Vendée Globe

November 25. 2008 at 23:02Dee's late night message

"All is good on board. It is a wet and bumpy ride that seems to be getting faster. I blew my mainsheet block today so had to drop the main and find a fix. With a new block lashed in place we hoisted the main again and are back sailing."  Dee Caffari (Aviva)

November 25. 2008 at 22:35Jérémie Beyou approaching Recife

"I know which parts are broken, but I need to inspect the standing rigging and the mast. It may be delaminating, where the spreaders kept hitting the mast.  Before repairing or setting sail again, I need to be certain that it's safe.  The whole of the Delta Dore team is in place, as are the suppliers. This is a massive blow for everyone, but we have to look at it calmly and rationally in Recife under shelter. I managed to climb up again to untangle the stays, but time is dragging.  The closer I get to Recife, the closer I get to the moment of truth." Jérémie Beyou (Delta Dore)  

 

November 25. 2008 at 19:16A race within the race

During today's radio session Brian Thompson (Pindar) talked about his current race within the race.  This afternoon, he is in eleventh place between Dominique Wavre and Marc Guillemot.

"We’ve got a little race on here with Temenos and Safran, and all day yesterday I was with Temenos, we had a very good sail in similar conditions to this.
How do we compare to Safran? We’re very different. We’ve been quite similar over the past couple of days, Safran has probably been a touch faster. She’s been a little bit more in the east, which may have helped her but there’s not much to choose between them.
I remember at the start Safran as well was very fast and she’s a particularly good boat upwind, which is surprising when you look at those curved foils, but maybe that long chine helps her go upwind as well. But it’s going very fast a lot of the time with Ecover as the boat with the highest averages."

 

November 25. 2008 at 18:58Stamm across the Equator

Cheminées Poujoulat crossed the Equator today at 16 h 35' 31'' (UTC).  Bernard Stamm restarted the race from Les Sables d'Olonne on 13th November and in spite of experiencing tricky conditions in the Bay of Biscay, where he was slowed down, the total time it has taken the Swiss sailor to reach the Equator is very similar to that of the race leaders, as Cheminées Poujoulat only took four hours longer than Gitana Eighty to cover this stretch.

November 25. 2008 at 18:36A tiny window to get through

Yann Eliès (Générali) is in 6th place 67.6 miles from the leader this evening, just over six miles ahead of Mike Golding.  
"There is a tiny window to get through at the St. Helena toll gate three or four days from now.  We're going to have to line up behind the leaders, so no one gets away.  If it was to close on those chasing on behind, once in the south, we should be achieving good speeds of around fifteen knots and it would be difficult after to claw their way back...He's (Loïck Peyron), setting the pace and leading the way at the front.  He is really impressive, because he never eases off in light or heavy weather.  With his pace and his precision in all the adjustments, he is truly impressive."

November 25. 2008 at 17:40Dominique kicking up the spray

Dominique Wavre (Temenos) is currently in 12th place, 253 miles from the leader sailing to the west of Brian Thompson and Marc Guillemot.  "We still have at least two days in these types of conditions and then the zone of high pressure seems to want to shift a little to the east, which would let us get past. It seems plausible that the frontrunners may be slowed at that point. If we’re to believe the routing, we may reduce the deficit by a hundred miles prior to the South African gate, but these forecasts have to be taken with a pinch of salt. The weather models aren’t always very pertinent when it comes to the movement of areas of high pressure. As a result it’s very difficult to make reliable forecasts. Though the zone of high pressure is moving slowly, I’m managing to slip along down its western edge and gain a bit of ground. If it shifts quickly I’ll have lost some ground so I’m taking a bit of a gamble on the reliability of the weather models. I’m trying to kick up some spray towards the anticyclone so that it shifts across at the right point! "

 

November 25. 2008 at 17:12Heeling, slamming and wet

Loïck Peyron (Gitana 80) is still in the lead this afternoon, 13 miles ahead of Sébastien Josse.  However, in spite of his sterling performance, even the leader finds the present sailing conditions rather unpleasant...

