perhaps not quite to this extent. It’s certainly the very first time it’s gone like this. I’m still surprised about it!"

November 21. 2008 at 17:58Today's best performance

For the second day in a row, Jean-Baptiste Dejeanty bringing up the rear of the fleet, is awarded the title of today's best performer, having covered 340 miles in 24h between 16h on Thursday and 16h on Friday. The skipper of Groupe Maisonneuve, currently sailing off the Canaries, restarted the race a week after the initial start, in order to carry out repairs to the deck of his boat. 

 

November 21. 2008 at 17:14Hot and sticky - for the moment

After overtaking Steve White (Toe in the Water) and Arnaud Boissières (Akena Vérandas), Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) is in 16th place, 273 miles from the leader with Dee Caffari firmly in his sights. Like the other competitors around him, he has certainly noticed the heat:

"I try to sleep when I can... As soon as I'm no longer under spinnaker, I take advantage to grab some rest.  As soon as the wind shifts, like it did during the night, when I was under reacher, I go for a sleep.  It's wet here all the time.  It's never-ending.  The air temperature is around 30°C and it didn't drop off during the night. As soon as you carry out any manoeuvres, you wear just you boxer shorts, or otherwise you'd die with the heat.  I just put on my trousers to protect my legs from the sun.  It could be a lot worse.  I prefer doing manoeuvres sweating like this, as a month from now, when I try to do the same manoeuvre, it will be with a temperature of just 5°C..."