Vendée Globe

November 24. 2008 at 18:01And six days from now?

"I took in a reef for the first time in three days! The gusts were above 20 knots. The sea is choppy. They need a steam roller to flatten it out here… It was a busy night with calms and squalls, especially as the sea wasn't in the same direction as the wind.  I haven't touched the helm since I came out of the Doldrums! The pilot doesn't use much energy. I keep looking at the weather  and wondering about about the options the leaders are taking… It's going to be very different six days from now." Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia)

 

November 24. 2008 at 17:34Black-legged kittiwakes

"The wind is very unstable. So consequently I spend a lot of time manoeuvring the mainsail and jib, even if most of the time I have a reef in the main. I also play around with the ballast, when the boat starts slamming too much. It feels like a little front has gone over.  Yesterday evening, after a squall, I fell into a wind hole for an hour (less than 6 knots). I took advantage of the occasion to lower the mainsail and inspect the traveller cars. It is very hot and it's not easy to eat or sleep during the day. The advantage is that solar panels are recharging the batteries, which means I don't need to start the engine, which is another source of heat.  The Veranda is still heeled over 
from left to right, which could give you a crick in the neck.
 As for the view, there are blue skies with two metre high waves from the E-SE.  I've seen some kittiwakes that I managed to identify in my book. They hunt flying fish and kick up a racket.  Great to see them." Arnaud Boissières (Akena Vérandas) by e-mail.

 

November 24. 2008 at 17:08The angel Gabriel

"I passed the island of Santo Antao late last night, so that has taken me just over a week! A good score!  This island has a peak rising up to 3000 metres and I felt the wind shadow this morning, although I was over sixty miles away. Maisonneuve has been sailing at Mach 3 for a week, and it's a bit tiring.  After a  week like that, your ears need some rest! I'm pleased to be down at Cape Verde. It's a place I love even if during the 2005 Transat Jacques Vabre, we nicknamed them the Calvary Islands (due to the lack of wind) and I stopped here too during the Mini 6.50 to repair my spreaders… I do have some good memories though.  Mindelo on the island of Sao Vicente, where the welcome was tremendous, particularly a certain Gabriel (a local angel?), who looked after me to take care of all my problems and showed me around, offering me food.   I visited Césaria Evora's house and discovered the music of Cape Verde." Jean-Baptiste Dejeanty (Maisonneuve)

 

November 24. 2008 at 16:02Heading for the high

"We haven't been doing too badly since last night. The wind suddenly shifted in the right direction and is currently averaging 20 knots. That wasn't really what was in the forecasts. So now we're sailing directly towards the St. Helena high. Will we get held up there? Maybe. This voyage down the South Atlantic is taking some time. This part of the race, on the way down and indeed on the way up, is fairly routine." Loïck Peyron (Gitana Eighty)

November 24. 2008 at 15:06Derek's Doldrums practice

"Yesterday was practice day for the doldrums. A weak low pressure system seems to be crossing in front of me and the result is that for 24 hours now I have had very light winds. A very frustrating day indeed as I never sleep during the slow times as I don't want to miss any opportunities to take
advantage of the wind. I must say I'm feeling a bit unlucky with the weather systems that I have encountered so far in the race. I must get my head into the weather files a bit more than I have been but this is a double edge sword; more computer time, more energy consumed. Oh well, I think I'm whining a a bit too much here, I just need to get on with it. My turn with the good luck with the weather will come."  Derek Hatfield (Algimouss-Spirit of Canada)

 

November 24. 2008 at 12:04Jérémie Beyou, afraid of imagining the worst

"Not the easiest of nights. The top set of spreaders, which I thought were not looking good, finally gave up the ghost.  Tried to secure the mast with the halyards in between the squalls and in particular, in between the cargo vessels.  There are people on land and at sea, who are very understanding, but others, who are crazy idiots.  Some cargo boats call you up and change course, while others pretend they haven't understood...

The goal is to reach somewhere to shelter with the mast in one piece. For the moment I'm not looking any further ahead than that for now, perhaps because I'm pragmatic or perhaps, because I am afraid of imagining the worst.

How do I feel today? A sort of hatred. The desire to start all over again,and find myself several weeks ago back in Les Sables with some other mast parts and ready to go. But time machines don't exist. I'm going to have to wait four years, enter other races and try to forget this one.  Let's not be too dramatic.  Worse things happen in life.  But I'm not the only one involved in this project.  It's tough too for Delta Dore, my team , friends and family.
Apart from feeling sad for myself, I feel upset for them too. "  Jérémie Beyou (Delta Dore)

 

November 24. 2008 at 10:13A bumpy road

Message from Armel Le Cléac’h (Brit'Air)
"Start of the third week on Brit'Air off Brazil.  Heading south on a bumpy country road (which is need of repairs..) before we reach the motorway… Everyone seems to be in a hurry and we're trying not to get stuck in a traffic jam.  I spotted my old mate, M. Riou during the night and now Brit'Air is out to the left. So I don't have time to get bored and no time to stop for a snack, as I must respect my schedule… So it looks like another sandwich at the wheel : as long s the police don't see."  

 

November 24. 2008 at 09:29Bernard dozes off for 4 hours

"Hi there.  The Doldrums were rather trying.  Yesterday evening, after 24 hours of non-stop squalls, the situation stabilized somewhat. I took advantage of that to tidy up the boat, eat and sleep for an hour. In fact, it turned into a four-hour long snooze!!!!  Cheminées Poujoulat came out of the Doldrums all by herself sailing well trimmed at 220 instead of 180°.  So consequently, I'm probably 40 miles further west than planned, out of the squalls but in some wind. The thundery zone was so active that it's no bad thing to have got out of there. Yesterday I entered into a squall at noon with 30 knots of wind and driving rain.  By 15h the squall had strengthened with the wind rising to 40 knots before dropping off to 30 an hour later.  When I decided to get some rest, I hadn't made it outside. Hope that gives you an idea of the extent of the phenomenon.  Time to get things back on track, as because extending the route is not something I had scheduled."

Bernard Stamm (Cheminées Poujoulat) by mail this morning

 

November 24. 2008 at 08:31Rock on with Jean-Pierre Dick

We learnt the other day that Jonny Malbon is a fan of Kings of Leon and cranks up the volume aboard Artemis to relax.  For Jean-Pierre Dick (Paprec-Virbac 2), French rock band, Téléphone seems to cheer him up.  You can see the effect on his latest video.  Just click on 'videos' in the media section.

 

November 24. 2008 at 07:32Sam's skiing holiday

"Hello everyone!

Now Roxy and I, like the rest of the fleet, are bouncing along upwind in the S Atlantic SE trade winds. Life is now existing at an angle of 30 degrees, on port tack, meaning that my right leg will soon be longer than my left one, added in with a few bumps as we are on "rough terrain"! Doing anything requires care, and I have been likening this to my skiing trips in Avoriaz, when I frequently find myself prostrate across a steep incline! The top tip is :"bend the knees" , "stand across the slope" and "always keep the weight on the downhill ski." It seems to work here too!

The wind is fairly stable, and the angle means that there is relatively little to be done to keep Roxy going fast - a few changes of sail trim, and occasionally a change from Solent to staysail or vice versa. This has meant that I can catch up on some sleep and rest. I have also done some morev weather study, and today I organised my i-tunes a bit better!" 

Sam Davies (Roxy)