Vendée Globe

November 29. 2008 at 04:09A bumpy ride

"OK.  I admit it.  What may in a month's time seem like nothing remains the focus our attention.  I'm talking about the start of the high-speed sailing as here the seas are still choppy and although I'm huddled in my seat, it's not easy to type when you are hitting 40km/h in a ploughed field in a Golf with the tyres pumped right up, so I won't go into the subject for now."  

Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) in his e-mail from last night

November 28. 2008 at 18:23Mich Desj' looks ahead

Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) is currently in 14th place, 290 miles from the leader and around fifty miles from his next target, Sam Davies.
"I don’t have the pressure of being with the leaders. I’m driving the boat at my pace and in a more relaxed manner. I’m not going to catch them up in two days… Look at the time I’ve taken to catch up with those with boats with less potential… It’ll be more difficult to catch the latest generation boats, which is entirely normal!  Currently I’m looking as far as the first gate. We should get there around 3rd December and then we’ll bounce from gate to gate, which should take about 5/ 6 days of sea. This will enable us to have fairly high quality weather data, which will make the tactics fairly interesting and not such a lottery."

 

November 28. 2008 at 17:15Final shower before the south

Vincent Riou (PRB), in sixth place, 10.6 miles from the leader in a message to his shore team.
"I'm under staysail with two reefs in the main. Feeling relaxed. We're not going to change our way of doing things. It's perfectly logical what is happening ahead. It will be stable again for a few hours, then another compression as we enter St. Helena. I'm sticking to my route. This morning I had a huge squall. The wind is getting up again and the seas are confused again.  I think we'll be back to two reefs shortly. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day, what with adjustments to ensure the boat keeps moving, and it will be time for a clean up for the boat and me.  It will be one of the final opportunities to take a shower before we hit the south… Afterwards, it will be too cold, so you put off washing for as long as possible."

November 28. 2008 at 16:46Hot, wet and uncomfortable

Derek Hatfield (Algimouss-Spirit of Canada) is in 24th place this afternoon 1483 miles from the leader.  Here is an extract from his daily message:
"More upwind work on the south side of the line. I crossed the equator last night at 21:42 UTC. With the head winds, I'm headed a little bit too much west for my liking but tomorrow the wind should back a little to allow me more south heading. Upwind is difficult sailing in an IMOCA 60 as the boats are wet on deck and the motion is random at best. Inside the cabin is hot so not sure where is left other than the cuddy just outside the door."  

 

November 28. 2008 at 14:11Steve White tears his gennaker

Steve White (Toe in the Water) is in 17th place, 657 miles from the leader, sailing at the latitude of Espirito Santo.  

"Last night I was about to do some filming and send a blog when the mother of all squalls came through.  We broached, and I dealt with it in the usual manner and went back downstairs. Ten minutes later there was a sickening bang, the boat came upright, and there was a papery rustling sound which was my gennaker, or two bits of it. The bolt rope had broken, which meant the sail took all of its load, and the head pulled off it. Not a big repair, but in an important place. It took ages to get it back on deck, it is quite a big thing on your own at roughly twenty five metres by twelve by twenty three! It did not want to go into it's bag either, but I couldn't leave it loose on deck! The only problem is it is about three feet around at the moment, so it won't go down the forehatch.  The worst of it is in between the squalls it is the sail I really need at the moment. I delayed putting it up as it is eight or nine years old, and I didn't want to obliterate it in a squall which is precisely what I did. Poor old sail, but it will live again."  

 

November 28. 2008 at 13:40Petrels and flying fish

"The number of miles to make up is declining each day… I'm pleased about that, but it's only going to last a few more hours, as we're going to get held up.  I'm in squalls, making the route that much more difficult with some cross, choppy seas. There's a long way to go still.  There's no point in trying to get around the high. I'm not getting the same winds, as those at the front.  I'm spending  quite some time inside, but I have seen a lot of birds, petrels and some more flying fish.  My terrace is just great: covered when it is sunny and closed when it is cold… "

Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) on this morning's radio session.

 

November 28. 2008 at 13:18Quiberon Bay off Brazil

"Yesterday evening, I fell into a different wind system. I therefore tacked to move eastwards with the other competitors.  The big surprise this  morning was seeing two boats.  It was incredible.  After 18 days of racing, I was sailing within sight of Vincent Riou and Roland Jourdain. It was like being in Quiberon Bay  doing some close sailing, except that we are a long way off the coast of Brazil in the middle of the South Atlantic.  This Vendée Globe is just amazing!"  Jean-Pierre Dick (Paprec-Virbac 2)

 

November 28. 2008 at 10:59A nice cup of tea

"Well, after a day of squalls yesterday, the sun is shining today and the wind seems a bit more consistent (albeit on the nose), which is good news. More good news is that the more consistent wind enabled me to sleep loads last night so I'm on great form!!  More good news - now it is cooling down I can enjoy my breakfast cup of Earl Grey tea once more! It was just too hot before. I've been looking at weather and hoping we'll squeeze through the high, and then we'll be off...... next stop when we get back to the Atlantic in a month or so! I've been thinking about the change to cold weather and strong downwind sailing with ROXY, and mentally planning how to shift around the gear to optimise our performance, and comfort. I think that this change will come quickly, and I want to be ready for it! In the meantime, I am also preparing a few more little maintenance jobs to do when the wind drops as we pass through the high pressure, to make sure Roxy is 100% strong and ready for the South!"  Sam Davies (Roxy) in her early morning message

 

November 28. 2008 at 10:06Hungry as a hunter

"I prefer being the hunter rather than the hunted. It gets a bit annoying after a while to have a yapping dog going for your ankles all the time..."  Sébastien Josse (BT) in November ....2004.

November 28. 2008 at 08:31The first albatross

"Yesterday I lost one of my slip-ons and my feet are pretty unhappy, as I'm going to have to do the rest of the round the world voyage in my boots and socks.  This evening I had to put a fleece on, proving that the Caribbean is behind us and that our route south since the Equator is taking us closer to the southern highway. I caught sight of Bilou with the binoculars and called him up.  He seems to be in fine form. He even saw an albatross, which was somehow lost up here.  A clear sign that the gateway to the south is just on the other side of the high...  "

Yann Eliès (Générali) in his early morning message.