"Last night, there were storm squalls everywhere… as a result of a small neighbouring cold front! The wind is still fluctuating just as much as before in terms of strength, but the squalls are gradually giving way to greyish skies. I haven’t got sunshine yet, far from it, but we may well be heading towards a clearer spell. For the past 24 hours, the sea really hasn’t been very kind to us. On the nose and crossed… the seas are making life aboard complicated. You constantly have to hang on and watch every move you make in the boat. The current sea state isn’t as big or as powerful as that which we encountered in the Bay of Biscay during the storm of the first hours of racing, but it is considerably more unpleasant. It’s heeling, slamming and wet!   The past 24 hours certainly haven’t inspired me to take any long siestas in my bunk. However, that’s not such a bad thing as the numerous shifts in the wind require my presence on deck, which would leave me little time to sleep anyway. We have a real barrier in front of us! For the time being, we don’t have any choice,   but you still have to keep a constant eye on the zone of high pressure and respond quickly should the latter start to weaken."

 

November 25. 2008 at 16:46Broken wind vane

"Sailing quickly with the seas coming straight at us is tough. You really have to be on your toes, as the boat can go above twenty knots at times… You need to ease out the sails to slow down.  The wind is between 17 and 23 knots and PRB is averaging around 17 knots. I lost some ground in the night, as I had a problem with the wind vane at the top of the mast: I had to take care of the boat, change the pilot over, switch over the vane… We're taking the long way around.  It's quite a detour around the western edge of the high-pressure area.  But that is only what the forecast is telling us for now and we cannot rely 100% on it.  The changes in the trade winds are quite surprising: it's a bit stressful and they're really shaking us up.» Vincent Riou (PRB) on today's radio session.  

 

November 25. 2008 at 15:51Not what the brochure promised

In 2006, Dee Caffari became the first single-handed woman to sail round the world against the winds and currents.  She was expecting the voyage in the right direction to be more comfortable...

"This is not what the brochure promised – I’ve been done! I did this for six months and it sucks. And now I’m in a boat that really doesn’t like these conditions. But the difference this time is the noise. These Open 60 boats are very noisy upwind. I was sold the exciting downwind ride but here I am going upwind again. I’ve been sold a duff! It’s pretty uncomfortable – very wet on deck but still hot and sunny. It is hard to do stuff so its not easy living and it’s quite stressful. The waves are quite sharp and steep and everything jars when the boat crashes. The load is all on one side but there is no option to change anything because the other tack would be horrendous.  I am spending my time trimming, putting ballast in or out, or taking reefs out and putting them back in or looking at the weather or doing emails or checking my bilges. It seems ridiculous that there is so much to do. The wind is currently anything from 10-42 knots. It’s not too tiring but it is wearing because you want the boat to flatten out, to walk around the boat without having to hang on." Dee Caffari (Aviva)

 

November 25. 2008 at 15:15Extra motivation for Derek Hatfield

Derek Hatfield (Algimouss-Spirit of Canada) is currently in 25th place, 1487 miles from the leader.  After being slowed down due to some energy problems, the Canadian sailor is keeping an eye on Jean Baptiste Dejeanty (Groupe Maisonneuve), who is now under a hundred miles behind him.

"Approaching the doldrums now and I'm hoping that I will have as good a passage as the fleet did ahead of me. From the weather files, I might just get a break and make it through quickly. (Knock on wood). It was a great night last night, very dark but steady 19 knots of wind and good speeds.  Today I have all the sail up that I can find (mainsail and gennaker) and have been making good speeds towards the equator. I hand steered for 2 hours this morning and will do the same this afternoon. I'm feeling the heat from Jean Baptiste who is right behind pushing hard to catch up. He is providing me with some motivation to pick up the pace now that I sort of come to grips with the energy problems. All good stuff, as they say.  Take Care
Derek"