Vendée Globe

November 27. 2008 at 06:45Water water everywhere

"So this is Martin Vaz.  Reminds me of home in Brittany, home sweet home. It has rained non-stop for almost three hours.  Unfortunately, as we were upwind, we were also getting covered in salt water,or otherwise, I would have got a good wash.  The seas are still just as confused, and it's starting to get a bit annoying.  They could fit in with the wind but clearly, they can't agree.  Not easy to get any rest, which I think I deserve after this battle. Going to have to put up with it. I could have booked a hotel here on Martin, but given the size of the island (3.4 miles across at its widest point), I don't know if there is one or if anyone lives here, maybe just a soldier being punished.  
Sorry, I got it wrong.  I don't know why but in my mind, Martin Vaz was to my west and Trindade to the east and as I was west of them both, I thought I was next to Martin, but no. So it's Trindade that is 3.4 miles across and Martin Vaaz includes three islands, the biggest of which is 0.39 miles across (about 800 metres) and is an amazing 175 metres high."

Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) by e-mail

 

November 26. 2008 at 20:29Jonny goes marching on

In this evening's rankings only 1.5 miles separate Jonny Malbon (Artemis) from Unai Basurko (Pakea Bizkaia) and the English sailor is determined to move up a spot in the rankings by tomorrow morning: 

"Whoop whoop, hopefully I can continue to be a little quicker and take a position by the morning.  I know Unai will want to keep it, so we will have a bit of a fight on.  Its so nice to be back in it.  The boat is going well, and its nearly time to shake a reef."

November 26. 2008 at 20:00Greatest distance of the day

Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) covered the greatest distance of the day by clocking up 373.9 miles towards the finish over the past 24 hours.  This evening he is in 14th place, 386 miles from the leader.  

 

November 26. 2008 at 19:38A bit of a lottery ahead

Dominique Wavre (Temenos) in 11th place, 253 miles from the leader, was sailing by the islands of St. Martin Vaz and Trindade  this afternoon with Brian Thompson on his port side.

"If I could have avoided going between the islands I’d have done so, but it’s down to the wind really, which pushed me this way. It’s always a little tricky when the sea bottom rises sharply. Here they go from 4000m to 100m, so I may still suffer the effects of the current and a bad sea state.  It was a very tiring night. I got virtually no sleep. I tried to rest this morning but with the wind filling in it was difficult as I had to trim the boat. Right now it’s shaking about so much down below that I’m unable to find a good spot to rest. I downloaded some grib files this morning and they mirror those of yesterday for the time being. The zone of high pressure is switching back to a more normal position, though the transition won’t be easy. There will be some calm zones to negotiate and it may well be a bit of lottery."  

 

November 26. 2008 at 19:07Design choices

"Safran is completely fulfilling our expectations.  She is the boat we were looking for and all the choices we made, particularly favouring a lightweight approach rather than power, are paying off.  But I do have to spend a lot of time carrying out adjustments.  The difference in speed from a boat like Pindar, for example (overtaken two days ago, and today 40 miles behind - editor's note) is not uniquely down to the design choices. We saw during the races before the season, that the speed differential between the boats could be a quarter of a knot, not one or two, as is currently the case. It would be easy to ease off on the pedal, to say stop, as it is extremely uncomfortable. You take in one more reef in the mainsail and you go one or two knots more slowly, so there is less stress. That is not my choice, but at the same time I don't feel I'm taking any risks. I'm pushing her all the way, that's all."  Marc Guillemot (Safran) talking earlier today

 

November 26. 2008 at 18:15Time to unpack the thermals

As the leaders move down from the North to the South Atlantic, they have been through a series of weather patterns, but are now finding cooler weather in the south, as Mike Golding (Ecover 3) explained this morning:  
"I had a  good night's sleep last night, so feel quite rested, eggs on toast this morning.  The sailing is not that enjoyable.  It’s extremely wet on deck and its pretty remorseless port tack and  high angles of heel but it is at least cooling down now so it’s a  little more liveable onboard – it’s changed very quickly from Biscay howling gales, then into the trades, mild and steady breeze to the Doldrums that are stinking hot with very light airs, then the south Atlantic which has been hot and breezy with trade winds, but from a rather unusual direction as we are upwind and then of course very rapidly we are descending down into the cold of the Southern Ocean.  In fact, last night I dug out my thermals for the first time since Biscay."  

You can see Mike Golding heading south in his latest video.  Just click on videos in the media section.


 

November 26. 2008 at 17:49Derek down in the Doldrums

Derek Hatfield (Algimouss-Spirit of Canada) is in 24th place, 1509 miles from the leader and is just passing through the Doldrums, as he explains in a mail sent earlier this afternoon. 

"A tough 24 hours starting last night with two major black clouds in the path to the south. These are very localized conditions and can be disruptive for many hours as you get through them. Especially after dark, it is hard to tell the intensity and sometimes the wind doubles in strength. This can be boat breaking if you have a lot of sail up when it hits. The first one had torrential rains as well and caught me on deck without my wet gear on. The fresh shower was welcome but by the end of it I was freezing and unable to leave the helm. Today the wind has shifted to the south a little bit so I am upwind at 5 degrees north through the doldrums. Always an experience. Two beautiful snow white sea birds have been following me now for an hour, flying very close to the transom. I'm not sure what they are expecting but I think they will be disappointed with my leftover freeze-dried noodles and chicken.
Take care
Derek "

 

November 26. 2008 at 17:12Another busy night

"The first part of the night was quite rough.  This morning it's a bit quieter. And it's very pleasant. The problem is to know which sails to put up, as we never know just how much wind we will be getting… It's hard to ease off, as you have to keep an eye on what is happening out on deck. We have to sort out our priorities: minor repairs, navigation, eating, sleeping.  In fact, everything needs to be done quickly.  Today, it's dried mountain ham and pasta milanese…"

Jean-Pierre Dick (Paprec-Virbac 2) on today's radio session at 11h00.

 

November 26. 2008 at 16:26What's for dinner?

"There's no other choice: due south it is. The seas are more pleasant than yesterday afternoon.  We always go faster, when the boat is suffering less, and on Tuesday we had 25 knots of wind coming straight at us.  Now, we're gliding along with 18-19 knots of wind under solent and full mainsail. We'll be taking the long way around the high, but we mustn't burn our wings by getting too close to its centre. I'm the furthest east, because this will make it easier to get in position in comparison to the rest of the fleet. Yesterday, it was beef bourguignon and pasta and today it's smoked salmon and couscous for dinner… " Sébastien Josse (BT) on this morning radio session.

 

November 26. 2008 at 15:20Sam under threat from Mich Desj'

Sam Davies (Roxy) on today's radio session:
"It’s kind of bumpy at the moment. The wind’s quite unstable, in the last 24 hours we’ve had everything from 6 knots of wind to 32 knots in the last squall. It’s quite a full time job on deck to trim the sails and change the sails, to keep the boat going as fast as possible.  Being chased by Foncia: I’ve been trying to go faster and faster! Mich Desj' said ‘Don’t worry Sam, I won’t give you any wind shadow, I’ll go past and leave a big gap!’ But I’ve been trying to stay in front of him for as long as possible. And I thought Last night I’d gone quite fast when I looked at the position reports I was quite proud of my average speed being nearly 14 knots, then I looked at Mich and his average was 17.6 knots and there’s just no way I can compete with that, it’s just amazing!"