Vendée Globe

December 02. 2008 at 17:23Rich able to use his bunk

"Last night was a huge step forward for my ribs and for my sleep. For the first time since the start, I actually slept in the bunk. GA3 is fibreglass hull, so also has longitudinal bulkheads running bow to stern about 1 meter from each side, for fore/aft stiffness. The bunks are in compartments outside these bulkheads, and are accessed by small openings. The pain of my fractured rib was such that it was utterly impossible to do the gymnastics required to get into the bunk, let alone, out. So its been curling up at  the chart table for 3 weeks. Last night, got into the bunk with minimum agony, and had 4 good 50 minute sleeps. Woke 1 time, panicked at not seeing all the twinkling/glowing lights of the nav station, thought maybe a full power outage, but no, just a new sleeping spot. It's the only drawback, to not see the instruments if you wake for a second and want to take a check."  
Rich Wilson (Great American III) in 20th place, 877 miles from the leader, in his daily message.  

 

December 02. 2008 at 16:10Mike waiting for a better opportunity

"It's now properly cold. Yesterday whilst gybing I took the full brunt of a very steep wave - it was freezing! Once the gybe was completed and by now fully shivering I slid below to slip into some thermal mid layers and a fresh pair of boots/socks.  So that’s it, its official - we are definitely in the South.  Rounding the high did not work out so well for me. I was happy with my positioning and from every weather model I saw, I should have earned more gains than I actually did. Then again, arriving in the breeze I cut South again hoping to reach the stronger breeze first - again this really did not work out as well as I had hoped. Now we are all spaced inside a 100 mile corridor of stronger breeze blowing almost directly at our short-term goal, the first official ice gate. Boats are gybing to the north and south within this band of breeze and opportunities for gains are few and far between. I think perhaps that its best for me to sit this one out and wait for a better opportunity."  

Mike Golding (Ecover 3), currently in 9th place, 94 miles from the leader.

 

December 02. 2008 at 15:41Watch Unai at work in his cockpit

Among the new videos on display today on the website, some shots of Unai Basurko (Pakea Bizkaia), who is currently in 21st place, 938 miles from the leader, sailing in the South Atlantic at around the latitude of the Cape of Good Hope.  To view this video click here.  

 

December 02. 2008 at 13:57Cutting the corner

"Seems everyone from midfleet back has the pedal down trying to cut the corner and save some miles. It certainly looks do-able from here and the weather files indicate the opportunity. An intense low pressure system to the west will push the high to the north east and may allow us to sail more directly to the first gate. I'm watching the weather with hopes that the current forecast will not change. Jean (Baptiste Dejeanty) has managed to get by me. He's doing an awesome job after a problematic start. "

Derek Hatfield (Algimouss-Spirit of Canada), currently in 24th place, 1523 miles from the leader and 3 miles behind Jean-Baptiste Dejeanty, in his daily message.

 

December 02. 2008 at 11:45Squid attack

"It seems that as the temperature drops, the size of squid increases, so does the intensity of its ink, thus increasing the overall mess on the deck! Last night's suicide attacker was just one, rather  large, inky squid, who landed just aft of the cockpit next to the starboard tiller! That means he managed to cross the cockpit in mid-air. Lucky I was not out there at the time! I thought getting walloped in the face by a flying fish was bad enough, but I dread to imagine getting "squidded" in the face..... must be a bit like getting pooed on by a seagull in Lorient.  Last night was the first "rock and roll" sailing of this race. Windy, but not too much, just to get used to it! 22 knots was the surfing speed. Although Roxy was totally under control, I found it hard to sleep. This will take some getting used to!"  
Sam Davies (Roxy) in her daily message.

 

December 02. 2008 at 09:25Jonny completes his penalty

Jonny Malbon (Artemis) completed his 30-minute penalty this morning at 8h05 UTC.  Like several other competitors, he was given the penalty by the International Jury for passing a buoy on the wrong side shortly after the start from Les Sables d'Olonne.  

 

December 02. 2008 at 08:08Jonny hits a whale

"At approx 1236 UTC today I hit a large animal, probably a whale at 15 knots.  The boat stopped dead in the water, and remained there for about a minute until the animal released itself from the daggerboard. I was under 1 reef and Jibtop at the time.  Once we had broken free, we sailed off very quickly, but I could clearly see the animal astern in a lot of trouble.  I have some serious damage to my starboard daggerboard, but the boat is fine and the structure surrounding the daggerboard is intact.  We have not taken on any water. I will be continuing to race, and will monitor the condition of both the board and the boat."  
Jonny Malbon (Artemis) in his early morning message


 

December 02. 2008 at 07:55Desjoyeaux catching up on the news

"I don't know what it's like where you are, but here it was a dull weekend.  Nobody rang, nobody wrote, as it was the weekend. Then on Monday, its starts again:
"- What did you do this weekend?
- Sailing and you?
- Me too.  We sailed.  It was cold the rain was horizontal, raining cats and dogs
- So you were in Brittany?
- How did you guess? As they say, the weather isn't bad in Brittany.  It's the boots that are bad!
- So how did the race go?
- I hopped into the bus lane, which meant I slipped by. Fortunately there were no police around to stop me.  Otherwise I'd have been in trouble.
-What about the others?
- I don't know really. I was a long way away. Had a bad start.  Haven't seen everything that has  been happening. Wondering whether they haven't run into a patch of oil on the road as they were all over the place.  Think one may have gone into the ditch and dented his wheels hubs."

Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) in his night message

 

December 02. 2008 at 07:21With an eye on a lady

"The wind has eased off and is now more from astern.  We're making our way around the St. Helena high. As usual a lady is the centre of our attention, even in the middle of nowhere.  At the moment, the problem is trying to get as close as possible to the centre of the high to avoid going the long way around, but at the same time not too close because of the risk of falling into wind holes.  Looks like a busy night making sail changes to adapt to the wind shifting behind us.  Hope we don't get delayed in this high for too long, as our mates have already found the westerly wind." 


Bernard Stamm (Cheminées Poujoulat)

 

December 02. 2008 at 06:35Dee's knee

After discussions with Dee Caffari's doctor, concerning her knee problem, it appears the inflammation does not concern the joint, but only the tissue around the knee cap.  This is probably due to resting too long on this area during the long period of upwind sailing heeled over on the starboard side. Thanks to the treatment and advice she has received, it now seems to be improving.  She must, however, monitor the situation over the coming days.
Dr Jean-Yves Chauve